From Major League Baseball's official release...

Carlos Peña of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Dmitri Young of the Washington Nationals are the recipients of the 2007 Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award, it was announced today. The Comeback Player of the Year Award is officially sanctioned by Major League Baseball, and is presented annually to one player in each League who has re-emerged on the baseball field during the season.

Peña, a non-roster Spring Training invitee, established several Club season records in 2007, including home runs (46), runs batted in (121), walks (103), on-base percentage (.411) and slugging percentage (.627). For the season, the Devil Rays' first baseman batted .282 with a Club-high 99 runs and 307 total bases. The left-handed slugger's 46 home runs placed him fourth in the Major Leagues, and his 121 RBI ranked sixth, respectively.

Young, a non-roster Spring Training invitee, re-established himself as one of the game's most productive hitters while earning his second All-Star Game selection. He finished tied for eighth in the National League in batting with a career-high .320 average. Young batted above .300 against both left- (.301) and right-handed pitchers (.327) and with runners in scoring position (.304). The switch-hitter also added 13 home runs and 74 RBI, while his 38 doubles were his most since 1998.

The 30 Club beat reporters from MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, selected the winners for the 2007 Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award.

The Detroit Tigers today announced the club has extended the contract of manager Jim Leyland one year through the 2009 season.

“After our conversation yesterday, we are pleased to extend Jim’s contract through the 2009 season,” Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said.  “We are very happy with the outstanding job he has done and with the leadership he provides our organization.  We look forward to Jim managing the Tigers for a long time.”

Detroit completed the 2007 season with an 88-74 record, pushing the club’s record to 183-141 during Leyland’s first two seasons as the manager.  The 183 wins are fourth-most by a Tigers manager during his first two seasons with the club.  Mickey Cochrane (1934-35) and Mayo Smith (1967-68) both won 194 games during their first two seasons as the club’s manager to lead the way, while Bob Scheffing (1961-62) is third with 186 wins.