Jason Varitek to announce retirement from baseball on Thursday  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. — Jason Varitek, a two-time World Series champion and the captain of the Red Sox from 2005-11, will announce his retirement here on Thursday, 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.

Scott Sizemore out for season with torn ACL in left knee  —  Scott Sizemore injured his left knee during a fielding drill on Saturday and the Athletics just announced that he'll miss the entire 2012 season due to a torn ACL.  Jane Lee of MLB.com reports that the 27-year-old will be reevaluated in two weeks before surgery is scheduled.

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.

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.

Cards, Molina soon to finalize extension  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Citing an unnamed source, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a report on Monday stating that the Cardinals and catcher Yadier Molina are expected to finalize terms of a multiyear extension by the end of the week.

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.

Royals To Extend Salvador Perez  —  The Royals announced that they signed catcher Salvador Perez to a five-year contract that includes three club options.  Perez will earn a guaranteed $7MM over the course of the five-year contract, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports (Twitter links).

Magic Johnson leads one of seven Dodgers bidding groups to advance  —  The owner of the Memphis Grizzlies and a Milwaukee Brewers investor are in two groups eliminated from the process Monday.  Sources say Johnson's group is among five potential owners with L.A. ties that remain in contention.

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?

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 …

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.