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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The celebrity pecking order was clear when Major League Baseballs general managers gathered in a large conference room at the Omni Scottsdale Resort this week for two days of media availability. The New York Yankees Brian Cashman, Bostons Dave Dombrowski and Cubs World Series championship architects Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer attracted waves of cameras and reporters looking for updates on their offseason agendas.In a distant corner of the room, Erik Neander of the Tampa Bay Rays and David Forst of the Oakland Athletics could have died of loneliness. Thats an occupational hazard -- or a blessing, some might say -- that comes with working for small-market clubs that rarely make big offseason splashes.But the isolation was only temporary. Once the 30 teams disperse and take stock of their needs, the Rays and As are sure to receive plenty of attention.Neanders Rays employ Chris Archer, a charismatic young ace who has averaged 242 strikeouts over the past two seasons. Forst and the As have an appealing trade chip of their own in Sonny Gray, a 2015 All-Star who is still three years away from free agency. Both pitchers are coming off disappointing seasons, given their talent and pedigrees, but theyre about to become hot commodities as the hot-stove dialogue commences.Sonny has been a popular trade conversation for the last couple of years, so it wont be new, Forst said. Certainly its expected, and we have to be open to anything at this point considering where we are and how much work we have to do to catch up with the teams at the top of our division. I cant speak to how aggressive teams will be or when the calls will come in, but we have to be open to that conversation.With only a little prodding, Forst conceded its not a bad thing to be on the right end of the supply-and-demand spectrum.Its nice to have assets people want, he said.While the closer trio of Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon and power bats such as Edwin Encarnacion and Yoenis Cespedes will generate free-agent interest, MLBs hot-stove market will be driven by the desire for and relative scarcity of elite starting pitching. The Rangers, Astros, Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers and Red Sox are among the teams with the talent and motivation to pursue front-of-the-rotation arms. But theyre sure not going to find that commodity on the free-agent market.Rich Hill, generally regarded as the best free-agent pitcher available, crafted one of MLBs best feel-good stories this year when he emerged as Clayton Kershaws main wingman in Los Angeles. But Hill turns 37 in March, hes barely a year removed from pitching for the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League, and hes surpassed 100 innings only twice in 12 major league seasons.The other free-agent options come with similar reservations. Jeremy Hellickson had a nice year in Philadelphia, but signing him will require surrendering draft-pick compensation because he received a qualifying offer from the Phillies. Ivan Nova had a wonderful second half with Pittsburgh, but his career portfolio is underwhelming. And Andrew Cashner throws a fastball in the mid-90s, but his strikeout rate is mediocre and a lot of scouts think hes best suited to be a reliever.The rest of the field consists of Jason Hammel, Charlie Morton, Edinson Volquez, Brett Anderson, Doug Fister, Jorge De La Rosa and Bartolo Colon, who just keeps rolling along at age 43. There are some capable back-end guys in that group, but nothing more.Amid the talent vacuum, names that wouldnt typically be bandied around in conversation are suddenly being floated because of the talent haul they could fetch in trades. The trade rumor mill is replete with references to Archer, Gray, Detroits Justin Verlander, Chris Sale and Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox and even Arizonas Zack Greinke, who has five years left on a six-year, $206.5 million contract.The starting pitching landscape this offseason has been a story for what, 18 months now? Neander said. Theres been as much of an advance-notice publicly as theres been in a while with respect to a free-agent class. We have to respond to the market and the interest and keep an open mind. Its certainly one area where the dynamics could be different this winter than theyve been in the past.The Rays ranked 14th in the American League in runs this season (ahead of only Oakland), but theyre flush in arms. Even after sending Matt Moore to the Giants in a deadline deal, Tampa Bay has a starting rotation of Archer, Alex Cobb, Jake Odorizzi, Drew Smyly and Blake Snell, with Matt Andriese as the sixth option.Coming off the last few seasons weve had, we have to be open and creative, Neander said. Its hard to close the door on anything after winning 68 games.Gray, 26, maintains his appeal to other clubs even though he went 5-11 with a 5.69 ERA and appeared in only 22 games this season because of a forearm injury. The As are breaking in a whole new wave of starters (Kendall Graveman, Daniel Mengden, Sean Manaea, Jharel Cotton and Andrew Triggs), and they could address several voids on the roster by dealing Gray.The Tigers are willing to dangle Verlander for different reasons. They have an aging roster and theyve determined its time to exercise some financial restraint after fielding a $173 million payroll, the fourth highest in the majors in 2016. As a professional courtesy, general manager Al Avila has spoken with Verlander and fellow organizational mainstays Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Ian Kinsler and told them to be prepared to hear their names in trade rumors this winter.Our organization has been working well over its means for several years, for our market size, if you compare our payroll with the rest of baseball, Avila said. Its gotten to the point, quite frankly, where it cant continue to go up and up and up. At what point do you say, Enough? We have to start making some adjustments. Whether theyre subtle or bigger depends on what teams out there are looking for and how some of our guys may fit them.Some contenders have the latitude to pursue an ace or use their resources to fill other needs. The Red Sox have David Price and Cy Young finalist Rick Porcello in the rotation, so they might or might not feel a sense of urgency to raid the farm system to pursue a front-line starter such as Sale. The Cubs rotation is good enough that they had the latitude to decline Hammels $12 million option after he won 15 games for them this season, but Jake Arrieta is eligible for free agency after the 2017 season and Epstein and Hoyer need to be mindful of the long-term picture.The Dodgers have some question marks after Kershaw, the best pitcher on the planet. Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias (who logged a 1.99 ERA in 40 2/3 innings after the All-Star break) will slot into the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the rotation. After that the Dodgers are looking at Scott Kazmir, who underperformed in 2016, and Brandon McCarthy, who has pitched a total of 63 innings in the first two years of a $48 million deal. Hyun-Jin Ryu has been a medical wreck, and Jose De Leon and Brock Stewart are just a step away in Triple-A Oklahoma City.Were hoping some of the rotation improvement will come from within, but theres a reason we went out and traded for Rich Hill at the deadline last year, Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said. Its something were going to continue to monitor. Were actually pretty deep in starting pitching options. We have enough to get through the 162-game season, so we can afford to be fairly targeted in looking for guys who come with maximum upside to pitch at the front of the rotation.If the Dodgers ultimately decide its worth digging into the farm system and aiming high for an impact acquisition, they know where to find it. The action is all about trades this winter, and the intrigue has just begun.Nike Air Max 95 Billig . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Nike Air Max 95 Günstig . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. 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Air Max 270 Günstig Kaufen .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- When the city of Glendale backed out of an arena lease deal with the Arizona Coyotes last year, it put the future of the franchise in doubt yet again.Turns out, Glendale may have done the Coyotes a favor.The Coyotes announced a proposal Monday to build a 16,000-seat arena near Arizona State Universitys main campus by 2019, a deal that would put the team in the heart of the Phoenix areas population and financial center.Someone said at the time it would be a silver lining, Coyotes President and CEO Anthony LeBlanc said of the Glendale City Councils decision. This is a gold lining.The new arena will be on a 58-acre parcel within Arizona States Athletic Facilities District, less than two miles from campus. The NHL arena will include an attached 4,000-seat multi-sport arena that would be used for Coyotes practices as well as by ASU athletics and youth hockey teams.The Coyotes agreement with developer Catellus Development Corp. sets a June 30 deadline for creating the overall budget, design and operational plan for developing the arena.Coyotes majority owner Andrew Barroway said the arena will cost around $400 million, with the team picking up about half the cost. The other half will be through public-private funding, according to LeBlanc.Lets be realistic here: These types of arenas dont happen without some kind of public-private partnership, LeBlanc said. Its an absolute requirement, but the world has shifted where teams would look for the entire bill to be covered by a governmental agency, you see a shift toward the middle of the spectrum.The Coyotes shared an arena with the NBAs Phoenix Suns after moving from Winnipeg in 1996 and moved to the Phoenix suburb of Glendale in 2003. The team had other options at the time, including Scottsdale, but the area where they are now was expected to be the growth area in Phoenix, so the franchise went with Glendale.The Coyotes time in Glendale has been tumultuous, starting with former owner Jerry Moyes taking the team into bankruptcy in 2009, leading to the franchise being operated by the NHL for four years.ddddddddddddThe Coyotes signed a 15-year, $225 million arena lease deal with the city of Glendale in 2013, but the City Council voted to terminate the lease last year. The sides agreed to a restructured lease agreement last July to keep the team in Glendale for two more seasons. The team has a lease option for next season and LeBlanc said the team is already working on extending it.Arizona had considered sites in downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe before LeBlanc announced in June that the team had selected a then-unnamed site for its new home.One of the drawbacks of having the arena on the west side of town was that it was too difficult for fans on the east side to get to games, particularly during rush-hour traffic for weekday games.The new site will put the Coyotes on the more-populous east side of the Valley of the Sun and, they hope, lead to bigger crowds. The Coyotes annually have among the NHLs lowest attendance figures.Any business that you run, you want to make sure youre close as possible to the majority of your customers, LeBlanc said. Its just a simple, empirical fact that the majority of the people are on the east side. Thats not to say anything negative about our friends here on the west side, its just a fact that the vast majority are on the east side.The Coyotes hope to have construction begin by the end of next summer and have the arena ready for play by the 2019-20 season. There are still a few hurdles to cross -- namely the public funding side of the equation -- but Monday was a big step toward the Coyotes finding a permanent home.Its a long road to get here, but everything looks great for the Coyotes, Barroway said. For staying in Arizona. Were going to be in a place we think is the ideal location. Were going to build a world-class facility we believe our fans will be excited about and want to come to. ' ' '