Report: Phillies ‘Doing Due Diligence’ on 3-Time World Series Champion Bumgarner

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

With just a reported $17 million left available to spend before they reach the luxury tax threshold, the Philadelphia Phillies will have to be creative if they want to improve their roster while avoiding the big fine.

The club, whose combined starting pitching ERA (4.91) is the 11th-worst in baseball, is already considering to bolster such area on their 25-man roster via trade, according to FOX Sports' Jon Morosi.

On Friday, Morosi reported the Phillies have already been doing "due diligence" on San Francisco Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner — through looking at his starts this season, and "maybe even looking at him during spring training to make sure they have all their information current."

Bumgarner, 29, is a four-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion, one-time World Series and NLCS MVP and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. While he has a career 110-85 record, 3.04 ERA and 1.107 WHIP since debuting in 2009, he is 0-2 through three starts in 2019 with a 3.32 ERA, albeit a 0.947 WHIP.

The Giants have lost nine of their 14 games this season, a 104-loss pace. With the club not expecting to contend, and Bumgarner on an expiring $12 million contract in 2019, Morosi believes they will deal the southpaw. 

“[Trading] Bumgarner is going to be a difficult emotional decision I think for the Giants, but it’s the right decision to trade Madison Bumgarner," Morosi said, adding the Phillies had "a lot of conversations during the course of the offseason" regarding the veteran.

In November, Morosi reported the Phillies engaged in "preliminary dialogue" to acquire Bumgarner, and that the Giants are "willing to engage with other teams." The Phillies sought a front-line starting pitcher, but failed to capitalize, starting the 2019 season with no additions to the starting rotation.

The Phillies have already bolstered their roster with multiple All-Star-caliber talents in Bryce Harper, Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, David Robertson, and J.T. Realmuto. They clearly are being careful with their remaining salary to spend before hitting the luxury tax, as Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel remain on the open market. The Phillies would not need to trade prospect talent to land either, but they could pursue a cheaper option, monetarily speaking, in a trade for Bumgarner.

“The Phillies of course, they were able to make aggressive moves in the winter time as we well know to bring in three All-Star position players, but they’ve got that one need: a lefty starter," Morosi said.

"And if you are going to go all in on one year to make a World Series run, who better to get than Madison Bumgarner.”