As much as we have wanted to create the narrative that the battle of the decade’s two left-handed aces of the NL West was a bitter one, there has always been a mutual respect there. According to Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, he and the club would both be interested in joining forces with their supposed arch nemesis Madison Bumgarner.
“I love Bum….. if we signed him, that’d be great!” – Clayton Kershaw pic.twitter.com/yfvIv5JhRr
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) December 13, 2019
There has always been a mutual respect between the two superior competitors, demonstrated by a late season at-bat from Bumgarner against Kershaw season at-bat from Bumgarner against Kershaw, who came on in relief. It was quite the show, but what if those two both repped the same uniform in 2020 and beyond?
Bumgarner is not the same pitcher he was in the Giants’ peak of three World Series wins, but he is still a rather serviceable pitcher these days. However, the reported asking price for him in free agency is somewhere around the five-year, $100 million mark. Now that the Dodgers have lost out on all of the top tier free agent starting pitchers, including Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, they will now be forced to shift their focus. According to Ken Rosenthal, Bumgarner is one of their primary focuses heading into the winter’s second phase.
#Dodgers will now shift their focus to free-agent left-hander Madison Bumgarner, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2019
While many fans — me included — would not exactly want to see Madison Bumgarner in a Dodger uniform because of his past history, he could be a solid tertiary piece for the offseason. However, it all comes down to the final numbers of the contract he is given.
All in all, it is good to hear that Clayton Kershaw would be on board with Bumgarner in Los Angeles. After all, it appears that it is a likely scenario.
