Key season for Indians, Brewers

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The cusp is an unforgiving place. The Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers found themselves there last season, poised to parlay surprising 2005s into bountiful 2006s, until they were reminded, in rather abrupt fashion, that one good year does not equal a VIP pass into the playoffs.

Neither the Indians nor Brewers cracked .500. Both had issues with injuries and depth and fielding. Indians general manager Mark Shapiro calls the season "underachieving." Brewers GM Doug Melvin prefers "disappointing." Either word works.

The Indians and Brewers are plenty alike already, from their market size to their reliance on a young core. In fact, Milwaukee happened to be the site of the Indians' last World Series win. It was at County Stadium, which was the on-screen stand-in for Cleveland Municipal Stadium in "Major League," but whatever. When your last real championship came in 1948, sometimes fiction must suffice.

Truth is, these Indians and Brewers teams could compete for the World Series with a few breaks here, a few emergences there. And, conversely, they're teams that, with another bad season, will lose their luster – and be one year closer to losing some of their young stars to big-money free-agent contracts.

Yahoo