Bumgarner hasn’t officially announced his retirement, but he also hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since a disastrous four-start stretch to open the 2023 season, which led to the Diamondbacks releasing him and eating the final $37 million left on his contract. The 35-year-old lefty cemented his legacy with the Giants earlier in his career as one of the legendary postseason performers of his era and appears likely to head back to the Bay Area in a limited role either as a guest instructor at spring training or front office consultant.

There figures to be some interest in Bumgarner from teams dealing with rotation injuries. Still, he was a poor enough bet coming into the season, and he seems like a significantly worse one now with his velocity down.

This essentially wraps up a highly disappointing tenure in Arizona where Bumgarner posted a 5.23 ERA over 69 starts. The Diamondbacks will cover the remainder of his contract ($37 million through 2024) in order to move on. The 33-year-old undoubtedly pass through waivers and will be available to sign with a new club at the major league minimum. The Giants' postseason legend will surely get another chance somewhere, but his best days are behind him at this point. 

It's a surprising call, though not as much because of his performance (10.26 ERA over four starts this season) but because of how much money the Diamondbacks still need to pay him. Bumgarner is still owed $37 million ($23 million this year, $14 million next year) of his five-year, $85 million contract. The 33-year-old will undoubtedly pass through waivers unclaimed before hitting free agency. It will be interesting to see if prospect Brandon Pfaadt gets the call for the Diamondbacks in the coming days.