Fantasy Sports: 2004 Fantasy Baseball Awards

It's the start of October, meaning the MLB regular season, as well as the 2004 fantasy baseball season, is now over.

It was certainly a season to remember, as we witnessed Randy Johnson become the oldest player to ever pitch a perfect game, Greg Maddux earn his 300th career win, Barry Bonds hit his 700th home run, Ichiro Suzuki set a new single-season hit record, as well as Adam Dunn set a new single-season record for strikeouts by a batter.

Here are my award winners for 2004.

Fantasy MVP: Vladimir Guerrero -- RF, Anaheim Angels

Based on totals alone, this is a very tough call. Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols both finished with slightly better-looking totals than Guerrero, but Guerrero had a much better finish than either of them. From September first to the end of the season, fantasy playoff time, Guerrero hit .371 with 11 home runs, 25 RBIs, 25 runs and even five stolen bases, blowing Bonds (24 runs, 7 HRs, 13 RBIs, no steals, .338 average) and Pujols (20 runs, 5 HRs, 20 RBIs, also no steals, .360 average) out of the water. Guerrero was also far and away the best fantasy player in the final week of the season, fantasy championship time, as he scored 10 runs, hit six home runs, and drove in 11 runs while hitting .560. None of the other candidates even come close to those numbers. While Pujols may just narrowly edge Vladimir Guerrero for league MVP in a rotisserie league, Guerrero's huge value edge in a head-to-head league make him my pick for 2004 fantasy baseball MVP.

Fantasy Cy Young: Johan Santana -- SP, Minnesota Twins

Santana made this choice a very quick and easy one. While Randy Johnson could easily have stolen this award had he been traded to a team where he could pick up some wins, Santana beats him out for it simply because of the two's records. Santana finishes up 20-6 (13-0 after the all-star break) while Johnson is just 15-14 (5-7 since the all-star break). Santana, like fantasy MVP Vladimir Guerrero, was also absolutely incredible in the last month of the season, with a 5-0 record, 0.45 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 52 strikeouts, while Johnson, the only competition Santana had for this award, went 3-2 with a 2.29 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 40 strikeouts, a far cry from Santana's numbers.

Best Buy Award: Adrian Beltre -- 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers

Much like Johan Santana for the Fantasy Cy Young, Beltre is an obvious choice for the Best Buy Award (awarded to a player who had a great season despite being a late-round pick or early-season pick-up). Beltre was either a very late draft pick or early season pick-up in most fantasy leagues, yet he led the league in home runs with 48, while also throwing in 104 runs, 121 RBIs, a handful of steals and a .334 average. While many other players who were drafted late, or not at all, had great seasons, Beltre is simply the best of them all. Runner-ups to Beltre include David Ortiz, Melvin Mora, Ben Sheets and Armando Benitez.

Comeback Player of the Year: Randy Johnson -- SP, Arizona Diamondbacks

Although playing for a terrible team cost him a chance at the Fantasy Cy Young Award, he easily takes comeback player of the year award. Randy Johnson has pitched incredibly, despite playing for a terrible team. He leads the Diamondbacks in wins, with 15, nine ahead of Brandon Webb, who is second on the team. Those who took a chance on the veteran lefthander have been very richly rewarded. Trevor Hoffman also deserves mention for a great comeback season, but Randy Johnson has been better, and is this year's comeback player of the year.

Thanks for Nothing Award: Javier Vazquez -- SP, New York Yankees

After pitching very well for the Montreal Expos last season, and only managing 13 wins despite a 3.24 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, people expected Vazquez to be a great mid-round pick pitching for a team that could win him some games. Vazquez didn't disappoint in the first half, going 10-5 with a 3.56 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP, however he self-destructed in the second half, going 4-5 with a 6.92 ERA and 1.49 WHIP, increasing his season ERA to 4.91 and WHIP to 1.29. Vazquez likely cost several fantasy managers who didn't want to bench their former ace a chance at a fantasy championship with his horrible late-season slump, which prompts me to name him this year's "Mr. Thanks for Nothing."