Fed up with the struggles of Madison Bumgarner, 34, Arizona made a surprising move on April 21. They designated him for assignment (DFA) with more than a year and a half left on his contract. Or, more simply, they released him. The unthinkable had happened. The entire major league was stunned.

Bumgarner, who had made a name for himself as a “fall guy” in San Francisco, became a free agent ahead of the 2020 season and signed a five-year, $85 million deal with Arizona. The A’s hoped that the hard-nosed lefty, who they had seen on the same planet over and over again, would be the ace that would buy time for their younger players to develop, but his performance fell far short of expectations and his price tag.

In just over three years in Arizona, Bumgarner started 69 games and went 15-32 with a 5.23 ERA. He took solace in the fact that he would continue to get better, but this year he showed clear limitations early in the season. After just 16⅔ innings in four games, he collapsed to three losses with no wins and a 10.26 ERA. With the time coming for younger starters to step up to the majors, Arizona retrieved Bumgarner’s jersey without regret.

Naturally, no team was willing to pay the remaining salary, so Bumgarner cleared waivers on April 27. Now it’s a different story. Arizona would 먹튀검증 pay Bumgarner’s salary through next year, and any team that wanted him would only have to pay him the major league minimum. With such a high ceiling, rehiring him seemed like a no-brainer. The general consensus was that a few teams would be interested.

But Bumgarner is still “untouchable. No one is looking for him. He’s been without a team for more than a month now, and the question is whether or not any team will offer him a contract this season. There hasn’t even been any local media coverage of him lately. He’s becoming a forgotten player.

No matter how bad he’s been, he was once one of the league’s best left-handed aces. In 358 career major league games (355 starts), he has 134 wins and a 3.47 ERA under his belt. Plus, he’s only 34 years old. While he’s not typically in his prime, he still has two or three more years of flame left in him. He’s also two years younger than Ryu Hyun-jin, who is trying to make a comeback after elbow surgery. He doesn’t appear to be a player who will disappear from the major league scene anytime soon.

Nevertheless, major league clubs have been cold in their evaluations. First of all, they criticized his pitches. Bumgarner’s fastball velocity and control have been declining. Last year, he struck out 6.4 batters per nine innings, a career low, and this year he’s down to 5.4. Meanwhile, his walks continue to pile up. Powerless pitches in the strike zone are getting hit hard. Looking at Bumgarner’s pitches this year, it’s easy to be skeptical of his rebound.

One of the reasons for this is the perception that he”s unwieldy. The Athletic, a North American sports publication, highlighted the conflict between Bumgarner and the front office after he was released by Arizona. The pitching side of the organization believed that Bumgarner needed to rely less on his fastball and work more on command and mixing pitches.

But Bumgarner scoffed at the notion, instead focusing on improving his velocity. At one point, when his performance rebounded and he was asked for the secret, he sarcastically said, “I didn’t listen to him,” fueling the feud. Eventually, the two crossed the river of no return and reportedly stopped talking until shortly before the real Bumgarner was released. There’s no way the other 29 teams don’t know about Bumgarner’s character. Rumors spread.

Of course, it’s unlikely that Bumgarner will retire at this point. If a starter goes down with an injury, teams will be looking for a backup, or if a team is shutting down after the end of June, they may be looking to trade a starter to fill in for half a season. Bumgarner’s name, which won’t cost much, will resurface at that point.

On the flip side, the longer he’s out of action, the more teams will turn away from him. While he may be working on his personal training, Bumgarner is not currently playing professionally. There’s no way to know how he’s doing, and it could take him a while to warm up when he returns. When will Bumgarner return to the mound?