The news that San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner was injured in a dirt bike accident is every general manager's nightmare come true: Your star player did something you wish he hadn't, gets hurt and is about to miss a lot of time. Your shot at staying in the playoff race is at stake. In this situation, what's a GM to do?
Obviously, this was a bad idea for how to spend time off. Bumgarner was apparently up front about it, calling the Giants to let them know as soon as he was hurt. And as disappointed as everyone throughout the organization might be, in the front office or in the clubhouse, it isn't as if Bumgarner's teammates are going to call him out for making this kind of mistake, not after all he has done for the franchise. You can expect him to talk about how it was an unfortunate mistake. It's that and then some.
It's also important to remember that while Bumgarner is under a guaranteed contract through the end of this season, he's under club control with team options for $12 million in both 2018 and 2019. While riding around on dirt bikes usually isn't allowed in a contract, whether it was or wasn't, it's doubtful the Giants will make an issue of this -- they will pick up those options, because we're talking about Madison Bumgarner.
An AC sprain to your ace's throwing shoulder is also serious for its immediate impact on the Giants. The timetable for recovery in situations like this can be significant, and could be as much as six to 10 weeks. If Bumgarner is out that long, this is devastating for the Giants as they're constructed. They are not deep, and on the mound they've already had problems getting the ball from their starters to new closer Mark Melancon in the ninth. Scratch MadBum for a month or two, and the bullpen will be challenged to take on a heavier workload.
Who might the Giants turn during Bumgarner's absence? If they want to trade for a starter, the Giants don't have much to deal with. Calling the White Sox to ask about Jose Quintana sounds easy enough, but he'd be tough to get under any circumstance. San Francisco doesn't have many prospects to offer, and Giants team president Brian Sabean said they were tapped out financially after they signed Melancon. So a trade for Quintana probably won't work. That could leave the Giants calling the Twins about Ervin Santana or the Braves about Bartolo Colon, but if the Giants' financial handicaps are as heavy as they've said, a trade may not be possible.
They could give the open rotation slot to Ty Blach, currently in the bullpen, or call up prospect Tyler Beede. Chris Stratton could also be in the mix despite a slow start at Triple-A Sacramento. But no one is going to replace Bumgarner. Because of the uncertainty over Matt Cain, Matt Moore and Jeff Samardzija, the back end of the Giants' rotation was already a cause for concern, but now the front end is an issue as well. This is exactly the moment they need Samardzija to step up and deliver on his $90 million deal. He's 12-14 with a 4.01 ERA in 35 starts as a Giant, but they need more than that and less of seeing him give up four homers in just 19 innings so far this season.
This is also a much different NL West race, because it isn't just the Giants and Dodgers -- the Rockies and Diamondbacks are legitimate threats. Put all of that together, and it's a nightmare scenario for the Giants, who might have just seen all of their plans for this season disrupted by one bad way for an ace to spend an off day.