Jason Varitek to announce retirement from baseball on Thursday  —  Jason Varitek, a two-time World Series champion and the captain of the Red Sox from 2005-2011, will announce his retirement on Thursday in Fort Myers sources told the Globe today.  —  Varitek is expected to stay with the organization in some capacity.

Wilpons plan to be Mets' owners for ‘long time’  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — After surveying players warming up on the morning of the first full-squad workout, New York Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon reached into his pocket, pulled out a $5 bill and lightheartedly flashed them for the media.

Reds Extend Sean Marshall  —  The Reds announced a three-year extension with lefty reliever Sean Marshall, which runs through 2015.  The contract is worth $16.5MM, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.  Rosenthal notes there's $2MM in performance bonuses each year, $1MM for games started and $1MM for games finished.

AIRING IT OUT: ON THE MOUND AND OFF, JOSH BECKETT SEES NO REASON TO CHANGE  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — The spring training house is different, as are its surroundings.  This rental is much bigger than the rest of Josh Beckett's previous six spring training homes since the pitcher's arrival with the Red Sox.

More details on Zimmerman's contract  —  VIERA, Fla. — There have been a lot of numbers thrown around since yesterday about Ryan Zimmerman's contract extension, and there's been a bit of confusion over the total monetary value of the deal.  Is it a six-year, $100 million extension?

Fire causes minor damage at Fenway Park  —  The Red Sox are more than 1,000 miles away, but they had a small problem at home on Monday.  A local Boston CBS affiliate reported that fire crews put out a small blaze at Fenway Park on Monday morning, which reportedly caused around $30,000 in damages.

Royals To Extend Salvador Perez  —  The Royals announced that they signed catcher Salvador Perez to a five-year contract that includes three club options.  Morgan Advisory Group represents Perez.  —  The deal buys out Perez's three pre-arbitration seasons and two of his seasons of arbitration eligibility.

Molina, Cards closing on deal  —  JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals and Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina are close to agreement on a multi-year extension likely to make Molina the seventh catcher in the game's history to realize a deal with an average annual value exceeding $10 million.

Harper, Trout, and Moore: Free Agents?  —  The offseason deals handed out to Japanese superstar Yu Darvish and Cuban tools king Yoenis Cespedes, as well as the returns generated in the trade market for young talent like Gio Gonzalez, are further proof that there is nothing more valuable …

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong  —  In Defense of Ryan Braun  —  The undeniable idiocy of baseball's steroids “crisis”  —  The system, we are told, worked.  That's always the second-last refuge of scoundrels.  The system, we were told after the Watergate scandal, had “worked,” even though it hadn't, not fully.