Baseball-Major League Baseball roundup

Nov. 5 (The Sports Xchange) - Texas Rangers designated hitter Prince Fielder and New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey won the 2015 Comeback Player of the Year Awards on Thursday. 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, who played 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. 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 elbow 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. - - - Longtime major league third baseman Aramis Ramirez made his retirement official. 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 1,417 RBIs in 2,194 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. - - - The Kansas City Royals exercised options on the contracts of All-Star reliever Wade Davis and All-Star shortstop Alcides Escobar, 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. - - - 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 being suffered in the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs, Granderson hit three homers in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals as the Mets lost in five games. (Editing by Steve Keating.)