Former Teammate Details How Giants Might've Blown it With Madison Bumgarner

Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants had an amicable split, all things considered. The three-time World Series champ by the Bay got to choose his preferred location, while the Giants take aim at a full rebuild.

What's not to love?

Per former teammate Michael Morse, Bumgarner's feeling towards the organization -- which weren't always positive -- might've taken a turn in 2017, when San Francisco offered their ace a lackluster contract extension.

"The biggest thing that I think is when they did offer him an extension [in 2017], it was very, very short of what he was thinking, to the point that it might’ve been even a slap-in-the-face kind of thing,” Morse said. "Madison is the kind of guy, if you mess with Madison one time, that’s it, it’s over. I think after that he kind of saw the direction the team was going and he said, 'I’m going to put my head down and work and bust my butt, and I see now that my time here might be done.'"

Per Morse, Bumgarner's stubbornness paired with the Giants lack of financial flexibility essentially launched the beginning of the end for the star lefty's tenure by the Bay. Combine that with the Giants' lack of success the past couple of seasons and the departure of Bruce Bochy, the end of an era was apparent, and Bumgarner saw just that.

MadBum will always be a legend in San Francisco, and while his presence on a division rival in Arizona will be a tough bill to swallow for Giants fans, this split was apparently a long time coming per the interests of both parties.