(USA Today)We’ll never forget the scary kidnapping ordeal Wilson Ramos went through in his native Venezuela towards the end of 2011. Thankfully, the Washington Nationals catcher was found unharmed and rescued in short order, allowing him to return to his family and the rest of us to breathe a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, massive security issues still exist in Venezuela. Crazy people are still out there trying to take advantage of those vulnerabilities, and over the weekend the family of Detroit Tigers pitcher Brayan Villarreal found themselves as targets of another armed kidnapping attempt.

[MLB news: Bud Selig complains that MLB drug penalties aren't stiff enough]

Tom Gage of the Detroit News confirmed and reported the news this afternoon. Though details were sketchy at that point, we were just happy to hear Villerreal's family survived the attempt and are currently safe.

The Tigers confirmed Sunday that the family of relief pitcher Brayan Villarreal was the target of an unsuccessful armed kidnapping on Friday night in Venezuela.

No members of Villarreal's family were harmed, however, and the incident won't require him to leave spring training.

Villarreal has since authorized his agent Hector Gomez to fill in the frightening details, which he did while speaking to ESPN Deportes:

Cuba's catcher Erier Sanchez talks with winning pitcher Ismel Jimenez. (AP)Cuba 5, Brazil 2: Another respectable showing for the valiant underdogs from Brazil. In fact, starting pitcher Andre Rienzo held the heavily favored Cuban team hitless into the fifth inning, but that's the where the wheels came loose after he issued a leadoff walk and allowed a one out single. Cuba would cash both of those runs to end Rienzo’s night and then strike for three more in the sixth to make it 5-0.

Cuban starter Ismel Jimenez tossed four and two-thirds scoreless to earn the win on the mound. Raciel Iglesias picked up the easy save. Offensively, Frederich Cepeda and Erisbel Arruebarruena paced the attack with two hits apiece. Arruebarruena added two RBI out of the No. 9 spot.

Brazil would strike for two in the sixth to make things interesting, but lost out on another scoring chance one inning later when first base umpire Carlos Rey ruled that Juan Carlos Muniz missed first base on his leadoff double. It was an awkward turn around the bag, but replays showed pretty clearly that Muniz right toe kicked the bag on the approach. Bad call. Tough break. And that was all she wrote.

The loss drops Brazil to 0-2 in the tournament and puts them in a near impossible position to advance. They'll give it a go anyway Tuesday morning at 3 a.m. ET when they face off against China. For Cuba, this was their tournament opener. They'll look to go 2-0 against China at 2:30 a.m. ET on Monday.

(AP)While meeting with the media on Saturday, Commissioner Bud Selig announced that he’s pushing hard for Major League Baseball and the players’ association to come to terms on stricter punishments for performance-enhancing drug offenses, with an eye towards first and second time offenders.

Under the current system, first time offenders face a suspension of 50 games, second time offenders get 100 games and a third offense results in a lifetime ban. According to Selig, that scale hasn't done enough to deter players from taking their chances with PEDs, and the sooner they put more significant sanctions in place the better.

Here’s a snippet of the announcement courtesy of USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale:

"My view," Selig said, "is that it should be done as expeditiously as possible…. "We've made meaningful adjustments to our testing and now the time has come to make meaningful adjustments to our penalties. I feel very strongly about this.

"This is for the best interest of this sport, and everybody in it."

It seems one of the motivating factors behind Selig’s new push stems from Melky Cabrera’s 50-game suspension for testosterone and his connection to the the Biogenesis facility in South Florida. Selig basically feels that Cabrera, who inked a two-year, $16 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays during offseason, actually came out ahead, which doesn’t exactly send the message to players that MLB desires.

Mike Trout and his agent were not smiling on Saturday. (USA Today)With Mike Trout still two years away from arbitration eligibility and negotiations with the team over his 2013 salary remaining a significant distance apart, the Los Angeles Angels exercised their right to renew his contract at a salary basically of their choosing.

The number the Angels ultimately settled on was $510,000, which is just $20,000 over the league minimum, about $28,000 more than he earned in 2012 (Trout spent April in the minors), and approximately 1/40th of what they‘ll be paying Vernon Wells.

Of course they also have a ton of money tied in contracts with Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, right on down the roster. But seriously, $510,000 is the best they can do?

That's just me writing. Now I'll give you one guess how well this went over with Trout's agent Craig Landis.

From The Los Angeles Times' Mike DiGiovanna:

“During the process, on behalf of Mike, I asked only that the Angels compensate Mike fairly for his historic 2012 season, given his service time,” Landis, said in an email. “In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a ‘fair’ contract, and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process.”

