The Hot Stove burner is slowly picking up heat ahead of the next week's Winter Meetings in San Diego.
With the Phillies signing Zack Wheeler and Cole Hamels heading down south to the Braves, there is the potential of a Madison Bumgarner signing sooner than later -- possibly before the meetings.
There are three additional teams reportedly in the mix:
In the wake of Wheeler signing with Phillies and Hamels signing with Braves, Bumgarner market is clarifying. Per sources, White Sox and Twins among heaviest suitors there. Yankees involved to some degree.— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) December 4, 2019
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal tweeted that despite the Hamels signing, that doesn't necessarily mean the Braves are out of the MadBum sweepstakes. But let's talk about the two teams Martino mentioned.
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The Twins (and the White Sox) were one of the teams that was in pursuit of Wheeler and even extended an offer to him. They do need the starting help despite Jake Odorizzi accepting a qualifying offer and Jose Berrios being another addition to that rotation, but that doesn't leave them with much.
It would be fair to think they're going to continue to be aggressive when pursuing pitching, but it doesn't appear MadBum would be that guy.
The White Sox also wanted Wheeler, and according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the team has yet to even enter into negotiations with Bumgarner's people.
The current rotation for Chicago consists of young, mainly right-handed pitchers -- a lefty veteran could be beneficial, but they could be waiting for some of the bigger names to pounce on before they take a Bumgarner pursuit seriously.
And as much as Giants fans, and Bum himself, would want to continue his career with San Francisco, that doesn't appear to be a possibility.
Bumgarner spent the entirety of his career with the organization tallying a career 3.13 ERA and 1.111 WHIP across 11 seasons. He also beefed up his resumé with four All-Star selections, three World Series rings and an MVP for the Fall Classic in 2014. His numbers during those fall months are sensational as well with a career 0.25 World Series ERA.
[RELATED: What MadBum's free agency looks like early on]
The Yankees, who always manage to be lurking in the shadows, are currently concentrating on Gerrit Cole after a four-hour meeting discussing who knows what, but it certainly became a promising conversation as MLB Network's Jon Heyman tweeted there was no West-coast bias for the former Astros pitcher who loves the idea of The Golden State.
The waiting continues ...
