The View From Wisconsin

If I were Doug Melvin, I'd have three things that I'd be trying to do during the off-season of 2005-06. First, I'd be looking to shop Lyle Overbay for a young and relatively productive third baseman. The Brewers have had a continuous black hole at third for years, and the combination of Cirillo and Branyan isn't going to help. Next, I'd be checking out the health of Ben Hendrickson, and taking a good long look at Jose Capellan during winter ball. Putting one of those two in the rotation would go a long way to making the Brewers a contender. The last thing would be to kick Victor Santos to the curb. He has no business being a starter in the majors, and if the Crew want to take that next step, they have to get rid of players like him. I honestly believe that if Melvin can do these three things, the Brewers can move forward towards becoming a contender once again. That's something we haven't been able to say in these parts for quite some time.

The Brewers, by the way, essentially knocked themselves out of the Wild Card race when they lost to Houston on Friday. And, unfortunately, they have pretty much eliminated the chance of finishing above .500 for the first time in over a decade by letting the 'Stros sweep them. I only see five or six more wins for them this year, and even that may be pushing it.

For all of you out there who thought the Badgers were going to keep up the point-a-minute juggernaut, the UNC Tar Heels provided a bit of a reality check. Now that UW is headed for Big Ten play, don't expect tailback Brian Calhoun to rack up a string of 200-yard games. Granted, they won't play OSU this year, but it'd be silly to think that Bucky could run the table and play in Pasadena in January.

And then there's the Packers. Ugh. This team is going the proverbial nowhere fast. I sincerely hope that drafting Aaron Rodgers wasn't the biggest drafting mistake made by the Packers since Tony Mandarich.

I keep hearing all this talk about whether or not David Ortiz should be considered for the American League Most Valuable Player award. Thing is, even if he is a DH, I don't think he's the best player in the AL right now. Ortiz has some pretty big numbers, but Vlad Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of 1 Gene Autry Way, city of Anaheim, Orange County, California, is putting up numbers just as good – if not better. And there's that A-Rod guy in the Bronx, too – though you're not seen as being "knowledgeable" if you think that Rodriguez should be MVP. It's almost a non-PC thing to suggest that the best player in the AL should be its MVP… but then again, if the Yankees don't make the post-season, should he really be the MVP? I say he doesn't, but you gotta give the award to Vlad, not Big Papi – and not because he's a DH.

The National League doesn't have the overwhelming number of candidates that the AL has for MVP, but the question of Pujols vs. Derek Lee is coming down to brass tacks. If Lee wins the Triple Crown (which is looking less and less likely, since he is way behind Andruw Jones in HR and RBI), or if the Cubs came back and win the Wild Card (even less likely, since the Cubs are six and a half behind the 'Stros), there'd be no way the writers could not give him the award. With only two weeks left in the season, though, it's almost certain that Albert Pujols will have the edge in the hardware department.

On the mound, I think Chris Carpenter has all but cemented the NL Cy Young Award. Dontrelle Willis hasn't been able to get the Fish over the hump in the Wild Card race so far; he'd have to pitch lights-out to get the nod at this point. The AL Cy Young race is harder to read; Bartolo Colon is having a runaway year, but Roy Halladay of the Jays is doing well, despite not pitching all year. Cliff Lee in Cleveland is having a great year, too, but I think he might be more of a Rookie of the Year candidate than anything else. Oh, by the way: David Wright, NL Rookie of the Year. Bet on it.

You may notice that I haven't said much about my two and a half days without power this past week. Truth is, I'm trying to forget about it. The ice cooler sitting in our kitchen has gone untouched since I emptied it of food on Thursday.