Texas Rangers designated hitter Prince Fielder and New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey won the 2015 Comeback Player of the Year Awards.
Fielder was the American League recipient and Harvey the National League winner out of 30 total candidates, one per team, voted on my MLB.com employees.
Fielder, in his second season with the Rangers, hit .305 with 23 home runs, 98 RBI, 28 doubles, 78 runs scored, a .378 on-base percentage and a .463 slugging percentage over 158 games as he helped Texas to its first AL West Division title since 2011. Fielder, 31, plays just 42 games in 2014 following surgery for a herniated disc in his neck, was selected to his sixth All-Star Game, including his third in the AL.
He ranked among AL leaders in several categories, including hits (third, 187), multi-hit games (tied, third, 57), intentional walks (tied, third, 14), on-base percentage (fourth), batting average (sixth), RBI (ninth) and games played (10th).
Fielder hit his 300th career home run in his ninth season of at least 20 home runs, which is tied for second-most in the Majors since 2006.
Harvey went 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA over 29 starts, helping lead the Mets to their first NL East Division title since 2006 and their first World Series appearance since 2000. The right-hander, who missed the entire 2014 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, tossed 189.1 innings in the regular season, permitting 62 runs (57 earned) on 156 hits with 37 walks and 188 strikeouts while holding opposing hitters to a .222 batting average.
He ranked eighth in the Majors among qualifying starters in ERA, WHIP (1.02), walks per nine innings (1.76) and strikeout to walk ratio (5.08).
The Connecticut native went 7-4 with a 2.05 ERA over his final 17 starts dating back to June 16th, marking the fourth-best ERA in the Majors over that span behind Jake Arrieta (1.07), Zack Greinke (1.47) and Clayton Kershaw (1.48).
Amaris Ramirez ends 18-year career
Longtime major league third baseman Aramis Ramirez made his retirement official on Thursday.
Ramirez said before the 2015 season that he expected it to be his last one and he followed through with his plans after 18 years in the major leagues.
The 37-year-old Ramirez called it a career after batting .283 with 386 home runs, 2,303 hits, 495 doubles and 1,417RBIs in 2,194 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.
The right-handed-hitting Ramirez leaves the game among the top 10 active players in runs, hits, total bases, doubles, homers, RBIs, extra-base hits and number of times reaching base.
His final days were spent with the Pirates, where he returned in a July trade in exchange for Yhonathan Barrios after starting his career in Pittsburgh before moving on to the Cubs and then the Brewers. Ramirez batted .246 with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs with the Brewers and Pirates in his last season.
Along the way, Ramirez made three National League All-Stars teams and slugged 25 or more home runs in 10 seasons. He also batted .300 or higher seven times during his career.
As for the future, Ramirez apparently would like to remain involved in the sport in some capacity other than as a coach or manager.
Granderson undergoes thumb surgery
New York Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson underwent surgery earlier this week to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb.
Granderson reportedly had the procedure done on Tuesday and is expected to be ready for spring training, according to the Mets.
Despite the injury, Granderson hit three homers in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals as the Mets lost in five games.
Granderson, who hit 26 homers in the regular season, suffered the injury on a slide in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.
Royals keep Davis, Escobar; Gordon departs
The Kansas City Royals exercised options on the contracts of All-Star reliever Wade Davis and All-Star shortstop Alcides Escobar on Thursday, while All-Star left fielder Alex Gordon declined the option in his contract for 2016 and will become an unrestricted free agent.
The World Series champions exercised an $8 million option on Davis and a $5.25 million option on Escobar. Davis thrived as Kansas City’s closer after a late-season injury to Greg Holland while Escobar was named MVP of the American League Championship Series.
Gordon, the longest-tenured Royal and the face of the franchise, declined a $13.75 million player option. He made his third All-Star team this season and has won Gold Gloves each of the past four years and might win another this year.
A midseason groin strain kept Gordon, 31, out for two months this year. He hit .271 with a .377 on-base percentage, a .432 slugging percentage, 13 homers and 48 RBIs in 104 regular-season games. Gordon batted .241/.349/.426 with two homers and six RBIs in 16 postseason games.
The Royals also declined the $3 million option on outfielder Jonny Gomes.