Ex-teammates, insiders speculate on why Madison Bumgarner left San Francisco

Newly acquired Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner puts on his new jersey after being introduced during a team availability, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York) Newly acquired Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner puts on his new jersey after being introduced during a team availability, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York) Photo: Matt York Photo: Matt York Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Ex-teammates, insiders speculate on why Madison Bumgarner left San Francisco 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

After 12 years in the Giants organization, Madison Bumgarner is now an Arizona Diamondback. How did that happen? There are a couple of theories floating around.

Let's first go to former Giants outfielder Michael Morse. Morse spent the 2014 season and part of the 2017 season in San Francisco until suffering a career-ending injury during a brawl instigated by Hunter Strickland and Bryce Harper. Morse was on KNBR's Papa and Lund on Wednesday, telling the hosts that the Giants offered Bumgarner an extension in 2017, but the total was so low that he continued to hold it against the team.

"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.'"

Morse said he recently spoke to Bumgarner, but it was unclear to what extent Morse was speculating with his comments.

"I actually talked to Madison earlier in the week, and he's really close to my heart," Morse said. "He's a good friend. Me and him — we're really tight."

Of course, the Giants had one last opportunity to re-sign Bumgarner in the 2019 offseason. According to The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly, the Giants only half-heartedly pursued the lefty.

"It really felt like the Giants offered the most they could possibly offer, knowing [Bumgarner] wouldn’t take it,” Baggarly said on Papa and Lund on Tuesday. "To me, it reminded me exactly of Pablo Sandoval in 2014. 'Oh, we made our best offer, but he was going.’"

Later, Baggarly suggested the Bumgarner offer was largely made to save face.

"From a PR standpoint, yeah, the Giants had to make an offer," Baggarly said. "They couldn’t just say, 'OK, it’s been fun, Madison.’"

According to NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic, the Giants offered four years and slightly more than $70 million. Ultimately, he signed a five-year, $85 million contract to move to Arizona, where he'll be much closer to his horses.

Michael Rosen is an SFGATE digital editor. Email: michael.rosen@sfgate.com.