SAN DIEGO — The Diamondbacks floated the idea of a contract in the range of $70 million for starter Madison Bumgarner, sources said, though it seems likely that will fall well short of what it will take to land the free-agent left-hander.
Talks with Bumgarner were said to have been preliminary in nature, never reaching the point of a formal proposal. A source said the club never even got so far as to discuss length of contract.
Following the signings of free agents Gerrit Cole ($324 million), Stephen Strasburg ($245 million) and Zack Wheeler ($118 million), Bumgarner’s price seems likely to reach nine figures.