braun_09Say it ain't so, Ryan!

Baseball was hit with some bombshell news Saturday night, as ESPN is reporting that National League MVP Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and faces a 50-game suspension.

According to steroid investigative hounds Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn, the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder had to submit a urine sample to be tested during the playoffs. Braun was informed of the positive result in late October.

As could be expected, Braun is maintaining his innocence and disputing the test results through arbitration. Because of this, MLB has not officially announced the positive test.

"There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program," said a spokesman for Braun in a statement.

"While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and

AP110813139190 (1)The Arizona Diamondbacks may have been baseball's best story in 2011, unexpectedly rising to the top of the National League West after finishing at the bottom in 2010.

Not surprisingly, they enjoyed the view. What might be surprising, however, is how aggressive they're willing to be to stay there.

On Friday, Arizona GM Kevin Towers showed some of that aggression by adding a new arm to his already impressive crop of young pitchers, acquiring Trevor Cahill from the Oakland A's. Also coming back from the A's will be veteran left-handed reliever  Craig Breslow — who, as our own Dave Brown tells us, learned of the trade via Twitter — with top pitching prospect Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill and right-hander Ryan Cook all headed to Oakland.

It's a significant trade and one that I believe will work out very well for both sides assuming Parker can come all the way back from 2009 Tommy John surgery. But I really like the approach Towers is taking in the NL West. Despite their success last season, the division still appeared to be wide open with the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies all retooling with the belief Arizona was destined to take a step back.

Not so fast, Towers says. In one swift move, he has loudly and clearly stated his team is not only not going away, but they will again be the team to beat in 2012 and possibly beyond.

PaganAfter losing star shortstop Jose Reyes to the Miami Marlins over the weekend, the New York Mets remained reserved and mostly quiet for the first day and a half of baseball's winter meetings.

But they're reserved and quiet no more as general manager Sandy Alderson sprung into action late on Tuesday evening with a trade and a pair of signings to help replenish his depleted bullpen.

For the second time in a little over four months, Alderson found a match with Brian Sabean and the San Francisco Giants. In July, he shipped Carlos Beltran out West for San Francisco's top pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler. Now, with Beltran likely heading out of San Francisco, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports he'll provide them another outfielder in the form of 30-year-old switch-hitter Angel Pagan.

Pagan struggled to play through several minor ailments in 2011 and never seemed to get on track. He ended up posting a career-low .262 batting average, a disappointing .694 OPS, while committing 10 errors

AP070825041398Don't call it a week for comebacks.

Well, actually, at the rate we're going maybe we should.

On Sunday, we learned of Manny Ramirez's plans to return to Major League Baseball. That announcement came just hours before the winter meetings officially kicked off. Now, several writers stationed at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas are reporting that 38-year-old Dmitri Young — last seen with the Washington Nationals in 2008 — is also eyeing a return to the big leagues after complications from diabetes derailed his playing career.

According to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports, Young is currently in Dallas making the rounds, letting teams know of his availability. He also notes that Young has trimmed down to a healthy 230 pounds — 70 pounds less than his playing weight in '08. That's a truly significant weight loss and an obvious indication the man known as Da Meat Hook has worked hard to not only get healthy, which is the most important thing, but to also get himself back into playing shape.

My

AngelIannettaWhen Tony Reagins shipped Mike Napoli to the Toronto Blue Jays in the disastrous Vernon Wells trade, he did so with the understanding it would change the landscape of the Los Angeles Angels. Depending on who you want to believe, he may have also done so with the understanding that the Jays would flip Napoli to the Texas Rangers, thus changing the landscape of the entire league.

While Napoli went on to enjoy a true breakout season — career highs in home runs (30), RBIs (75), batting average (.320) and on-base percentage (.414) — which helped push Texas to the AL West crown and a second straight World Series appearance, Angels fans were forced to endure a three-handed monstrosity consisting of Mike Scioscia favorite Jeff Mathis, along with Bobby Wilson and Hank Conger. Together that trio hit .188 with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs in 605 plate appearances.

That's difficult to digest even if you hold no emotional ties to the Angels, but especially so for Reagins. He stepped down as Angels'

DeJesus

New general manager Jed Hoyer made it known on Tuesday that the Chicago Cubs were in the market for essentially everything, but specifically noted a left-handed bat was among the team's biggest needs.

Less than 24 hours later, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports was reporting the Cubs had signed a new left-handed bat in 31-year-old outfielder David DeJesus. The new deal, which SI's Jon Heyman reports is worth $10 million over two years, makes DeJesus the first acquisition of the Theo Epstein regime in Chicago.

It's not the splashy first move many fans were likely hoping for, but the affordable deal is a good place to start their offseason shopping. It's also safe to assume DeJesus alone won't satisfy their desire for left-handed punch. However, the veteran's presence should give them a regular right fielder and a possible top of the order fixture for at least the next two seasons, and possibly beyond if Chicago exercises the $6.5 million option in 2014.

Down year in 2011 aside, DeJesus is

WiggytoPhillyWhile other teams are overspending for defensive-minded middle infielders not likely to advance them up the standings, the Philadelphia Phillies have expertly acquired a decent piece of corner infield insurance at a very affordable rate.

As first reported by Fox Sports' Jon Morosi on Sunday afternoon, the Phillies will receive Ty Wigginton from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for a marginal prospect to be named later or a sum of cash to be determined later. So next to nothing in terms of baseball value is lost, and they'll be splitting Wigginton's $4 million salary.

Basically, the Phillies just signed Ty Wigginton for one year at $2 million, which means they will pay him about 40 percent of Clint Barmes' average salary with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Different needs? Yes. Different markets? Yes again. But this deal for Philadelphia really illustrates the difference between an organization understanding what it needs to stay in the hunt and how to acquire it reasonably, and another

AP110707052186It's tough to find good middle infield help these days.

At least that's what the market would suggest after another bland, unexciting and honestly not all that likely to make a significant impact middle infielder has signed for a lot of money with a team I wouldn't anticipate having a lot of financial flexibility.

First, it was the Minnesota Twins inking the soon to be 38-year-old Jamey Carroll to a two-year, $6.75 million deal with the intention of letting him compete to be their everyday shortstop. We'll see how that plays out.

Next, it was 34-year-old Mark Ellis signing a two-year, $8.75 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, essentially taking Carroll's roster spot, but not providing nearly the versatility as a second baseman only. That right on the heels of Los Angeles signing Matt Kemp to the largest contract in National League history (for now).

Now comes word from SI.com's Jon Heyman that the Pittsburgh Pirates have come to terms on a two-year deal with Clint Barmes