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Did Rick Porcello make a late-season push among voters for the AL Rookie of the Year award? Or had the decision largely been made beforehand?

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Since Sunday night would've been Rick Porcello's turn in the Tigers' starting rotation, had Detroit made the playoffs, I thought maybe we'd make him the focus of this week's poll question.  (Plus, we just need a new poll question.)  

I get the feeling that Kid Rick's candidacy for AL Rookie of the Year lost some steam as the season progressed, especially while pitchers like Andrew Bailey, Ricky Romero, and Jeff Niemann equaled or surpassed him in terms of performance. 

Yet I also think Porcello may have gotten some renewed support among voters toward the end of the season, as it became apparent that he was one of the Tigers' best starting pitchers and a big reason they were in the AL Central race until the very end.  Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman was particularly outspoken with this view on Twitter.

Of course, many voters may have decided long ago that other rookies had done more this season.  Especially those who believe that position players such as Elvis Andrus or Gordon Beckham deserve more consideration for playing everyday, rather than every fifth day

So just for the sake of discussion, that's the subject of this week's poll question:

Where do you expect Rick Porcello to finish in the AL Rookie of the Year voting?

You can find the poll on the right sidebar below the FanPosts block.  Or you can vote here.  Please add your thoughts in the comments.  And if you have suggestions for future poll questions , shoot me an e-mail.  

How did our last poll go?

I don't know how the end of the season may have influenced this vote.  I believe the polls were still open, going into last Tuesday's tiebreaker.  But the final results are still pretty reflective, I think.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how worried are you about the Tigers' final three games?

26%  1-3 (Concerned, but still hopeful)

12%  4-6 (Sweaty, irritable, irrational)

17%  6-8 (Rocking in place, talking gibberish)

27%  11 (My head already go "BOOM!")

12%  4-6 (Sweaty, irritable, irrational)

Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll.