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With free agency underway, the offseason is about to pick up steam. What are the big questions facing all 30 teams? Weve already covered the AL East, NL East,?AL Central,?NL Central?and AL West, and now were moving on to the National League West.Should they corral expenses or go for it financially?2016 record: 91-71Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill are free agents, so why dont the big-money Dodgers just sign all of them at top dollar if they like them so much?Its the age-old question.If you really want to win, as some fans believe, you should just throw as much money as you can at the problem until it is solved. Yet if sustained success is the goal, development and nurturing young and talented prospects probably needs to come first. Once those young players show they are ready to deliver, then it would be time to spend money to fill any remaining holes.It is the way the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians are doing it. Both teams have established young cores and then attacked needs around that. The Houston Astros are another organization doing it the same way.All indications suggest the Dodgers are not going to continue to spend freely, and it is not because they dont want to win it all next year. They want to be in a position to win it multiple times for a long stretch.So the idea that Turner, Jansen and Hill all return seems to be a long shot. Its not impossible, but the money that it would take to bring them back does not fit with the strategy that seems to be developing.The challenge is that the Dodgers do not have an obvious replacement at third base, closer and No. 2 starter.Expect the Dodgers to have talented players in those three spots next season, with at least one of those players returning. Yet in developing the 2017 roster, the front office is likely to be more creative about it than just opening up the checkbook. -- Doug PadillaSo whos it going to be, Kenley Jansen or Aroldis Chapman?2016 record: 87-75We all know what happened: After owning the majors best record at the All-Star break -- yes, better than the Cubs -- they plummeted to 30-42 in the second half. The bullpen drew the brunt of the criticism, although the offense declined from 4.71 runs per game to 4.04. The Giants lost 12 games they were leading after seven innings and nine they led after eight, and we all know what happened in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the NL Division Series.The longtime trio of Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez enters free agency, clearing up $20.5 million in payroll. Angel Pagan and Jake Peavy also come off the books, although other players are due increases. Still, the Giants should have $20-plus million to spend.Obviously, signing Jansen would have double value: Adding an elite closer while subtracting him from your division rival. But he and Chapman could end up getting close to $20 million per season, and the Giants may want to spend some of that money on an outfielder instead (Yoenis Cespedes would look nice in left field). Mark Melancon would be a cheaper option, although without the same dominance and more of a risk. -- David SchoenfieldAre they ready to make a push for contention?2016 record: 75-87The Rockies went 75-87, which for them qualifies as a good season. It was their best record since 2010, but also a sixth straight losing campaign. They actually got a game over .500 in early August before a late fade resulted in general manager Jeff Bridich firing Walt Weiss and hiring former Padres skipper Bud Black as the new manager.Black has a good reputation in baseball circles, but in nine seasons with the Padres he finished over .500 just twice and never made the playoffs, so its hard to even argue that he got the most out of the talent on hand. The one thing he was consistently pretty good at was building bullpens, and thats where the Rockies need a lot of help after finishing with an MLB-worst 5.13 bullpen ERA.Now, some of the advanced metrics say the pen wasnt as bad as the 5.13 ERA indicates -- it had a 4.35 FIP and ranked 21st in FanGraphs WAR. Still, its been a long time since the Rockies had a good pen, and because their starters rarely compile a lot of innings, they need a deep core of relievers.Id like to see the Rockies find a real first baseman. Theyve basically been faking the position for a decade now. Here is their annual ranking among the 30 teams in wins above average at first base. Other than 2014, when Justin Morneau won a batting title, its been a sorry lot for the most part:2016: 24 2015: 26 2014: 8 2013: 28 2012: 23 2011: 11 2010: 25 2009: 14 2008: 19 2007: 4Theres been talk of Carlos Gonzalez playing first base, but that just opens up a gaping hole in the outfield (let alone if they shop Charlie Blackmon for pitching help). The Rockies always overrate their offense. How about adding Edwin Encarnacion?in Coors Field? -- David SchoenfieldHow much of a difference will the return of A.J. Pollock make?2016 record: 69-93Lets offer one kind word to the old regime of Tony La Russa and Dave Stewart -- if A.J. Pollock doesnt fracture his elbow in spring training, Mike Hazen might not be the general manager this winter. Losing Pollock hurt the Snakes offense last year, but it may well have killed the D-backs on defense. From 2015 to 2016, Arizona dropped from plus-60 defensive runs saved to minus-18 -- a nearly eight-win swing on defensive value alone.Maybe putting all of that on Pollocks absence is a stretch, but were talking about losing a premium glove (plus-14 DRS in 2015, which helped him earn a Gold Glove) on a team saddled with dubious defenders like Yasmany Tomas and Jake Lamb. The D-backs delivered a .665 defensive efficiency, which wasnt just the worst in the NL last year, but among the worst team marks in MLB in any year since 1969. Robbie Rays NL-worst .355 BABIP or Shelby Millers career-worst .343 BABIP werent functions of bad luck on balls in play -- theyre symptoms of a porous defense in an already tough park for pitchers.Now Hazen has to determine how much a fully functioning Pollock might change the outlook on everything else hes inherited. A stronger defense will help make Ray, Miller, Archie Bradley and Patrick Corbin look good lined up behind Zack Greinke in the rotation. That might leave Hazen to ponder simpler winter shopping needs, like picking up a closer, and deciding whether or not moving Jean Segura back to shortstop would free them to pursue moving infield parts like Justin