0 of 5

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

The San Francisco Giants on Oct. 29 predictably exercised Madison Bumgarner's 2019 contract option. They'll pay him $12 million...or maybe someone else will pay him $12 million.

The Giants might keep Bumgarner and try to contend, but if they dangle him, pitching-hungry suitors will line up.

A four-time All-Star who's finished in the top 10 in National League Cy Young Award voting four times, Bumgarner cranks his performance past "11" during the postseason.

In 102.1 playoff innings, Bumgarner sports a 2.11 ERA. He hauled the Giants across the finish line in 2014 with one of the most iconic Fall Classic pitching performances of all time and won the World Series MVP. Injuries, including a broken hand suffered in spring training, dinged him in 2018, but he posted a 3.26 ERA and has mostly defined durability during his career.

San Francisco limped through a second consecutive losing campaign in '18 and fired general manager Bobby Evans in September. Trading MadBum would be unpopular in the Bay Area, but it could be prudent.

"That would certainly be heavy in the equation, and I'm sure that would come up in the interview process," executive Brian Sabean said of a hypothetical Bumgarner swap while discussing the Giants' GM search, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.

With that in mind, let's examine five potential landing spots for the Giants ace and the prospect packages the Orange and Black might net in return.

This is all informed guesswork, but it's an interesting thought experiment as we wait for the hot stove to crackle to life.