The future of Madison Bumgarner with the San Francisco Giants will be one of MLB's most interesting topics this season. Bumgarner will be a free agent at the end of the 2019 season and his value is uncertain given his drop in production compared to his postseason pedigree.

Bumgarner has appeared in 16 games in the postseason, starting 14, and the Giants are 13-3 in those appearances; he has a 2.11 ERA in 102⅓ innings. But Bumgarner's fastball has concerned evaluators as he's given up an OPS of .926 with the pitch.

Buster Olney suggests the Giants could consider trading Bumgarner near the deadline for prospects and still pursue signing him back in free agency given his history with the franchise. Giants owner Charles Johnson is said to consider Bumgarner an absolute favorite.

The Washington Nationals and Anthony Rendon are not close to an agreement on a contract extension with Opening Day looming.

Rendon, 28, is scheduled to become a free agent after this season.

It was reported earlier in the offseason that Rendon was seeking a deal similar to the one Jose Altuve received from the Houston Astros -- seven years and more than $160 million.

The Chicago Cubs and Kyle Hendricks have agreed to a four-year, $55 million extension.

The extension eliminates Hendricks' last year of arbitration.

Hendricks was 14-11 last season with a 3.44 ERA in a career-high 199 innings and 33 starts.

"Hopefully, watching the way I pitch and get guys out will relate to a lot of younger pitchers," Hendricks said Tuesday. "It's not always about velocity but about the way you go about getting guys out at the major league level."

The New York Mets have agreed to a contract extension with Jacob deGrom, according to league sources.

The five-year deal is worth a reported $137.5 million.

The contract includes a 2024 club option and an opt-out for the 2022 season.

If the option is picked up, the deal will be for six years and $170 million.

While discussing his recent 12-year, $430 million contract agreement with the Los Angeles Angels, Mike Trout admitted that he was scared off by the lengthy free agencies of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.

"I kind of saw what Bryce and Manny went through and it drew a red flag for me," Trout said. "I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple months in the offseason. They put it perspective in my mind. I obviously want to be an Angel for life. That was a big key."

Harper and Machado were free agents until mid-February.

"If we hadn't gotten a deal done it would have been tough for me," Trout said. "I obviously wanted to be here. I said I want to deal with it now. If not [I'm going] to explore free agency. I didn't want to go through the next few seasons thinking 'am I going to get a deal or not?'"

Paul Dolan does not envision a scenario in the future in which the Cleveland Indians sign a player to a contract in the 10-year, $300 million range. For Dolan, Cleveland signing Edwin Encarnacion to a three-year, $60 million contract was even the type of outlay they found difficult to justify.

“No, but I never foresaw us doing a deal like we did with Encarnacion,” Dolan said in his spring-training office during a recent sit-down interview with The Athletic. “You don’t know. Probably the day when we do a deal like that is when somebody else is doing $1 billion deals with somebody else.”

Francisco Lindor is one of the best players in the game and will surely command a megadeal once he becomes a free agent if he doesn't sign an extension with Cleveland before then.

Dolan was asked how he would advise fans of the Indians on the Lindor issue.

“Enjoy him,” Dolan said. “We control him for three more years. Enjoy him and then we’ll see what happens.”

Dolan said he isn’t “bothered by the fact we can’t chase the high-end” free agents but added that “where it is painful is when you have one of your own that you can’t keep because the market for them is set by larger markets.”

The Atlanta Braves are still interested in signing Craig Kimbrel.

The reliever remains unsigned with Opening Day just a few days away. In addition to the Braves, the Milwaukee Brewers have been linked to Kimbrel recently as well.

Kimbrel pitched for Atlanta for five seasons before moving onto the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox.

The Houston Astros and Justin Verlander have agreed to a two-year, $66 million extension. The deal runs through the 2021 season.

Verlander would have become a free agent after the 2019 season.

Verlander was traded from the Detroit Tigers to Houston on Aug. 31, 2017, and helped the Astros win their first World Series that season.

Verlander is entering his 15th season and is now 36 years old.

The Houston Astros and Justin Verlander are mutually interested in a contract extension, according to owner Jim Crane.

Crane said that if a deal is agreed upon, it would most likely be before the season.

"I don't think anything is final, but if it's going to get done, it's going to get done before we get out of here," Crane said of Florida, where the Astros are for Spring Training. "He doesn't really like to do it during the season, but that could change, too. There's interest on both sides, so we'll see what happens."

Verlander will be a free agent after the 2019 season.

Alex Bregman signed a long-term deal with the Houston Astros, but says the decision wasn't impacted by baseball's second-straight slow free agent market.

"I wanted to play here," he said. "I didn't want to play anywhere else. I wanted to be in orange and blue for as long as I possibly can. I love this organization. I want to win here for a long time."

Bregman signed a five-year, $100 million contract covering 2020-24.

The Astros picked Bregman with the No. 2 overall pick in 2015.