A recent uptick in his team's -- and his -- fortunes arguably kept Madison Bumgarner in a Giants uniform.
San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi admitted as much in an interview on "Giants Pregame Live" on Wednesday, hours after he opted not to trade Bumgarner ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
Zaidi told Kelli Johnson, Shawn Estes and Bill Laskey that his team's recent surge changed the calculus when it came to Bumgarner.
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"If you just think about it from a logical standpoint [and] you're sitting here 15-20 games out, then it's really just a play on nostalgia," Zaidi said. "But when you're right in the thick of things and you know how much of an impact he has -- not just on the days he pitches, but the other four days and [manager Bruce Bochy] knows he can go to his 'pen more aggressively knowing he's going to get that long start from Madison every fifth day -- that had a lot to do with it."
The Giants entered Wednesday's trade deadline with a 21-9 record in their previous 30 games, and that mark was tied for the best in the majors. They were 2.5 games back of the second NL wild-card spot, with a chance to gain ground on the Philadelphia Phillies in their series. Bumgarner was 3-0 with a 2.51 ERA and 0.95 WHIP during that stretch, holding opponents to a .214 batting average in his final seven starts before the deadline.
Instead of trading Bumgarner, whose playoff pedigree would have made him an attractive piece for World Series contenders, Zaidi and the Giants dealt from a position of strength. Relief pitchers Ray Black, Sam Dyson, Drew Pomeranz and Mark Melancon all had new homes after the deadline, while San Francisco held on to dominant closer Will Smith.
To varying degrees, those four helped the Giants post a 3.75 bullpen ERA, which was the second-best mark in the majors. Zaidi, pointing to relievers in the system who can follow in recent call-up Sam Coonrod's footsteps, said he was confident the Giants' internal options can help fill any holes.
San Francisco Giants
"We feel really good about the team that we have, and we do feel like this year is a period of transition for us, so we felt like we did need to address some of our future needs as well and bring some more talent into the organization," Zaidi continued. "The bullpen has been a position of strength for us. It's helped us a lot. I think it has a lot to do with our [MLB-best 26-10 record in one-run games] this year.
"But, at the same time, we have some guys who are throwing the ball really well in Triple-A, and we're gonna see some of those guys over the coming days. ... So, we're gonna see some younger arms get their opportunity in the bullpen, and we feel confident they're gonna do a great job."
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The Giants have some promising young pitchers with the potential to start, but none of them would be able to fill Bumgarner's spikes on their own with the team still trying to push for a playoff spot. San Francisco still was able to acquire a few prospects Wednesday, but didn't need to trade its ace to do so.
That might not have been where many -- including Zaidi -- believed the Giants would be, but it's their new normal.