NL Rolaids Reliever of the Year

This is an award I honestly hadn't put much thought into until tonight. Fortunately for me, it doesn't take much time to figure out who has been the best reliever in the NL.

Winner: Brad Lidge

Thanks for making it easy for me Brad. 40 saves in 40 chances, a 1.87 ERA (best among all relievers with at least two saves) and just two home runs allowed. Sure, he walked 34 guys so he's far from perfect, but he struck out 89 batters in 67.1 innings. 

Kudos for Lidge for bouncing back after a few not so bright seasons. The 2006 campaign (following a few crushing blown saves in the '05 playoffs) looked like the end of Lidge's run as a top closer. He put up a miserable 5.28 ERA that year, and  he came back with what was just a decent 2007 run with nine blown saves. 

Bonus points go to Lidge for being ultra-valuable as a closer. Think of it this way, if Lidge blew just two of his 40 save opportunities, he would still have the best conversion rate in baseball, but the Phillies would not be leading the division. That's value.

Runner up: Carlos Marmol

Why? Well, it's not even worth putting another closer into this conversation because Lidge blows them all away. So let's honor the best setup man in baseball this year. Marmol blew out all relievers with 114 strikeouts in 86 innings for the Cubbies. In the last two seasons he has struck out 210 batters in 155.1 innings, and he's only getting better. The kid is 25 and has dominating stuff. He will be a real candidate for this award and maybe more in the future.