2012 – Newly-acquired Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett fractures an eye socket when he fouls a ball into his face during a bunting drill. He will undergo surgery in two days and will be out until April 21st.

2012 – The A’s get some bad news when tests on the injured knee of 3B Scott Sizemore reveal a torn ligament, leaving the team without its starter at the hot corner for the entire season. He will undergo surgery once the swelling in his knee subsides.

The Nationals and All-Star 3B Ryan Zimmerman agree on a $100 million contract extension that will keep him with the team until 2019.

The Indians get some bad news as closer Chris Perez is sidelined with a strained oblique muscle and is out for 4 to 6 weeks. He blames the injury on going all-out during his first session on the mound in spring training.

Oft-injured fireballing reliever Joel Zumaya suffers another setback, after throwing only 13 pitches in a batting practice session for the Twins. He leaves the mound in obvious pain and will be diagnosed tomorrow with a torn ligament in his elbow, putting him out for the season, and ending his career.

The group featuring former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre announces it is bowing out of the bidding for the team because current owner Frank McCourt will not include the parking lots outside Dodger Stadium in the package. McCourt built his now-threatened fortune by operating parking lots in large cities. Torre’s group states that by keeping control of this key resource, McCourt will make it impossible for the winning bidders to manage the team’s assets effectively. The group, which was among the favorites to emerge as the new owners at the end of the court-supervised process, leaves the door open to a re-engagement if the terms of the sale are changed to include the disputed lots.

Ryan Braun becomes the first major league player to successfully appeal a positive PED test when arbitrator Shyam Das rules in his favor with regard to a positive test performed during the 2011 postseason. The test showed a testosterone level so high as to be almost unimaginable without outside interference. The three-man pannel chaired by Das rules that the fact that proper protocol was not followed in collecting and storing the sample prior to testing, makes it impossible to be certain that it has not been subject to tampering at some point. Braun had proclaimed his innocence all along, and now no longer faces a 50-game suspension.

2012 – Two relievers find new homes in their bids to extend their careers. David Aardsma, the former Seattle Mariners closer who missed all of 2011 because of a hip problem and Tommy John surgery, signs a one-year deal with the Yankees, while the Angels ink 39-year-old Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal.

2012 – The Cubs and Red Sox finally agree on compensation for the Cubs’ hiring of Boston GM Theo Epstein to be their team President while Epstein was still under contract earlier this off-season. The Cubs agree to send pitcher Chris Carpenter to the BoSox, and the two teams will also exchange players to be named later to complete the deal.