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Los Angeles Dodgers: Reasons why Madison Bumgarner won’t come to LA

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 13: Madison Bumgarner #40 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on August 13, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 13: Madison Bumgarner #40 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on August 13, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Dodgers
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Dodgers /

2. Hyun-Jin Ryu is a much better alternative

There are several reasons against Hyun-Jin Ryu this winter, even though he is coming off of a career season in which he finished second in the National League in Cy Young Voting and had the lowest ERA in all of baseball.

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His age is a factor as he is going to turn 33 in March. His health is a factor as well, as while he only missed limited time in 2019, he practically missed all of 2015 and 2016 and missed over half of the 2018 season, which he was great in as well.

While those things are definitely legitimate and the last thing I want to do is downplay them, Ryu presents a cheaper alternative that is going to leave the Dodgers more room to make other moves.

Bumgarner is naturally going to get more because of his age and his namesake. While Ryu, who reportedly is only asking for a three-four year deal, will probably get something close to Bumgarner, but not quite the same.

I could see the Dodgers getting Ryu back for around $20 million a year, which is only $5 million less per year than what we predicted for Bumgarner. However, the Dodgers could backload Ryu’s contract to get that annual salary down to $15 million or could even start with a baseline of $17 million and make the contract incentive-based.

Either way, the Dodgers have the natural advantage of being the only team that Ryu has played for overseas and that could get them a small discount. It is the boring move to make, but even if a 3.30 ERA for Ryu is enough for a three-guy and he is more than capable of pulling that off.

Next. 2019 grades for every Dodger. dark

Bumgarner is going to get at least one more year than Ryu, maybe two, and is going to cost more per season. With there being a decent chance that Ryu has the better season next season, the choice between the two is obvious.

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