By Dave Roloff Published Oct 16, 2004 at 5:31 AM

{image1} Now that baseball has rolled into the post-season it is time to wrap up another fantastic year with the annual post season awards. Over the course of the year the awards changed hands quite a few times. Unlike in past years the true winners finished the season with a bang. This left me with only a few tough decisions.

AL MVP:
Vladimir Guerrero - Anaheim Angels

Vlad literally put the Angels on his back and carried them into the post season. Many were wondering how this superstar would handle being in a pennant race for the first time. In October he led all of MLB in home runs (10), slugging percentage (.733) and over last two weeks he was 23 for 46 (.500). This is not even mentioning the fact that he is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game.
Honorable Mentions: Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramirez, Mariano Rivera
Preseason Pick: Alex Rodriguez

NL MVP:
Barry Bonds - San Francisco Giants

This is a no-brainer. Bonds continues to put up numbers that are un-imaginable. The only thing that could have kept Bonds from winning his record seventh MVP award is if the Giants were as bad as expected. Instead Bonds had his Giants in the race until the final weekend of the season. Bonds put up unthinkable numbers while being protected by the like of Marquis Grissom. Say what you want about the man, his performance speaks for itself.

His numbers above have absolutely no comparison. In fact they are in a realm of their own. In Jayson Stark's awards column on ESPN.com he produced a stat that if there would be a team made up of nine Barry Bonds - that team would average more that 23 runs per game. The number is more than double of any other player if they could multiply themselves by nine.
Honorable Mentions: Scott Rolen and Adrian Beltre
Preseason Pick: Albert Pujols

AL Cy Young
Johan Santana - Minnesota Twins

Santana dominated the second half of the season like no other pitcher since Bob Gibson's magical 1968 season. Santana was 13-0 with a 1.21 ERA and had 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Only numbers like this could keep Curt Schilling from taking home this award.

The fact that Santana is only 25 spells bad news for the rest of the American League and his toughness that he showed in game one of the ALDS in New York only proves that he will be one of the best pitchers in the league for years to come.
Honorable Mentions: Curt Schilling
Preseason Pick: Kevin Brown

NL Cy Young
Roger Clemens - Houston Astros

It is hard to not give some credence to Randy Johnson and Ben Sheets for this award, but the fact of the matter is that Clemens did what he had to get his team in the playoffs. Yes it is the award for who pitched the best over the course of the season, but it is hard to vote for a guy with 14 losses.

This is not to take anything away from the season that Clemens had. He is 42 years old and is still one of the best pitchers in the league. He pitched over 200 again, had an ERA under three (2.94) and again topped the 200 strikeout plateau (218). Most importantly he is leading the hottest team in baseball into the postseason. His win on the road in game one of the NLDA in Atlanta also doesn't take anything away from the lore.
Honorable Mentions: Randy Johnson
Preseason Pick: Kevin Millwood

AL Rookie of the Year
Bobby Crosby - Oakland A's

It wasn't exactly a great year for rookies in the American League, but Crosby was the best. He showed the power that has wowed the scouts and played a fantastic shortstop for a team that was in the playoff race all year. He also had the dubious distinction of trying to fill the shoes of Miggy Tejada.
Preseason Pick: Bobby Crosby

NL Rookie of the Year
Jason Bay - Pittsburgh Pirates

Here's to player that most have never heard of. Jason Bay put up stunning numbers for a rookie and he did so on one of the league's worst teams. He posted these numbers even after sitting out five weeks with a shoulder injury. Bay has a great combination of hitting for power and average. He hit a homer in every 15.35 at bats which is the fourth best homer rate in the history of the National League.
Preseason Pick: Edwin Jackson

AL Manager of the Year
Buck Showalter - Texas Rangers

This is a no-brainer decision. The Rangers were in the playoff race into the final week of the season. Showalter, once again, took a young team and molded them into a group that nobody wanted to face. He also held the team together while having to use 17 different starting pitchers. If the trend holds true all Tom Hicks has to do to win a World Series is fire Showalter - it worked in New York and in Arizona.
Honorable Mentions: Mike Scioscia
Preseason Pick: Mike Scioscia

NL Manager of the Year
Bobby Cox - Atlanta Braves

The award has to go to Cox who took a pedestrian Atlanta Braves back to the playoffs for the 12th straight year. He lost the likes of Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Greg Maddux and the train just kept on rolling.
Honorable Mentions: Phil Garner and Ton La Russa
Preseason Pick: Bruce Bochy

Best Players not to win an Award
Randy Johnson - Arizona Diamondbacks
Ben Sheets - Milwaukee Brewers

All you have to do is look at the numbers. Those numbers on a .500 team would have garnered each of these pitchers 20 wins and a few more Cy Young votes. In Sheets' 14 losses, the Brewers scored him 19 runs.

Enjoy the Playoffs!

Dave Roloff
Dave was born and raised on the south side of Milwaukee. He is a graduate of UW-Oshkosh where he graduated in Business while playing four years of football. He is a sports junkie who, instead of therapy, just watches the Bucks and the Brewers. Dave is a season ticket holder for the Brewers, Bucks and Packers, as well as a football coach at Greendale High School. Dave still likes to think he still can play baseball but has moved on to the more pedestrian sports of bowling and golf. Dave is a Pisces and it depends on whom he is walking with to determine whether he likes long walks on the beach. Dave writes with an encyclopedic knowledge and a sarcastic flare. Mainly to insure his sanity.