For much of the season, Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Michael Fulmer has appeared to be the overwhelming favorite for the American League Rookie of the Year award. Then August rolled in, and the (late) summer of?Gary Sanchez?began.Has the?New York Yankees catcher, in just 44 games, done enough to unseat Fulmer -- not to mention the rest of 2016s rookie class? Yankees beat writer Andrew Marchand and ESPN Stats & Informations Mark Simon debate.Read their arguments -- then vote below.Marchand: Sanchezs start unmatched in historyGary Sanchez should be the Rookie of the Year. There are still some games to be played, but when you compare him against his main competition -- the Tigers outstanding rookie starting pitcher Michael Fulmer -- the Yankees catcher comes out on top.The main knock against Sanchezs candidacy is attendance. He has not been in the majors for very long, so how can you give him the Rookie of the Year award? On Thursday, Sanchez played in his 44th game this season. Some say that is a disqualifying figure.However, Fulmer has appeared in 24 games. Thats it. So if your argument is that Sanchez hasnt played enough, then the facts seem to trump that. Well, you say, Fulmer is a starting pitcher, so his impact is different. Maybe so, but it hasnt been greater than Sanchezs.Fulmer is 10-7 with a 3.03 ERA, which is very good. However, a deeper look at the numbers show he has trended in the wrong direction. In the first half, he was awesome, going 9-2 with a 2.11 ERA in 13 starts. In the second half, he is 1-5 with a 4.00 ERA in 11 starts. If you favor Fulmer over Sanchez, youre handing out the Rookie of the First Half award.Meanwhile, Sanchez might be having the greatest start to a career in the history of baseball. His 19 homers through the first 45 games of his career (43 games this year, plus two games last season) have never been matched in the history of the game. The next best home run start belongs to the Boston Braves Wally Berger, who needed 51 games to reach 19, way back in 1930.Sanchez is also exceptional on defense, with maybe baseballs best arm and a knack for pitch-calling and blocking balls. Sanchez has nearly single-handedly given the Yankees a chance to make the playoffs. He deserves the award over Fulmer or any of the other leading candidates, including Clevelands Tyler Naquin.Fulmer has had a very good year, but Sanchez has been better. And the fact he has made such an impact in so few games is a credit to him.Simon: Fulmer has been here all yearTake nothing away from what Gary Sanchez has done for the Yankees, but lets not forget that for a good chunk of the season, Tigers starter Michael Fulmer was the Gary Sanchez of pitching.Over a 14-start stretch spanning late May to mid-August, Fulmer pitched 93? innings and recorded a 1.44 ERA. He started that run by becoming the second pitcher in major league history to make four straight scoreless starts of at least six innings while allowing three hits or fewer, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. In those 93? innings pitched, he held opponents to a .176 batting average. For 2? months, he made opposing hitters look barely better than pitchers at the plate.Fulmer was a legit Cy Young contender until his recent fade (he has allowed six runs twice in his past five starts). He throws hard, and, after some early struggles, began throwing his changeup with greater frequency, which directly correlated to his run of success. You would want a Rookie of the Year to be a good learner, right?If we use Wins Above Replacement as our metric of choice, Fulmer is at 4.7 WAR, according to baseball-reference.com. Thats the same as Cole Hamels and a hair lower than Chris Sale. It ranks tied for sixth among AL pitchers. Sanchez is at 3.2 WAR.You could make the case for pro-rating Sanchez over a larger number of games, which would basically put his numbers on a Ruthian level. But that would presume he maintains his current level of production, which seems a faulty presumption. But is it faulty to presume that, had Fulmer made 30 starts instead of his 24, he would be a 6-WAR pitcher instead of a borderline 5-WAR pitcher? Maybe, maybe not, but its at least plausible.Point being: I wouldnt have a problem with Sanchez winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. But -- at the moment -- Fulmer is legitimately deserving, and he earned his way to that honor over virtually the entire season. Rays Jerseys From China . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. 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Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots on Saturday in the Oklahoma City Barons 4-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat. The Oilers signed Bryzgalov to a one-year $2 million contract last Friday after shedding payroll by dealing defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Flames. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Prince Fielder arrived in Texas with a massive contract, a home run title and a reputation for playing every day.He didnt come with much of an ego, though it wouldve been completely understandable considering he was the son of big leaguer Cecil Fielder and played in six?All-Star Games, winning the Home Run Derby at one of them.And just like that, Fielders career is apparently over. After having neck fusion surgery for the second time in three seasons hes reportedly expected to announce Wednesday that he is physically unable to play, thus ending his career. The medical designation means he will collect on the remaining $96 million, hes owed on the nine-year, $214 million contract he signed with the Detroit Tigers in 2012.In three seasons with the Texas Rangers, Fielder hit 34 homers with 158 RBIs in just 289 games. He hit .269 with an OPS of .760, well below his career averages.Winning mattered more to Fielder than his stats. He cared more about being a good teammate than his Wins Above Replacement. When manager Jeff Banister asked him to be a designated hitter, allowing Mitch Moreland to play first base, Fielder quickly acquiesced. When asked about the move, Fielder said, Mitch is a better first baseman than me. The team is better if hes at first.After playing just 42 games his first season in Texas because he needed neck fusion surgery, Fielder returned to hit .305 with 23 homers and 98 RBIs in 2015.This season, though, the moon shots were replaced by singles slappped to left and blooped to center.dddddddddddd Instead of yanking the ball into defensive shifts, he hit the ball to the opposite field.When asked how his ego handled the dip in power, Fielder replied, Id rather hit .300 and win than hit 30 homers and lose.Hes one of the players who looked out for rookie outfielder Nomar Mazara when he joined the club in April. Fielder and Adrian Beltre controlled the clubhouse so Jeff Banister didnt have to do it.Prince never enjoyed talking much about himself, though he would always make time for an NBA conversation or a chat about his two sons.When Fielder missed much of the 2014 season, it changed his perspective on life, and he didnt mind telling folks. The time away from the game forced him to mature and change the way he viewed baseball. It made him realize the fragility of his career and the importance of fatherhood. No longer did he wrap his identity in how far he could hit a baseball. His family, his kids were more important.Fielders two sons spent much of the summer at the ballpark shagging flies, riding their hover board and playing with the sons of Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo.Fielder recently chastised one of his sons because he could smell the youngster had forgotten to use his deodorant.As his son left to follow his fathers directive, Fielder chuckled. Now, hell have more time for father-son moments like those. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Cheap Stitched Jerseys NFL Jerseys China Wholesale NFL T-shirts ' ' '