ing for their season-openers at Daytona. Sprint Cup will utilize the forma

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork. Adidas Lite Racer Schuh Damen .com) - It may not be fully cranked up, but Major League Baseballs hot stove is definitely starting to heat up. Managers are being hired, players have been tendered contracts, options are being picked up and declined, rumors are starting and some of the lesser awards have already started to be doled out. Yes, ladies and gentleman, we are in full-fledged offseason mode. We have already uncovered our loser of the offseason and that is former Chicago Cubs manager Rick Renteria, who was fired last week once Joe Maddon became available. I get it Maddon is probably a better manager and if you have a chance to get him you do it, but you have to feel a little bit sorry for Renteria, who led the Cubs to 79 wins, or seven more from the previous season. The runner up to this award could be the Philadelphia Phillies, who are supposedly trying to deal first baseman Ryan Howard. I expect teams to be lining up by the droves for a shot at his services. Lets hope they have other plans this offseason in case that one doesnt come to fruition. Wouldnt you love to be a fly on the wall of those conversations with Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and other GMs? And what would an offseason be without some Alex Rodriguez drama? I hope you are all sitting down, but apparently Rodriguez was lying when he said he had no connection to Biogenesis. And get this, he may have even dabbled in some performance-enhancing drugs. I know its crazy, but I am starting to think that guy might be a little bit phony. But there will be plenty of time to discuss all that. Before the offseason really gets underway, though, theres a little business of handing out the only awards that anyone really seems to care about, those that are handed out by the Baseball Writers Association of American. So without further ado, here is how I see them going this year: AL MVP: MIKE TROUT, LA ANGELS Trout probably would have won this award in either of his first two seasons had his team made the playoffs. Trout had another spectacular season, as he hit .287 to go along with a league-best 115 runs scored, while setting career-highs with 36 home runs and 111 RBI. He also stole 16 bases in 18 attempts However, he did lead the AL with 184 strikeouts. With Derek Jeter gone, MLB needs a new face. This MVP Award will go a long way toward making Trout that guy. AL CY YOUNG: FELIX HERNANDEZ, SEATTLE It was a historic season for King Felix, as he put forth the best statistical season of his career and a new major-league record with 16 consecutive starts in which he allowed two or fewer runs in at least seven innings of work. Hernandez, who won this award in 2010, was 15-6 this season and led the league with a 2.14 ERA and a 0.915 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) over 34 starts.He was also fourth in the league with 248 strikeouts and held opponents to a league low average of .200. As we have seen in the past the key to winning these awards is how you perform in September. Well, Hernandez posted a 1.66 ERA over his final six starts. AL ROOKIE: JOSE ABREU, CHICAGO Abreu has won every rookie award this offseason and will likely add another trophy to his mantel next week. The Cuban first baseman excelled in his first year in the big leagues, as he hit .317 with 35 doubles, 36 home runs, 107 RBI, a major league-best .581 slugging percentage and a .383 on-base percentage. Abreu was also the first rookie in baseball history to rank among the Top 5 in his league in each Triple Crown category and joined Hal Trosky (1934), Ted Williams (1939) and Albert Pujols (2001) as the only rookies to record 30 doubles, 30 homers and 100 RBI in a season. AL MANAGER: BUCK SHOWALTER, BALTIMORE Showalter seems to win one of these Manager of the Year Awards every 10 years. He won in 1994 with the New York Yankees, then again in 2004 with the Texas Rangers. And wouldnt you know it, hes headed toward a third this year after guiding the Baltimore Orioles to their first AL East title since 1997. Should he win, he could become just the second manager to win the BBWAA award with three different organizations. Tony La Russa, a four-time winner, won with the Chicago White Sox (1983), Athletics (1988 and 1992) and the St. Louis Cardinals (2002). NL MVP: CLAYTON KERSHAW, LA DODGERS Kershaw is trying to become the first NL pitcher to win an MVP Award since Bob Gibson in 1968. In fact there hasnt even been a pitcher finish in the top-3 in MVP voting since Greg Maddux finished third in 1995. Kershaw should absolutely top Maddux and will likely join Gibson after one of the better seasons in recent memory. He was absolutely marvelous for the Dodgers this season, as he led the majors with a 21-3 record, an .875 winning percentage, a 1.77 ERA and an 0.86 WHIP. He was also second in the NL with 239 strikeouts, three behind Johnny Cueto of the Reds and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals, in 27 starts. The highlight of Kershaws season came on June 18 when he struck out 15 in a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies. NL CY YOUNG: KERSHAW Look above. While, hell likely become