Turner or Luis Valbuena, or even go after a bat-first second baseman like Neil Walker. If those sound like the moves a contender might make, dont be shocked -- getting Pollock back as one of the best players in the league could help Hazen look very good, very fast. -- Christina KahrlCan they conjure up a starting rotation?2016 record: 68-94Thats the nuts-and-bolts issue for the Padres to sort out over the winter. Sure, you could also say they need a better closer than Brandon Maurer or somebody who can play shortstop, but sure-thing solutions are rare, expensive and probably outside the Padres reach, even with their considerable payroll flexibility. They could use a starting outfielder, but they may end up picking from among their current crew of Hunter Renfroe, Manuel Margot, Oswaldo Arcia, Travis Jankowski and Alex Dickerson.The other problem is that to stock their staff after their slow-motion teardown, they dont have much left to trade with -- assuming theres any trust left in the industry after general manager A.J. Preller got caught dealing damaged goods to both the Red Sox and Marlins last season, earning a rare front-office suspension.The best starter they have left, Tyson Ross, will have to show hes recovered from an Oct. 13 surgery on his shoulder to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome after effectively losing the 2016 season to the injury. Hes only Padres property for one more year before free agency, and should they shop him, you can expect any interested party to be wary. After that, you get into hoping Colin Rea and Jarred Cosart are healthy, and wondering if theyll send Luis Perdomo down after letting last winters Rule 5 find take a beating in the big leagues.The one thing the Padres should have after trading away almost everyone of note is some money, plus Petcos reputation as a great place to pitch. So you can expect a number of veterans ready to accept a short-term deal equally receptive to any offer the Padres might make. This winters market is overstocked on middling starters looking for a new lease on life. A guy like Scott Feldman?might fit that profile; you might even get Jake Peavy or Andrew Cashner back in San Diego. -- Christina KahrlPhilippe Sandler Manchester City Jersey . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Riyad Mahrez Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. http://www.authenticmanchestercityshop.com/Authentic-Claudio-Bravo-Manchester-City-Jersey/ . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). Luke Bolton Manchester City Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Oleksandr Zinchenko Jersey . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less.Gold medals are the ultimate prize in Olympic sport.Theyre also a misnomer.Theres no such thing as a gold medal, not at these upcoming Rio Olympics -- and really, not ever. Second-place finishers get silver medals and oddly enough, so do the winners, albeit theirs are plated in a tiny amount of gold.That factoid caught even some of those who were put in charge of making the 5,000 or so medals needed for these Rio Games by surprise.Our operators and some of our developers had the same question, said Victor Hugo Berbert, who managed the medal-making process and was part of a team of about 100 people at the Brazilian Mint who were part of the project. We can produce medals out of pure gold. But we know how expensive they are. So gold medals ... are not exactly pure gold.Theyre barely gold at all.The medals given to champions at these Olympics will weigh just over a pound, so to make them entirely from gold would have cost about $23,500 in material, each. By taking the silver medals and then plating them in a tiny amount of Brazilian gold, the actual value of the metal inside those metals is about $600.Not that the athletes will mind.The gold medal, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky famously said at the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002 when he was executive director of the gold-winning Canadian team, is everything.Though there are a number of exceptions, its not uncommon for the medal-making process to fall to the host countrys national mint. That was the case this year, with Berbert saying it took about two years for the entire process to play itself out -- starting with discussions on design with the host organizing committee, sketches, ideas, budgeting and ultimately approval from the International Olympic Committee.The medals for the Olympics are done. Work is ongoing on the medals for the Paralympics, which follow in Brazil later this summer.We needed to develop the whole concept of the medal. We worked a lot with the committee about the art, about the design, about the materials, Berbert said.ddddddddddddWe tried to catch what they wanted to show in a Olympic medal and we took our experience, our know-how in producing medals and turn that into what they want. The art came from the committee, but our team needed to sculpt them.The gold is certified to have a certain amount of purity and is considered very high quality. The silver and bronze medals (and by the way, theyre not really bronze) are largely made from recycled materials, which is a source of pride for the team that Berbert represents. Sustainability, he said, was an important goal for the team.The silver for both the first- and second-place medals was culled in part from mirrors and plates. The bronze medals are made in part from the same copper that goes into Brazilian coin, so the mint had plenty of that to use in the Olympic project. About 40 percent of what was needed was already on hand when the process started.Even some of the plastic used in the ribbons that will be attached to the medals is recycled.Its something we dreamed of, Berbert said. When they called us, we adored the project. We really wanted to do this thing.The other obvious advantage of using the mint to make the medals is security. And every precaution is being taken to ensure that nothing goes wrong now.The mint will store the medals and basically deliver them to the organizing committee on a day-to-day basis -- the medals that will be awarded on a given day will be kept safe as can be until needed.We have special dates with the committee where they want them delivered, Berbert said. There are logistics on how to transfer them to them ... until then, we keep the medals in a safe room. But all the Olympic medals are packaged now, identified by the event and competition, all organized and ready to be delivered.Ready to be won, too. ' ' '