Clayton Kershaw: 'It'd be great' to play with Madison Bumgarner; shocked by Astros allegations
For nearly the entire decade, Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw squared off as baseball's most prominent southpaws and division rivals, Bumgarner winning three titles with the San Francisco Giants and Kershaw capturing three Cy Young awards for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As the calendar flips to 2020, though, could they team up instead? Kershaw is certainly down with the idea.
“I love Bum. Great pitcher. Good dude. Great competitor ... if I was able to play with Mad Bum, it’d be great. He’s great," Kershaw said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Adding Bumgarner's playoff pedigree, which includes being named the 2014 World Series MVP, is something the Dodgers could use. They've won the last seven National League West division crowns, only to come up short of a championship each time (losing in the World Series in 2017 and 2018).
Bumgarner, 30, has spent his entire career with the Giants, which seemed unlikely as last season rolled on. But San Francisco went on a winning streak and briefly inserted itself in the Wild Card race, so the front office held onto their linchpin for the remainder of 2019. Bumgarner became a free agent for the first time this offseason.
The Dodgers, in an effort to get over the hump, were expected to be in on marquee free agents Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon. But at this week's Winter Meetings, Cole signed a record-breaking deal for a pitcher with the New York Yankees and Rendon agreed to a seven-year, $245 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels.
Bumgarner falls into the next tier of free agents on the market. If he does sign with Dodgers, he and infielder Max Muncy will have some beef to squash. The two got into a shouting match as Muncy rounded the bases after taking Bumgarner deep during a game this past June.
Kershaw also discussed the Houston Astros' cheating allegations. The Dodgers fell to the Astros in seven games during the 2017 World Series — apparently the height of the electronically-aided scheme to alert hitters which pitch was coming.
Kershaw struggled against the Astros during Game 5 of that series at Minute Maid Park. Given a pair of three-run leads, he blew both and
"When the tea and the players are doing what they can on the field to get the signs, that's obviously part of the game," Kershaw said, per ESPN. "But when technology comes into play, if that is really true, it sucks. Unless we get to win the World Series, I don't really care what the punishment is. But it does suck, no matter what."