Madison Bumgarner is one of the best postseason pitchers of all time, but he can’t pitch in every playoff game. To their credit, the Giants seem acutely aware of this fact and have tried to improve the starting pitchers who follow him.
They were involved in the bidding for Jon Lester last winter and reportedly offered him more money than the Cubs. They checked in on Max Scherzer and James Shields before they signed elsewhere. With the deadline fast approaching, they made late pushes for Cole Hamels and David Price. But so far, they’ve had no luck.
It’s fair to ask, then: since the Giants have missed out on all of their targets, will they stand pat at the deadline and go with what they have?
The rest of the rotation behind Bumgarner is solid, but not spectacular. It’s filled with guys who would round out a staff rather than anyone who’d be considered a “co-ace” and a no doubt game two starter. Chris Heston would be the defacto guy behind the guy, but he’s a rookie with not much of a track record. Matt Cain, Jake Peavy, and Tim Hudson all have their issues and are basically five inning guys now. And there’s no one in the system who’s ready to step in.
Their lack of depth in the system is both the reason they went so hard after Hamels and Price, and the reason they didn’t get either of them. The Giants simply lack the top-end prospects that other teams have and found themselves getting outbid. And since they (rightly) refuse to deal pieces like Matt Duffy and Joe Panik, they were at an immediate disadvantage.
So now they may find themselves shopping the second tier market, where starters like Mike Leake and Hisashi Iwakuma reside. Leake in particular makes a lot of sense and would likely flourish in the spacious confines of AT&T Park; plus, the Giants have always held a high opinion of Leake dating back to when he was drafted. Shields can likely be had, but he’s owed a ton of money and the Giants may be more apt to use the dollars they have in the winter rather than tie them up in him. Pitchers like Iwakuma, Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy and others are probably available too, but it’s not clear that any of them would be an upgrade over what the Giants already have.
Chances are the Giants will push hard for Leake over the next few days. If they’re unsuccessful yet again, it’s tough to see them making a move just for the sake of making one. None of the other available starters seem to offer enough of an upgrade over their current guys to justify losing a prospect and they’ll likely stand pat. And if that happens, they’ll cross their fingers that Cain can find the consistency he had before his elbow surgery and slot in behind Bumgarner and Heston for the playoff push.
The Giants have surprised everyone before, but it appears they’ve played their best hand in the trade market and were rebuffed. They may make one more go at it, but the smart money just might be on them going forward with they team they already have. Luckily for them, that team is pretty darn good.
