2012 MLB Spring Training

Dontrelle Willis has signed a minor-league contract with the Baltimore Orioles, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN. According to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, it is a "split contract that's worth $700k for bigs."

Houston Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez had a decent rookie season, compiling a .274/.319/.423 slash average with six home runs and 35 RBI in 226 plate appearances after joining the team in late July. 

Though he's slated to be the Astros starting left fielder this season, Martinez wanted to be in great shape when he got to spring training. To achieve that, he wanted to be pushed hard. So hard that he'd leave his effort all over the training room. Literally. 

Earlier today, Buster Olney reported that Miguel Cabrera has a small fracture under his right eye and might be out a week or two.

Spring training statistics are nothing to swear by, but it has been hard to ignore the impressive numbers Cincinnati Reds prospect Todd Frazier has been posting this preseason.

Through 25 plate appearances, the 26-year-old third baseman is leading Cincinnati in batting average (.280), home runs (three), RBI (eight), runs (eight) and stolen bases (two).

Andy Pettitte is one of the most popular players of the Joe Torre era that netted the Yankee franchise four World Series rings and six trips to the October classic. 

His return was met with far more excitement than skepticism; after all, Pettitte won't be 40 until June and even though he hasn't pitched since 2010, he managed to amass an 11-3 record and a 3.28 ERA in what was assumed to be his final season as a major league pitcher. 

In a move that shocked nearly everyone in the baseball world, Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees agreed on a one-year deal, this morning, worth $2.5 million, effectively ending Pettitte's retirement.

The deal is a minor league pact with an invitation to the Major League Spring Training.

Pettitte retired after an 11-3 season with a 3.28 ERA in 2010, leaving many fans wanting more. He was an All-Star that season, and many believed that he had retired too soon.

23-year-old Michael Pineda has been the target of the firestorm known as New York media since his arrival via trade in mid-January. The New York Post criticized him for showing up to camp pushing 280 pounds, nearly ten pounds heavier than at the end of the season.

The Yankees were no match for the newly-extended Andrew McCutchen and the Pirates today in Bradenton. To celebrate his new six-year contract with Pittsburgh, McCutchen killed the Yankees for two hits and two RBI.

You never want to say a guy has a lack of velocity after the first start of spring training, but Michael Pineda has been known to throw much harder than what we saw in his debut with the New York Yankees.

According to a tweet from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, scouts were slightly concerned over Pineda's declined velocity from his first start of the Spring.

To counterbalance our own Spring Training positional rankings for Catcher and First Base or Second Base and Shortstop, here are the current Average Draf