What if the SF Giants signed Madison Bumgarner...as a hitter?
Madison Bumgarner hasn't had much success on the mound since leaving the SF Giants for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who designated the left-hander for assignment Thursday. With $34 million remaining on his contract, Bumgarner will surely clear waivers and become a free agent in the coming weeks. He will likely have to settle for a minor-league contract with his next team, who would only be on the hook for the major league minimum if he reached their big-league roster. While their might be a case for the Giants to give Bumgarner's arm another chance, I say they should take a flyer on his bat.
The Giants have exactly one player with a Silver Slugger award - Brandon Crawford, 2015. Bumgarner has two. In those Silver Slugger years, 2014 and 2015, Bumgarner had a home run rate of 6.29%, which is better than David Ortiz's career rate (6.26%), and only slightly worse than Willie McCovey's (6.36%).
Meanwhile, the Giants have been shut out twice, and held to a single run twice. They lost three games on their most recent road trip because they couldn't score runs after the third inning. They need a hitter who can score runs, who is unfazed in big moments, and has officially retired from dirt biking.
Obviously, Bumgarner would have to accept an assignment to the minor leagues to get used to hitting again, now that baseball has the universal designated hitter. But historically, that's where Bumgarner has absolutely raked.
In his limited minor-leagues opportunities, Bumgarner has a career average of .391 and a slugging percentage of .652. His home run rate? 8.7%, better than Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth. True, that's based on 23 at-bats, but that just means Bumgarner didn't get to truly explore his potential at the plate.
It's not like he hasn't showcased the ability to hit big-league pitching either. Bumgarner posted a solid .224/.272/.434 triple-slash with 15 home runs in 292 plate appearances from 2014-2017. A right-handed hitter, Bumgarner had an .805 OPS against southpaws.
The 6-12 Giants could someone to energize the fans. Thairo Estrada is having a wonderful season, but is he selling tickets? Does he have an animal nickname that can be translated into ballpark apparel sales? No, he does not.
What could get fans at Oracle Park more excited than Madison Bumgarner hitting dingers?
And while his 69 games with the Diamondbacks didn't go well, we guess Bumgarner could also pitch as a lefty specialist or a swingman. But we think he's better served spending his time in the batting cages rather than throwing in the bullpen.
There's historical precedent, too. Lefty Rick Ankiel carved out a career as a righty-mashing outfielder after his control deserted him. Lefty O'Doul was a mediocre pitcher before making a comeback in his thirties as a hitter, winning two batting titles and getting a bridge named after him in SF.
And of course, there's the fifth-place pitcher on the list of all-time World Series ERA leaders (Bumgarner is in the top spot with a 0.25 mark). You might have heard of another tough lefty - His name was Babe Ruth.
Farhan Zaidi, let MadBum achieve his destiny. Sign Bumgarner to a minor-league deal and give him an opportunity to work with the team's player development coaches at the plate. At the very least, it will help draw sellout crowds to Sacramento River Cats games, but given the rate that Giants hitters have landed on the injured list alongside the team's struggles against left-handed pitching, Bumgarner could emerge as an option at DH. And Bumgarner rarely gets hurt! As long as you keep him off all-terrain vehicles.
Bumgarner had brutal results in his recent outings for Arizona. According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic:
"His stuff often appeared noncompetitive; according to a source, players on a rival team talked about adjusting to the quality of his stuff in the same way that they would adjust to a position player pitching."
A position player pitching. Maybe those rivals were on to something. The SF Giants should make that insulting evaluation a reality!
