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It was revealed Saturday night that Braun tested positive for synthetic testosterone in early October. A test taken a few weeks later came up negative, but he’ll have to prove his innocence in arbitration with Major League Baseball. If the positive result is not overturned, he’ll serve a 50-game suspension beginning on Opening Day. Braun couldn’t say much more Saturday because the case is being decided soon.

The deal is pending a physical. Furcal, 34, batted .231/.298/.348 with eight homers and a .646 OPS over 368 plate appearances between the Dodgers and Cardinals this past season. After recently undergoing an appendectomy, he is fully expected to be ready for the start of spring training. His signing likely rules out another possible destination for Jimmy Rollins.

Oakland will receive prospect right-hander Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill and a third player in return. That third player better be pretty good, because this is somewhat of a disappointing haul for someone who is locked up at a very reasonable rate through 2017. Cahill, who turns 24 in March, has a 3.91 ERA over his first 96 big-league starts. He should fit quite nicely behind Daniel Hudson and Ian Kennedy in Arizona’s rotation.

Allen Craig is likely to miss the first month of the season while recovering from knee surgery, and the Cards want to add a “bridge” for that time to compensate for the loss. Beltran also would offer the ability to play center field against left-handers while Jon Jay sits. They could also potentially see him as an upgrade to Jay in center if they think Beltran is capable of playing the position on a regular basis.

Olney lists left-hander Martin Perez as a prospect the A’s would likely target in any potential deal. With the starting pitching market drying up after the C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle signings, Gonzalez has appeal to a lot of teams, especially since he’s quite affordable. The Blue Jays, Nationals, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Royals, Marlins, Reds and Yankees have also expressed some degree of interest in the lefty.

Rosenthal didn’t name any of the teams, but there are a few clubs out there looking for a closer that are sure to at least send feelers out on a possible deal for K-Rod. Rodriguez accepted arbitration from the Brewers, which means he’s set to earn around $13-14 million in 2012. Although Milwaukee insists they’re OK with paying that much to a setup man, they’re going to see what the market is for K-Rod.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times says the deal also includes three club options from 2017-19 that could raise the total value of the contract to $37.5 million over eight years, and there are also escalators that could push it past $40 million. It’s always a risk to lock up anyone this young, especially a pitcher, but these kind of deals very often turn out to be club-friendly if the player cashes in on their potential. Moore, 22, has thrown just 9 1/3 career innings aside from his two postseason starts, but he’s viewed as the best pitching prospect in the game.

“I don’t know if they were completely happy… they didn’t agree to it,” general manager Walt Jocketty said.

Although all indications are that negotiations between the two sides are going well, it doesn’t appear that a deal is on the horizon. We would be surprised if something isn’t worked out before next season starts, though.

The Japanese website Sponichi previously reported that the Yanks have offered Kuroda a one-year, $12 million contract, but evidently that might not be the case. It would certainly make sense that they would pursue Kuroda in their quest to upgrade pitching, but perhaps they’re considering a bid on Yu Darvish and want to see how that plays out first.