For baseball nerds like Larry Krueger, the most wonderful time of the year is upon us: MLB Hot Stove a.k.a. the rumor mill a.k.a. sports gossip galore! Combine the seventh highest payroll in the league with 98 losses and you can bet the Giants will be linked to pretty much any name that has a solid bat from the outfield and any arm that can shore up their cast of relievers.
While Kruegs may not be able to talk about the ins and outs of winter baseball talk on his show with Gary Radnich (no offense Gary, but this podcast isn’t going to dive into who Chloe Kardashian has most recently invited to her bed) he can certainly do so on The Krueg Show with famed baseball writers like The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo. After recent rumors of the Giants’ front office eyeing Red Sox centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. for possible trade considerations, it made sense to speak with someone with knowledge of the other side.
But after Cafardo put to bed the notion that the Sox would deal Bradley Jr. without first having acquired another outfielder elsewhere, the conversation turned interestingly to an idea brought up a few weeks back. Specifically, the possibility of the Giants shipping one of their Big 3 this offseason: Posey, Bumgarner or Crawford.
“Buster Posey Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Crawford, you would think that’s the core of the Giants and the guys who are not gonna be dealt but Chris Haft, the Giant beat writer for sfgiants.com reported that Evans is gonna listen to offers on all of his guys including the Big 3, there. Do you see any scenarios that the Giants trade Crawford, Posey or Bumgar, that would be earth-shaking out here.
“Boy it sure would. Boy, I could maybe see Crawford, but Posey? Unless you’re thinking ‘well, okay, we’ve gotten the best out of Buster Posey and maybe we can flip him for other needs,’ that’s the only thinking I could possibly see on that. And I think it’s Bobby probably just leaving the door open on anything because they do have to rebuild and if someone just blows them away with all kinds of talent it could happen, but I doubt it.”
Posey is set to make $21.4 million through 2022 when he’ll be 35 and Crawford is due $15 million through the 2021 when he’ll turn 34. After the Giants exercised the team option on their ace for the 2018 season, they’ll have the option to do so again in 2019 and pay Bumgarner well below his market value at $12 million, but don’t rule out the possibility of the team signing him to a long-term deal before then.
Hear the full podcast below. For Cafardo’s comments on the Giants’ Big 3, forward to 11:26.
