As the Houston Astros prepare for the start of the season, one of the biggest topics of conversation has to be Alex Bregman's contract status. Bregman has yet to receive an offer from the club, as he prepares to play in the final year of his deal.

Extension talks with Kyle Tucker haven't gone very far either, but Astros GM Dana Brown has been adamant that the team will make both players an offer. The Astros have an extra year to negotiate with Tucker, as he's not set to be a free agent until after the 2025 season.

So as we wait for some movement on these situations, something Dana Brown said this week at spring training caught our attention. The Athletic's Chandler Rome recently wrote about Brown's interest in getting players signed to pre-arbitration extensions. Something Brown had a lot of success doing while he was in the Atlanta Braves front office.

Astros pitcher Cristian Javier signed one before the start of last season. He inked a deal for 5-years, $64 million shortly after Brown took the job as Astros GM.

Who could be next?

The players that fit this description currently would be Jeremy Pena, Yainer Diaz, and Bryan Abreu. Out of those three, Abreu would make the most sense to extend at this time. At this early stage in their careers, it's hard to know what caliber of players Pena and Diaz will ultimately be.

But Abreu looks like he's going to be a quality high-leverage reliever for years to come. The Astros could buy out his next two years of arbitration and offer him a contract extension that would keep him in Houston long-term.

With Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly likely to leave in free agency after the 2025 season, having Abreu and Josh Hader locked in to pitch the 8th and 9th innings moving forward makes a ton of sense.

Pressly's $14 million would be off the books, along with Montero's $11.5 million in 2026. The club could use that savings to pay Abreu.

Hader is under contract through the 2028 season. It would be great to sign Abreu long-term so he could eventually be the closer when Hader's deal is up.

Around the league

Plus, how will Zack Wheeler's 3-year, $126 million contract extension with the Phillies impact Framber Valdez?

Be sure to watch the video above as we break it all down!

Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan every Monday on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. We'll continue to drop more episodes throughout the week.