BASEBALL

• From an excerpt from Kostya Kennedy's book on Pete Rose in Sports Illustrated:
  As unsettling as it is to imagine an active major league player engaged in baseball betting, a manager's involvement may be even more ominous. A corrupted manager - for example, one who might want to throw a game as a way to help erase a personal gambling debt - would have ample opportunity to make lineup and strategy decisions that work to undermine his team.
  Even if a manager only wagered on his team to win, he might be swayed to give that short-term gambling interest precedence over his team's long-term needs. Theoretically, for example, in the mid-1980s as Reds manager Pete Rose bet heavily and regularly on his team, he might have called upon an already overtaxed relief pitcher to try to win a particular game rather than preserve the pitcher for the long haul of the season. While this may seem a trivial baseball sublety to those outside the game, it's a real issue on the ground. So it should be noted that Rose had a lefthander in the bullpen, Rob Murphy, who in 1987 and '88 appeared in 163 games, the most in the National League. Murphy was effective (he had a 3.06 ERA over that time) but not remarkably so. In '88, for example, he went 0-6. ...
  Of all the ways one might characterize the differences and similarities between Rose and those players known to have used performance-enhancing drugs - the Hall of Shamers, as it were - it comes to this: Rose has been banished for the incalculable damage he might have done to the foundation of the game. Steroid users are reviled for the damage they actually did.
  
  
• Paul Daugherty in USA Today Sports Weekly:
  Now that Homer Bailey's six-year, $105 million contract extension with the Cincinnati Reds is official, a father with foresight will kiss his newborn, hold him to his chest and ... tell him to take good care of his pitching arm.
  Starting pitching is hot. It's hotter than Google's initial public offering. It's bigger than any oil strike in Texas or any tech start-up could ever be.
  The Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw will make $215 million in the next seven years. At least he's young and fabulous. A.J. Burnett, 37, will make $15 million this year and possibly $33 million in the next two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. By the end of last season, Burnett was no better than the Pittsburgh Pirates' third-best starter. This seems like a reasonable definition of insanity.
  Bailey is a slightly better-than-average starting pitcher, if you have any faith in his career won-lost record. In seven seasons with the Reds, he is 49-45. Last year, he was 11-12 on a team that won 90 games.
  

FOOTBALL

• USA Today Sports Weekly on the Saints' off-season outlook:
  They re-emerged as an NFC power with the return of coach Sean Payton. Yet the Saints stumbled after a 9-2 start, fumbling the opportunity to stay in the Superdome for the playoffs, an advantage that might have conferred a Super Bowl trip. But thanks to surprising production in the run game and a defense successfully revamped by coordinator Rob Ryan, the Saints did get their first-ever road playoff victory before being vanquished by the Seahawks. Sustaining balance on both sides of the ball seems like the key to make another title run.
  After losing picks the past two years as penance for Bountgate, GM Mickey Loomis will be thrilled to have a full complement of selections. He has done an excellent job of finding elite talent with mid-level choices. But he hasn't gone offense with his top pick since 2007, a trend Ryan would surely like to see continue.
  
  
• Stewart Mandell of SI on the tabled 10-second delay rule for college football:
  Even if the [rules] committee's intentions are genuine, its solution is clunky. An ESPN poll of all 128 FBS coaches found that only 25 supported it. The panel needs to devise something less disruptive. Perhaps teams should simply be afforded an extra 30-second timeout each half for a safety-related substitution; whoever is removed from the game could not return for the rest of that series.

David Laurila in Baseball Digest (March/April 2014) offers his all-star team of players who posted a career batting average below .250 but were valuable with solid on-base and slugging percentages and defensive reliability.
Statistics listed for each player are batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage.

• C Gene Tenace (1969-83), .241/.388/.426
  Drew more than 100 walks six times, 201 HRs
• 1B Darrell Evans (1969-89), .248/.361/.431
  Bill James called him "most underrated player in baseball history."
• 2B Dick McAuliffe (1960-75), .247/.343/.403
  Hit into only five DPs from 1967-70; good power for middle infielder (197 HR).
• SS Donie Bush (1908-23), .250/.356/.300
  Playing in dead-ball era, regularly ranked among league leaders in runs scored thanks to high walk and SB totals.
• 3B Graig Nettles (1967-88), .248/.329/.421
  All-Star six times; pair of Gold Gloves despite playing at same time as Brooks Robinson and Buddy Bell.
• RF Jimmy Wynn (1963-77), .250/.366/.436
  Stole 225 bases and twice led NL in outfield putouts and assists.
• CF Mike Cameron (1995-2011), .249/.338/.444
  Using defensive metric Ultimate Zone Rating, saved more than 100 more runs than the average outfielder.
• LF Adam Dunn (2001-present), .238/366/.495
  Has either walked, struck out, or hit HR in 50% of his plate appearances.
• DH Mickey Tettleton (1984-97), .241/.369/.449
  Switch-hitting version of Tenace.
  Reserves
• C Darrell Porter (1971-87), .247/.354/.409
  11 double-digit HR seasons.
• 2B Dan Uggla (2006-present), .246/.340/.458
  On pace to break Jeff Kent's record for most HRs by 2B.
• SS Eddie Joost (1936-55), .239/.361/.366
  Outstanding defensive SS.
• 3B Howard Johnson (1982-95), .249/.340/.446
  Three 30/30 seasons.
• OF Paul Blair (1964-80), .250/.302/.382
  On short list of best defensive CFs of all time.
• OF Greg Vaughn (1989-2000), .242/.337/.470
  One 50 HR season and another pair of 40+.