The only major question was whether it would be unanimous – and it was.

Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are baseball’s Rookies of the Year after their record-setting home run binges left no need for any dissenting opinions. Judge led the American League with 52 homers, the most ever by a rookie. Bellinger hit 39 and had to settle for the National League’s rookie record.

The Dodgers' Cody Bellinger, left, and the Yankees' Aaron Judge were unanimous choices as rookies of the year. Associated Press

Judge and Bellinger received every first-place vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Judge became the first New York Yankees player to receive the AL award since Derek Jeter in 1996. Bellinger gave the Dodgers a record 18th Rookie of the Year winner.

“Watching him from the West Coast, what he did on the East Coast, was awesome,” Bellinger said. “I was a big fan of his, and met him during the All-Star game, and he’s a humble dude. I think we’re both reflecting, now that the season’s over, on the kind of seasons that we’ve had.”

This was the first time both Rookie of the Year awards were unanimous since 1997, when Nomar Garciaparra of Boston and Scott Rolen of Philadelphia won.

Boston outfielder Andrew Benintendi finished second in the AL, followed by Baltimore slugger Trey Mancini. St. Louis infielder Paul DeJong was the NL runner-up, with Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell finishing third.

Judge is also an MVP finalist.

“Obviously it was an amazing, remarkable year that no one would have predicted,” Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said. “When you drop 52 – I think he really should have had 53, one that instant replay didn’t protect. … It should be a higher number. It was just an incredible year.”

Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners in 2001 and Fred Lynn of the Red Sox in 1975 are the only players to win the AL MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in the same year.

GM MEETINGS: Under a new ownership group that put former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter in charge of baseball and business operations, the Miami Marlins have concluded their payroll-paring regime is willing to explore trades of slugger Giancarlo Stanton and other high-priced players.

“I think over the next few days I’ll get a feel for what the marketplace is for our players,” Marlins president of baseball operations Mike Hill said on the opening day of the annual general managers’ meetings in Orlando, Florida.

Stanton, who hit 59 home runs this year, is owed $295 million over the next 10 years. His salary jumps from $14.5 million this year to $25 million next season, and peaks at $32 million annually from 2023-25.

Stanton’s contract includes a no-trade clause. When he spoke Oct. 25 at the World Series, Stanton said he didn’t have “stamped-out ideas” whether he would want to stay in Miami during a rebuild. The Marlins seem to know which teams he would accept a trade to.

“I do have a sense, and we’ll keep that internal, and at the appropriate time we’ll discuss whatever we need to discuss,” Hill said. “We work internally. We do what we need to do, and then if we need to present him with something, we’ll do so at the appropriate time.”

CARLOS BELTRAN is retiring at age 40 after winning his first World Series title, in his 20th major league season.

The outfielder made the announcement 12 days after the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.

Beltran is a nine-time All-Star who won the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year award and three Gold Gloves. He finished with a .279 average, 435 homers, 1,587 RBI and 312 stolen bases.

BRAVES: The remake of Atlanta’s management was completed when Alex Anthopoulos was named general manager and John Hart was removed as team president.

Anthopoulos, a former Dodgers and Blue Jays executive, will have autonomy of baseball operations, giving him more power than any Braves general manager since John Schuerholz served from 1990 to 2007. Anthopoulos also was given the title of executive vice president, while Hart will assume a senior adviser role, team chairman Terry McGuirk announced at a news conference that Hart did not attend.

Anthopoulos succeeds John Coppolella, who was forced to resign as general manager on Oct. 2 after an investigation by Major League Baseball disclosed rule violations committed by the Braves in the international player market.

MEXICO GAMES: The Dodgers and Padres will play a three-game series in Monterrey, Mexico, from May 4-6.

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