first player since Detroits Justin Verlander to win both awards, Kershaw will most certainly nail down his third NL Cy Young Award in four seasons. NL ROOKIE: JACOB dEGROM, NY METS Everyone knew the New York Mets had a wealth of young pitching and most thought a lot of that talent would start to come to the forefront last season. But, the pitcher who impressed the most was certainly not the one anyone would have expected. When Jacob deGrom was recalled in May the thought was he would help out of the bullpen. Injuries, though, thrust him into the rotation and he excelled, going 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA in 22 starts. While he may not have been very highly thought of at the start of last season, hell enter the 2015 campaign as part of the organizations backbone in the starting rotation, along with Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. NL MANAGER: MATT WILLIAMS, WASHINGTON Luckily for Williams these awards are voted on before the start of the playoffs. While his Washington Nationals may have flamed out in the postseason, Williams did guide them to an NL East title with a league-best 96 wins in his first year as the teams skipper. The one knock on Williams is that he clearly walked into a terrific situation, as the talented Nationals just underperformed a year ago under Davey Johnson. But, he also had to deal with a ton of injuries throughout the season and is the only one of the three finalists to have won a division. Nmd Schuhe Günstig Kaufen . -- Josh Smith made a 3-pointer as time expired and finished with 20 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 99-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in both teams exhibition finale. Nmd Schuhe Sale Deutschland .com) - The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics both entered Wednesday nights game riding lengthy losing streaks. http://www.nmdschuhesale.de/ . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday.Daytona Beach, FL (SportsNetwork.com) -- NASCAR announced a radical change to its qualifying format for the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series on Wednesday, making it similar to knockout qualifying used for Formula One and IndyCar Series road/street course races. At NASCAR racetracks measuring 1.25 miles or longer in length, qualifying will consist of three rounds. Tracks measuring less than 1.25 miles will feature just two segments. NASCAR noted its revised qualifying format will not be used for the Daytona 500 (Feb. 23) and the Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway (July 23), which is the only national touring series event contested on a dirt track. It also wont be used for the Sprint Cup non-point races -- the Feb. 15 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway and the May 17 NASCAR Sprint All- Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Were looking forward to the new qualifying format for all three of our national series this year," NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said during a teleconference. "The new format is something that weve been looking at for quite some time. The goal is providing a more fan- friendly and exciting qualifying session for each race event across the board, with the exception of the Daytona 500 and Eldora, which are unique in their own right. "NASCAR fans will be treated to highly competitive elimination-based qualifying segments that will be more engaging to the fans in the stands and those watching on television or online." For those races on tracks 1.25 miles or greater, the first qualifying elimination round will be 25 minutes in duration and includes all cars/trucks. Adidas Nmd Schuhe Billig. The 24 entries that post the fastest single lap from the opening segment will advance to the second round. The remaining cars/trucks will be sorted from their times in descending order posted during the first segment. The 12 cars/trucks that recorded the quickest single lap during the second round, which is 10 minutes in length, will then advance to the third and final segment, which lasts five minutes. Positions 13 through 24 will be based on lap times during the second round. Positions 1 through 12 will be determined during the final round, with the driver posting the fastest lap winning the pole position. There will be a five-minute break between each of the three qualifying rounds. For those tracks shorter than 1.25 miles, the opening segment in qualifying will be 30 minutes in duration and includes all entries. The 12 cars/trucks that recorded the fastest single lap time will advance to the second segment. The remaining field will be determined by lap times in descending order during the first round. Positions 1 through 12 will then be decided in the final segment, which is 10 minutes in length. "We believe the timing is right for this new style of qualifying, and for our drivers and teams, we believe that it will create even better competition leading into the event," Pemberton said. NASCARs new format is scheduled to be used for the first time on Feb. 21 when the Nationwide and Truck Series have qualifying for their season-openers at Daytona. Sprint Cup will utilize the format beginning with the March 2 race at Phoenix International Raceway. ' ' '