The Athletics and Mariners reportedly christened the 2012 regular season with two games at the Tokyo Dome last week, but since the games were slated to start at 6:10 a.m. EDT, no independent confirmation has yet been obtained. Stateside, big-league play that counts begins tonight in a gaudy new ballpark in Miami when the Marlins host the defending-champion Cardinals.

For those of you who took the winter off — hey, don’t feel bad: ESPN’s Skip Bayless seemingly mails in his baseball analysis year-round — here is a little of what transpired while you were in National Pastime hibernation.

FREE-AGENT SPLASHES Is December 8, 2011, a date that will live in infamy for the Angels’ AL West opponents? Could be, as the Angels signed both Albert Pujols ($240 million over 10 years, plus $7 million for breaking the all-time home-run record) and C. J. Wilson ($77.5 million over five) to long-term deals.

Of course, the two-time defending AL winners did not stand pat. The Rangers won the bidding rights to Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Yu Darvish, ultimately signing the ace ($60 million over five years plus the $52 million posting fee). His first Cactus League start impressed the experts and expectations are high.

Days after Victor Martinez went down with a season-ending injury, the Tigers snatched up the other monster bat at first base, showering $214 million and nine years on Prince Fielder. The resulting logjam means that the defensively challenged Miguel Cabrera is returning to play third base, at least until either hilarity or tragedy ensues.

The Marlins were busy too. Although they whiffed on signing Pujols, the club inked free-agent deals with both shortstop Jose Reyes, worth $111 million over six years, and pitcher Mark Buehrle, who received $58 million over four. (The Fish even took bombastic manager Ozzie Guillen off the White Sox’s hands.)

The Phillies scooped up premier closer Jonathan Papelbon, albeit at a steep price. (The rest of the offseason has been most unkind to the City of Brotherly Love. Still, Philly fans ought not to be overly worried.)

Having lost Pujols, St. Louis re-signed a rejuvenated Lance Berkman to play first base and recruited Carlos Beltran to patrol right field. Having lost Fielder’s offense, Milwaukee brought in third baseman Aramis Ramirez.

Even the thrifty and borderline homeless A’s made their share of splashes, surprising the baseball world by spending $36 million on Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, who will play center field, and giving a contract to Manny Ramirez, who will be the club’s designated hitter once he serves his PED-related suspension.

TRADES OF NOTE Several young and talented (and cost-controlled) pitchers were dealt. The Reds obtained Mat Latos from the Padres, the A’s traded away Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez to the Diamondbacks and Nationals respectively, and the Mariners sent their highly touted hurler Michael Pineda to the Bronx in exchange for the Yankees’ prized catcher/designated hitter Jesus Montero. (On other pinstripe-related notes, the Yankees further strengthened their rotation by picking up Hiroki Kuroda, persuading C. C. Sabathia not to opt out of his contract, and jettisoning A. J. Burnett.)

Don’t look now, but the Indians may have quietly assembled one of the top rotations in the game, particularly after acquiring veteran sinkerballer Derek Lowe from the Braves.

Oakland GM Billy Beane also sent his youngish closer, Andrew Bailey, to Boston, which is still reeling from the seven-year, $124 million investment in Carl Crawford last offseason. The Red Sox kept clear of this year’s free-agent market but did make two other trades of note, shipping out both of their shortstops: Marco Scutaro to the Rockies and Jed Lowrie to the Astros.

AWARDS AND OTHER ACTS OF RECOGNITION Justin Verlander was the unanimous pick for the AL Cy Young award; subsequently, he also captured the MVP. Clayton Kershaw beat out Roy Halladay for the Cy in the Senior Circuit. The Baseball Writers Association of America voted for Ryan Braun for NL MVP, but one month later, news broke that the Brewers’ left fielder had tested positive for a banned substance. An arbitration panel broke with precedent and ruled in the player’s favor. Braun subsequently questioned the integrity of the professional in charge of the urine sample, which the specimen collector vigorously defended.

