The Diamondbacks designate Madison Bumgarner for the assignment

Bumgarner, who signed a five-year, $85 million contract with Arizona prior to the 2020 season, struggled during his four years with the Diamondbacks, posting a 5.23 ERA over 69 starts. Perhaps his worst outing with Arizona came on Wednesday, when he allowed seven runs in three innings against the St. Louis Cardinals and saw his 2023 ERA balloon to 10.26.

Bumgarner, 33, owes about $20.4 million for the remainder of this year and $14 million for the 2024 season. Once he clears waivers — the team is unlikely to trade for him, since that team will have to carry the rest of the money in his contract — Bumgarner will be eligible to sign with a team for the major league minimum of $720,000.

In Wednesday’s game, the Cardinals mashed five balls at 100 mph or more and tackled Bumgarner’s fastball, which has averaged down to 89.5 mph this season, 1.7 mph slower than in 2022.

“I wish I had some kind of answer,” Bumgarner told reporters. “Not that I won’t look for them—I’ll look for them. But for now, I don’t have anything for you guys. I hope I do. But I don’t.”

At 11-8, Arizona holds a two-game lead in the National Division West. With a young core led by right-handed outfielder Corbin Carroll and Zach Gallen — and one of the best farm systems in baseball — the Diamondbacks have prioritized the transition from rebuilding to competitive this year.

General Manager Mike Hazen said last month that Bumgarner’s salary would not affect his role, emphasizing that the Diamondbacks “need to win baseball games.”

“We were never asked to make decisions based on money or anything like that,” Hazen was quoted by the Arizona Republic as saying. “We need to win baseball games. We try to win every baseball game we get out to play. We want the five guys in the tournament to strengthen those points and give us some stability there….”We’ll continue to evaluate it as we go, but we need to win baseball games.”

Bumgarner arrived in Arizona after a stellar 11 seasons with the San Francisco Giants, winning three World Series and making four All-Star Games. Long known for his intensity on the mound, he was involved in a brief verbal altercation Wednesday with Wilson Contreras after the Cardinals’ catcher fouled him off the field. The two appeared to trade insults before Contreras walked over and flipped his bat emphatically.

Bumgarner did not reveal specific details about what Contreras said or did to upset him, telling reporters, “If you can’t see it, I don’t know how to help,” before finally admitting that he needed a “better show.”

“It’s very tough,” Diamondbacks coach Tori Lovolo said. “The empathic side of me hurts him, I want every pitcher to do well and I know how hard he works. He just grinds.”

“The other side of me is so frustrated. I just want to see everyone do a good job helping us win baseball games, and of course that didn’t happen today.”