The San Francisco Giants have discussed a potential Ryan Braun trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, but the Brewers wanted both salary relief and good players in return.

The Brewers have been asking for a lot in exchange for Braun all along. Now that Milwaukee is also off to a good start, the timeline for a potential Braun trade has likely been pushed back.

The Los Angeles Angels have acquired David Hernandez from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for a player to be named later or cash.

Hernandez isn't on the 40-man roster, but could join the Angels at the Major League level in the near future to add much needed pitching depth.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking outside the organization for outfield help as they continue to deal with Starling Marte's steroid suspension.

Pittsburgh promoted Jose Osuna after Marte was suspended 80 games because he tested positive for Nandrolone. Osuna, Adam Frazier and John Jaso have played right field with Andrew McCutchen moving back to center.

"If we felt there was something better internally at this point in time, we'd make that move," Neal Huntington said. "As we sit here today, this is the right 25 for us in our minds."

Huntington reiterated that the team does not plan to promote top outfield prospect Austin Meadows.

The Washington Nationals are dealing with bullpen issues, but they made an attempt to proactively fix the issues this past offseason.

Washington pursued Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon in free agency and David Robertson via trade "very aggressively," according to one team official.

The Nationals didn't finalize any deals because the asking prices "got beyond the threshold of our tolerance."

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers are still in touch regarding a potential Ryan Braun trade, but there is no indication that a deal is close.

Braun faces two trade deadlines this season with his 10-and-5 rights kicking in on May 24 and the mid-summer non-waiver deadline looming after that.

"I have such a great relationship with [Brewers owner] Mark Attanasio, [general manager] David Stearns and [assistant general manager] Matt Arnold," Braun said. "We're all really on the same page when it comes to my situation."

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired Joe Gunkel from the Baltimore Orioles for cash or a player to be named later in return.

The Orioles recently designated Gunkel for assignment.

Brian Cashman reached an agreement to trade Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs in late July last summer, but he had to sweat out approval from ownership.

While the framework of the deal had been reached, Chapman was still with the New York Yankees and pitched two innings on July 23.

"Chapman went two-plus innings, not something normally [that occurs] if you are going to execute a trade," Cashman said. "[Steinbrenner] waited 72 hours to green light it as he discussed it with his family. It was not an easy decision. I was keeping Theo [Epstein] on hold, essentially. I told him 'I will let you know if ownership says 'yes'.' I said 'I am recommending it. We'll see what happens.'"

The reliever was still a Yankee as the club boarded a charter flight on July 24th to play a series in Houston. When the Yankees arrived in Houston, ownership had approved the deal.

Ervin Santana could become a hot trade target in the early part of the season.

Santana is owed $28 million over the next two seasons, plus a $1 million buyout for 2019. He may not make as much of a difference to an interested team as Jose Quintana, but he'll cost less.

The Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins could all target Santana.