Posted by Brian Joseph on Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 10:48 am

Our series of predictions moves to individual awards and, for the most part, we were pretty much able to come up with a consensus on most awards. That’s pretty surprising considering the gigantic dart board we had to pull out to make our MVP and Cy Young selections.

Manager of the Year was where the responses varied the most. Our American League selection was not a consensus with only two managers — Joe Girardi and Bob Geren — selected multiple times. In the end our “consensus” pick was based on our consensus standings and since the group had Girardi’s Yankees moving on to the postseason and Geren’s Athletics at home watching, it made more sense for our selection to be Girardi. (Exactly how can you be Manager of the Year when you are handed a $200-plus million payroll?) It wouldn’t be the first time Girardi earned the award — he was MOTY in 2006 with the Marlins.

Over in the National League, Dodgers manager Joe Torre was selected by six out of 11 writers. Only Lou Piniella (2) received duplicate support making Torre our runaway choice in the NL. A two-time MOTY winner (in ‘96 and ‘98), one would have to expect the Dodgers to improve on their 84-win ‘08 season and not just make the playoffs. Here’s our predictions:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Joe Girardi, Yankees — 2
Bob Geren, Athletics — 2
Terry Francona, Red Sox — 1
Ron Gardenhire, Twins — 1
Trey Hillman, Royals — 1
Joe Maddon, Rays — 1
Mike Scioscia, Angels — 1
Ron Washington, Rangers — 1
Eric Wedge, Indians — 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Joe Torre, Dodgers — 6
Lou Piniella, Cubs — 2
Bobby Cox, Braves — 1
Ken Macha, Brewers — 1
Charlie Manuel, Phillies — 1