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To recommit or rebuild? Why the Giants’ dilemma starts with decision on Bumgarner

At 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds, he’s a forceful, feared creature who has cultivated a reputation as one of the most dominant pitchers of the last decade.

But with each time he emerges in his natural habitat — the mound in the middle of the diamond — Madison Bumgarner is more than just the sturdy left-handed ace tasked with turning an opponent into prey.

He’s an elephant in the room known as AT&T Park.

Since the free agency era began in 1976, only one other left-handed pitcher has compiled a lower ERA in their first decade of starting than Bumgarner’s 3.