Was Milwaukee Brewers Regular Season Success a MIRAGE?

Was Milwaukee Brewers Regular Season Success a MIRAGE?

97 wins, best record in baseball, division title series victory, but they bust out in four against the Dodgers. Was this season a success? We’ll talk about that next here on Locked on Brewers. You are Locked On Brewers, your daily Milwaukee Brewers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Really thought we’d be playing tonight. Really thought we’d be talking about game six of the NLCS. Good to have you along. Chuck Freeman here on Locked On Brewers, part of Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every day. Longtime sports cer here in the state of Wisconsin, proud host of Lockdown Brewers. Even though the Brewers got swept, my Brewer fandom will never die. Coming up on this show, let it marinate for a couple of days. We’ll talk about what really went on with the Milwaukee Brewers and their season. A few things to a few thoughts on that and a couple of decisions the Brewers are going to have to make here in the offseason. Some of them here in the next couple of weeks or months. Talk about all that coming up next. Lockdown Brewers as always great sponsors here of Lockdown Brewers. We are brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the promo code locked on MLB. 20 bucks off your first purchase with game time. Yeah, I did think it would go six or even seven. Thought we’d be coming back maybe. Now, when the Brewers got down 02, obviously that’s that’s a tough one to come back from. What what do we say 10% of the teams have come back from 02 and uh like less than 1% down 03. It It was a tough road, especially against those guys. Did I think they’d compete better than they did? Surely. If you would have told me in August and I I watch a lot of Dodgers baseball and a lot of obviously a lot of Brewers baseball. If you would have told me in the midst of that 14game winning streak or anytime in August or September for that matter, but August was when this team was lit. They had won 40 of 50 and things were going well. If that they would go out and have one of the worst batting averages in National League Championship history, I would have said no, not that team. That team that was among the leaders in batting average with runners on scoring position. A guy Bryce Tang who I touted for MVP. Sai Young Freddy Peralta. Manager of the year Pat Murphy. GM of the year. Executive of the year, Matt Arnold. That team, that team that’s going to win 97 games. No. No. They’ll at least win a couple. I think they’ll win this. Why aren’t they favored against the Dodgers? They’re six and0 against them this year. Yeah. Just odd how the Brewers played their worst four games of the season. Worst four game stretch to start the season and their worst four-game stretch to finish off the season. most everything in between was outstanding, right? Yeah, that that’s a tough one to take. It is. Was it a successful season? Yeah, you win 97 games. Now, I’ll say this. If they would have won their 97 games and lost game five to the Cubs, that would have been disaster because you would have had another first round loss. You won that series. But I don’t think that was the championship right there, he had 97 wins. And I told you in one of the podcasts last week, a media member, who I won’t tell you who it is, came up to me, and I question whether or not his competitive juices are flying. Anyway, got in and I the elevator and I said, “Man, the Brewers they’re going to lose out here against the Dodgers. And he told me, “What do you expect? They made it to one of the final four teams. That’s not good enough for us Brewer fans.” And I believe that’s not the sentiment of Brewer Nation. this idea of summer of entertainment which we talked about before the season. Mark Antonasio’s comment, is it my is it my duty to provide families with a summer of entertainment or a World Series championship? And some of those and his son kind of walked it back a little bit, but it is what it is. He said that and yeah, it was a summer of entertainment. This was the most exciting team to watch in regular season Brewers history. I really believe it. The the 11 game, the 14game winning streak, nearly every night you turn the TV set on or you turn on the guys on the radio, you were talking about a victory. Sitting here at Locked on Brewers every night talking about a victory. Shannon would walk in the room while I’m watching the game. What’s the score of the Brewer game? Brewers up uh 6-2. Again, they’re winning. Again, they’re winning. Yes, you got to be. They were down 5 nothing. What’s the score? They just wanted a walk-off home run by Collins, who barely played in the postseason, by the way. Um, yeah. Yeah. If you would have told me that they would have busted out, I would have said no. And that we barely hear from Collins and some of those batting averages, those one for 15s that the Brewers had, Dang, Freelick, Yell swinging at bad pitches. And yes, you can credit the pitching staff for the Dodgers. But come on. Yeah, they went without they went out with a whimper. And I was in that clubhouse after the game and and you know there was uh it wasn’t your typical losing clubhouse. I feel like they knew their fate after getting down 03 because certainly after the losing the third game, it was a it was a beaten clubhouse. Although they said the right things afterwards, but losing that final game, I think they knew their fate that they weren’t going to come back and they just tipped their hat to Otani. Take the it’s it’s it stinks to be on the wrong side of getting a guy into the history books like Otani having the single best. I mean, little did I know I was going to the ballpark that night. I see the single best performance in baseball history and one of the great sports performances of all time. And if there’s anybody who’s going to do it, it’s going to be a guy like Show Otani. I mean, just unbelievable. And Major League Baseball got what they wanted, right? They want I mean, and Otani put on a show, so they’re going to market the heck out of it. All everybody was talking about all weekend long with all the NFL and college football news