Steve Nesius / Reuters

From left, Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Desmond Jennings celebrate a grand slam. Those three are emblematic of the Rays' remarkable success since 2008, writes Tony DeMarco.

Q: Do you believe the Reds have the deepest and most-deadly bullpen in baseball? If not, who ranks with them?
— Bradley Legg, Elsmere, Ky.

A: Reds relievers have an edge over other bullpens in a handful of major statistical measures, but it's very close.

Through Monday, they led all bullpens in ERA at 2.78, with the Pirates, Rays and A's bullpens in the 2.90s.

Reds relievers also lead in strikeouts per nine (thank you very much, Aroldis Chapman), and were second in opponents' on-base percentage to the Pirates, and second in opponents' batting average to the Rays.

Chapman obviously is having a breakout, dominating season for the ages, and will earn some Cy Young Award consideration. A quick look at eye-popping numbers through Monday: 1.35 ERA, 60 innings, 28 hits, 15 walks, 110 strikeouts, 16.5 strikeouts/nine innings, 0.72 WHIP.

But significant contributions also have been made by Alfredo Simon, Sean Marshall, Jose Arredondo (all with sub-3.00 ERAs), Logan Ondrusek and Sam Lecure. Jonathan Broxton's results have been mixed so far, and his eighth-inning outings will be key down the stretch and into the post-season.

We also should mention the fact that Reds starters have totaled more innings than every other rotation except the Giants and Phillies, making the bullpen's job a bit shorter each night.

Q: Why aren't agents, general managers and owners held accountable for encouraging, promoting and/or tolerating the use of performance-enhancing drugs? Aren't they clearly aware of the actions that affect their million(s)-dollar investments? Billion-dollar team, and clueless? Really?
— M. Johnson, Corvallis, Ore.

Jim Rogash / Getty Images The Week in Sports Pictures The nation grieved for those hurt, killed and affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. After one of the suspects was caught on Friday — following a day-long lockdown and manhunt — sports returned to Boston over the weekend.

To date, commissioner Bud Selig has shown no inclination to go after teams or their front-office employees, instead placing all emphasis on the drug-testing program.

But perhaps at some point, there will be enough support for a repeat-offender penalty — by which a team with too many cases of PED-using players could be fined or otherwise penalized.

And at this point, let's face it, the prime suspect team has to be the San Francisco Giants. Besides Melky Cabrera, they recently have employed three other tainted players — Jose Guillen, Guillermo Mota and Miguel Tejada — not to mention Barry Bonds and a handful of other players who turned up in the Mitchell Report.

Agents could be easier and likelier targets, as they work for players, and therefore could face sanctions if their clients continue to turn up dirty.

More news

Brian Garfinkel / Getty Images

Chooch's hammy a worry for Phils

HBT: Carlos Ruiz was lifted from Sunday afternoon’s game against the Reds after straining his right hamstring while running the bases in the bottom of the second inning.

CSN: Phils touch Reds' Chapman for 2 HRs

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