Outside of the Angels organization, Landis won't find too many arguments with that assessment. The number is flat out insulting for a player who posted a .326/.399/.564 slash line with 30 homers and 49 steals in just over five months of action. And that's not to mention the fact we're talking about a 20-year-old rookie who was just as good, if not better, in the field than he was at the plate.

(Angels/AP)It was the signature play of Mike Trout’s historic rookie season.

Some might even argue it was the catch of the year in all of baseball.

And now, like every other important figure and moment in baseball history, it will be commemorated in bobblehead form when the Los Angeles Angels host the Houston Astros on April 13.

Of course the play we’re talking about is Trout’s ridiculous over-the-wall catch at Camden Yards that robbed Baltimore Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy of a sure home run. At the time it happened, Big League Stew’s Kevin Kaduk likened it to Torii Hunter’s homer-robbing catch of Barry Bonds in the 2002 all-star game. That’s pretty special territory, but certainly deserving praise for a grab that defied gravity.

It’s also pretty fitting considering it was Hunter, then in right field for the Angels, who was the first player to congratulate Trout after he glided back to earth.

Honestly, you know the catch had to be special simply to stand

(AP)Japan 5, Brazil 3: The ultimate underdogs from Brazil nearly stunned the world again on Saturday morning. Already a surprise qualifier in the tournament after knocking off Panama in November, Brazil took a 3-2 lead over two-time defending champions Japan into the eighth inning before the overwhelming favorites righted the ship with a three-run rally.

Of course Japan would do it all with small ball and excellent execution. After Seiichi Uchikawa led off the inning with a single, Yoshio Itoi would bunt him into scoring position. That set the stage for pinch-hitter Hirokazu Ibata to tie the game with an RBI single. After another single and a walk loaded the bases, manager Koji Yamamoto turned to another pinch-hitter in Shinnosuke Abe. He would drive home the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice. Nobuhiro Matsuda then added the insurance with a single to center.

Nothing fancy there at all. Just solid team baseball with contributions up and down the roster.

As for Brazil, this was certainly an admirable effort with the odds seemingly stacked against them. After the game manager Barry Larkin spoke to how proud he was of of the way his team competed, but he certainly wasn't surprised.

'These players love to compete,'' Larkin said. ''They love a challenge and this was a challenge similar to the qualifiers when we beat Panama. I'm extremely proud of the way my players performed in this game.''

(Fox Sports West - MLB.TV)As the old cliché goes, it's spring training for everybody.

That includes players, umpires, announcers, and yes, even those behind the scenes of Major League Baseball telecasts need a little time to knock the rust off. For a classic example of just how bad it's needed by all parties involved, look no further than the person in charge of graphics for Fox Sports West during Friday afternoon's Cactus League battle for Los Angeles between the Angels and Dodgers.

With one of the Dodgers’ prized offseason signings, South Korea's Hyun-Jin Ryu, taking the hill for his second spring appearance, a graphic appeared correctly identifying Hyun-Jin as the starting pitcher. Good start, and really all that was necessary under the circumstance, but it was decided to go the extra mile by including the 26-year-old rookie’s career stats.

[Also: Aging Roy Halladay a legend among peers]

Unfortunately, with his official major league debut still one month away, he doesn’t have any of those just yet. The numbers you see actually belong to another South Korean pitcher named Jae-Kuk Ryu, who indeed hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2008 after cups of coffee with the Cubs and Rays, and at last check isn‘t even an active player.

Dusty Baker and Mark Prior in 2006. (AP)Reunited and it probably feels just as strange as it does good. After nearly seven years apart, Mark Prior and manager Dusty Baker are back together after the now 32-year-old right-hander inked a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds.

Of course this is significant because in the opinion of many it was Baker’s (over)use of Prior during the 2003 season that precipitated the shoulder issues that limited his action during the 04-05 and ultimately drove him out of the game in 2006. Perhaps there’s something to that, especially if Prior was rushed back too soon after his violent collision with Marcus Giles on July 11 of that season, but we also know that not all arms are built to last in the major league environment.

[Also: Aging Roy Halladay a legend among peers]

We'll never truly know who was right or wrong. But we do know that they’re back together, and as Baker told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, it’s now up to Prior to write his final chapter in baseball.

“He called me and said asked for a chance,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “I talked to Walt (Jocketty). (Prior) says he feels good. He feels like he has some unfinished business.

“This gives him one more chance or a chance at closure.”