The Fielding Bible awards were handed out to the game’s best defenders — the Yankees’ Brett Gardner got 2011’s highest score — and the Gold Gloves were announced too.

Cooperstown opened its doors to third baseman Ron Santo and shortstop Barry Larkin. Alas, my other choices for the Hall of Fame were given a rather wintry reception.

COMINGS AND GOINGS Tony LaRussa called it quits after 33 seasons — the last 16 in St. Louis — and three World Series titles. Other notables hanging up the cleats include center fielder Mike Cameron, future Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez, catcher Jorge Posada, catcher Jason Varitek, and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

Chipper Jones announced that he will retire after this season.

Aside from Manny, two pitchers are returning to the bigs after sabbaticals: Andy Pettitte, who is in his age-40 season, and Jamie Moyer, who will hit the half-century mark shortly after season’s end.

There were major front office shakeups in Anaheim, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago (NL), Houston, and San Diego. In addition to the Cards bringing in Mike Matheny to replace LaRussa and the Marlins’ Guillen hire, the Red Sox (see below), Cubs, Marlins (see above), and White Sox also brought in new skippers. (With Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer now running the Cubs, one wonders if the North Siders will soon get to celebrate for real.)

Rest in peace: Matty Alou, 72; Furman Bisher, 93; Gary Carter, 59; Bob Forsch, 61; Don Mueller, 84; Mel Parnell, 89; Ray Narleski, 83; Harry Wendelstedt, 73.

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT We learned that Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona is not Fausto Carmona. Unfortunately for Yankees fans, Joba Chamberlain is indeed Joba Chamberlain, dislocating his ankle while bouncing around on a trampoline with his son. Another reliever who calls the Bronx home, David Robertson, also got injured performing a non-baseball activity. Two closers, Ryan Madson of the Reds and Joakim Soria of the Royals, are expected to miss all of 2012 with elbow injuries, although both teams have able replacements ready: Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton.

Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez, still steaming over how his contract situation was handled while playing for the Rockies, beaned Colorado’s franchise player, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, in a spring training game last weekend, earning the hothead pitcher a five-game suspension and heated words from his former manager in Denver, Jim Tracy.

In contrast, Mets knuckleballer R. A. Dickey hiked up the tallest mountain on the African continent and may be the healthiest guy on his roster.

Wilson Ramos was the victim of a kidnapping in his native Venezuela.

The all-time home-run king, Barry Bonds, was given a 30-day house arrest/two-year probation sentence, pending appeal, after being convicted on a single federal obstruction-of-justice charge related to a long steroids-related investigation and prosecution.

Recovering alcoholic Josh Hamilton suffered a setback, which may have given the Rangers second thoughts about extending his contract.

INSIDE THE GAME A new collective-bargaining agreement was approved, although not everyone was thrilled. Two new wildcards have been added. The Astros will move to the AL West in 2013, meaning that interleague games will be played all season long.

Bobby Valentine and Terry Francona swapped jobs, with the former joining the Red Sox and the latter sliding into the ESPN broadcast booth.

Moments before opening arguments were set to begin, Mets ownership settled with the Madoff bankruptcy trustee, which means that the franchise, while weakened financially, will not get sold anytime soon. Meanwhile, the Frank McCourt era of the Dodgers is coming to a close with the announcement that the team is being sold for a staggering $2 billion.

A half-hour show on MLB Network digging into baseball analytics entertained the “thinking fan” but now appears set to go on hiatus until season’s end. (Reportedly, related segments featuring host Brian Kenny will get incorporated into MLB Tonight.)

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So now that you know what’s in the rear-view mirror, go ahead and bone up on what’s to come over the course of the next six months. An easy-to-digest team-by-team preview can be found here.

As for my regular and post-season predictions, they can be found today at Right Field. (Sneak peak: The Tigers, not the Volt, will light up the city of Detroit this fall.)

Play ball!

— Jason Epstein, a bruised Mets fan and Nationals season-ticket holder, is president of Southfive Strategies, LLC, and a contributor to Right Field.