Report: Bumgarner's 8-team no-trade list includes contenders only

With free agency on the horizon at the end of this season, San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner is thought to be a prime candidate to be dealt this July at the trade deadline.

But thanks to an eight-team no-trade clause, the veteran hurler would have some choice in deciding where he could potentially go.

Bumgarner's no-trade list includes the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

The four-time All-Star apparently chose this group of contending teams strategically, and they are not teams he wants to avoid playing for, Rosenthal added. By doing this, Bumgarner would need to approve a trade to one of these clubs, thus giving him leverage as to where he could land if a deal were made.

The 29-year-old was being pursued by several teams during the offseason including the Phillies and Brewers, and has a 2-4 record with a 3.99 ERA so far this year.