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Fernando Rodney 2012 AL Comeback Player of the Year, Delivery Man of the Year

Tampa Bay Rays reliever Fernando Rodney revived his career in 2012, and was honored Friday as the AL Comeback Player of the Year and Delivery Man of the Year.

By Kevin Jeffers
David Banks

Reliever Fernando Rodney rejuvenated his career with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012 and has been named the AL Comeback Player of the Year and MLB Delivery Man of the Year, Major League Baseball announced on Friday.

Rodney signed with the Rays after a disappointing two seasons as a setup man with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was moved into the closer's role when Kyle Farnsworth was lost to an injury early in the season. Rodney delivered, converting 48 of 50 save opportunities with a 0.60 ERA while striking out 76 batters in 74.2 innings for the third-place Rays, all career highs for the flame-throwing right-hander from the Dominican Republic. He was selected to the All-Star team and never relinquished the closing duties.

Rodney struggled to a 4.50 ERA in 2011 and never truly claimed the closer's role in two years with the Angels. He was an on-again off-again closer for the Detroit Tigers from 2005-'09, saving a then-career-high 37 games in 2009, which he turned into a 2-year deal with the Angels in the 2009 offseason. He signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Rays for 2012.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.