Fernandez Voted NL Comeback Player of Year

By ESPN

Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident in September, was voted the National League Comeback Player of the Year by his peers in the annual Players Choice Awards of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Fernandez was the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year, had Tommy John surgery the following year, returned in July 2015 and was 16-8 with a 2.86 ERA this season, earning his second All-Star selection.

He died at age 24 on Sept. 25, and autopsy reports released by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office said he had cocaine and alcohol in his system when his boat crashed into a Miami Beach jetty.

Baltimore slugger Mark Trumbo, who led the major leagues with 47 home runs after hitting 13 for Seattle in 2015, won the AL comeback award.

New York Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson earned his second Marvin Miller Man of the Year award, given to the player who most inspires his fellow players through his on-field performances and contributions to his community. Granderson also won in 2009.

Houston second baseman Jose Altuve was voted Player of the Year and the AL's outstanding player. Second baseman Daniel Murphy was selected the NL's outstanding player in his first season with Washington.

Major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago Cubs was the NL's outstanding pitcher, and Rick Porcello won the AL award in his second season with Boston.

Detroit pitcher Michael Fulmer was the AL's top rookie, and Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager the top NL rookie.

Balloting among big league players took place in mid-September and results were announced Wednesday.

Baseball Players Union Fires Arbitrator

The baseball players' union has fired arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the firing was not publicly announced.

Dan Halem, Major League Baseball's chief legal officer, informed general managers at their meeting this week. The players' association made the decision after Horowitz ruled against it in an injury assignment case involving Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Charlie Culberson.

The players' association declined comment, spokesman Greg Bouris said.

Horowitz, 68, started as baseball's neutral arbitrator in June 2012. He replaced Shyam Das, who had held the position since 1999 but was fired by management following his decision to overturn Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension for a positive drug test.

In Horowitz's most notable decision, he reduced Alex Rodriguez's 211-game suspension to 162 games, a penalty imposed for violations of baseball's drug agreement and labor contract.

MLB Set To Destroy Cleveland Merchandise

Major League Baseball is moving away from the longtime practice of donating its wrong-winner merchandise to other countries.

MLB spokesman Matt Bourne confirmed that all licensed items that call the Cleveland Indians the 2016 World Series champions must be handed over by retailers in order to destroy the products after the Chicago Cubs' victory in the seven-game series.

The Huffington Post first reported the story.

Since 2005, Major League Baseball has officially worked with World Vision, a charity that donates gear to needy countries. But Bourne said the league changed gears to "protect the team from inaccurate merchandise being available in the general marketplace."

Jim Fischerkeller, director of corporate engagement for World Vision, told ESPN that the organization was not notified by baseball of the decision but is fine with the call "as long as it had nothing to do with leakage of product by our organization in the past."

Fischerkeller said he did not know of any incidents in which MLB provided gear to World Vision and those items found their way into hands in North America.

A relatively large number of Indians championship products are expected to be destroyed for a variety of reasons.

So-called "hot market" gear is produced so retailers can immediately have items available when a team wins a championship. Fischerkeller said he believes more merchandise was made because the Indians had a 3-1 lead, prompting Cleveland retailers to put in more orders.

Indians championship gear was shipped to retailers in Cleveland with the instruction that the boxes should only be opened if the Indians won. When the Indians lost 8-7 in Game 7, the retailers had to ship the boxes back to the licensee or to MLB.