2. Madison Bumgarner
There’s no secret that Bumgarner has been at the top of Cashman’s shopping list for some time. The only question has been whether or not the Giants have ever been willing to make him available.
The organization’s decision to bring in Farhan Zaidi to revamp their baseball operations might signal a willingness to part with the talented southpaw. Again, no one in San Francisco is going to give Bumgarner away for free, but they might see dealing him as a way to accelerate their potential rebuild.
Bumgarner missed a significant portion of his 2018 season due to energy, but he finished the campaign strong. Ultimately, he checked in with an ERA of 3.26 in just 21 starts. The fact that his fastball is starting to lose some velocity does concern some scouts, but he’s the sort of pitcher who can continue to dominate hitters even with softer stuff.
Andujar won’t be enough to land Bumgarner on his own, but he could be a big piece of the puzzle for the Giants. Packaging him with a few high quality prospects might be enough to bring Cashman’s top target to the Bronx.