A mandatory "should the Mets sign Madison Bumgarner after he clears waivers" opinion

There are 29 different teams who will have a chance to sign Madison Bumgarner to the league minimum once he clears waivers. The guy who eliminated the New York Mets from the 2016 postseason has fallen on hard times with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The team DFA’d him on Thursday and it’s only a matter of time before he is officially released.

It’s mandatory for fans of all teams to assess whether or not he’s a fit for their ball club. Do we do a pros and cons and state the obvious? Or do we jump right in and explain why to or why not to add him?

All under the guise that he’ll be signed to a league minimum and on a minor league contract, the problem the Mets would face in trying to lure Bumgarner to Queens is how he’d have a much better opportunity to pitch in the majors elsewhere.

The Mets should be willing to sign Madison Bumgarner to a league minimum deal but other clubs have an advantage

The howitzer of the Mets is Steve Cohen’s wallet. This doesn’t come into play when it involves a player signing for a league minimum salary. All clubs are essentially even in the financials. Bumgarner will have a choice of where he plays. Players with a much less “New York” feel to them have come to Flushing or the Bronx. The issue isn’t Bumgarner being a country boy. It’s how little of a shot he’d have at actually starting for the Mets.

Despite multiple injuries to the starting staff, Bumgarner would probably only ever be a temporary fix to any problem the rotation has. He wouldn’t have minor league options which means as soon as he’s on the 26-man roster, the Mets would have to stick with him or say “farewell.”

Then comes the bigger and more important question than roster manipulation. Is he a better choice than the other pitchers on the depth chart? Even if the answer is “no” and we can find a need to stash him on the farm, the Mets are much deeper than the majority of ball clubs in this area. Other clubs who didn’t prepare as well with starting pitching depth might be far more enticing for MadBum who’ll be looking for a clearer path to the major leagues again than a long stay in Syracuse.

Should the Mets pursue? Yeah, why not? Will Bumgarner feel like the orange and blue are the best fit? Have your doubts.