that was going, there was always some Otani talk. Did you see what Otani did last night? Did you? It was just incredible. Even on the NFL shows, people couldn’t stop talking about it. And for a first time, Major League Baseball took center stage over on NFL Sunday. People were still talking about Otani. Not only around here, people are still talking about it. And you know, they are going to promote the heck out of it at in the World Series. And they should. He’s a You got to market that. They’re looking for someone Major League Baseball at the market and unfortunately it was at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers. Unfortunately, it was at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers. But man, that guy is incredible. Yeah. Two for 24. The slump he was in. Not that guy. Otani can go up there with boxing gloves on, oven mittens, um you name it. Probably no bad at all. probably could go up there with a toothpick and I’d give him a shot at getting a base hit. That’s how good that guy is. That’s how good he is. 97 wins, man. It was And I’m going to be It’s going to be ringing in our minds because you get the best record in baseball, but there’s a history of teams not doing well in the postseason after racking up regular season wins. I’d be surprised if the Brewers ever had a season like this ever again. But here’s what it is. You know how they got the 97 wins? They played their butts off during the regular season. They played their butts. Not that you shouldn’t, but you look back at the Dodgers and and I watched, like I said, the Dodger games I I saw, they would lose games, would blow games, and I’m telling you, sometimes looked like some of those guys were going at half speed. Freddy Freeman, even Otania at times, you know, Otania had 55 home runs, but he picked the spots. I don’t think they’re really worried, but they turned it on at the right time, and the Brewers somehow turned off the machine at the wrong time. But you know, the Dodgers 15 runs in four games. Not bad, right? Considering they’re peacemealing most of that, the Brewers pitching staff was 0 for four on the road in the postseason. They lost to two games at Wrigley and the two games at Dodger Stadium to clinch. But the offensive failures, God, I never saw this team that bad. But every year the Brewers all the postseason, it’s because of an offensive failure. I still see people on Twitter saying, “Oh, they got to sign this pitcher. They got to bring this guy back, this guy back. Please, we got to bring Freddy back.” And we’re going to talk about that. But offensively, it doesn’t mean a hill of beans if you get your 97 wins, you get your 13, 14 game winning streak during the regular season if you can’t get out of your own way in the postseason. It’s timing, right? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer as to how you magically can get it going in the offense offensive side. Yeah, even if you had the Dodger pitching staff, you still would have lost that series because you couldn’t come up with any runs. You couldn’t come up with any runs. Barely any rallies, barely any hard hits. Surio hit that home run in game two, but barely any hard hit balls. Didn’t put any pressure on the defense. Something they had done all regular season. You know, I get messages asking me, “Were the Brewers just shell shocked? Were they intimidated by the Dodgers?” I can tell you the Brewers aren’t intimidated by anybody, and they prove that during the regular season. It is a million-dollar mystery to me why this team turned into a lifeless offense during the four games. And even some of those games against the Cubs, it is a mystery. Remember back to game one against the Cubs, they scored nine runs over the first two games. And I’m like, man, they had a week off. They well-rested. How are they going to come out? They scored nine runs in the first two innings against the Cubs. Didn’t score those final seven innings, but they had offensive issues after game two in that series as well. Christian Yell swinging at bad pitches. He’s not the only one, but a lot of guys just absolutely struggled. Absolutely struggled. But again, I cannot buy into the fact this team won 14 in a row, had 97 wins, and be satisfied with going to the final four. I still believe this team can get to the World Series, but it’s like the NCAA tournament, right? You have a bad stretch in the NCAA tournament, no matter who you are, a number one seed or or whoever, you’re done. You can have a pretty regular season, go through the conference tournament, and you have a bad five or six minutes, that’s it. In this case, the Brewers had a bad four days. Funny how you work 162 games, work your butts off, play hard, and from Monday through Friday, in a span of a work week, your season comes down to a crashy end. Walking out of Dodger Stadium on Friday night, I’m like, I can’t believe this is over in such a meek fashion. That’s sports though. But and I’ve seen some of you guys have written to me on Twitter and some of you guys have answered back. I haven’t got to everybody yet and I got dozens of people I got to get back to yet. Is it um is it possible for the Brewers to win a World Series? Yes. And some of you have laid it at the feet of Mark Antenasio, the owner. We’ll get to that coming up next here on Lockdown Brewers, part of Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every day. episode brought to you by Game Time. Game time. Hey, if you want to go to Bucks games, maybe Packer games, concerts, whatever. Comedy shows. Game time. Use the Game Time app. The app that gives the advantage back to the fans. Game time. Fast, easy, backed by Game Time guarantee. You always get 100% authentic ticket. There’s no frauds on there. Everything is authentic, delivered on time, best price, all fees included. The price you see is the price you pay. You’re not going to get any surprises at the end when it comes time to pay up, right? Game time app. Create an account. Use the promo code locked on MLB. You’ll get 20 bucks off your first purchase. So that means you buy 70 bucks worth of tickets. You get 20 bucks terms apply. Again, use that promo code locked on MLB. L O C K E D O N MLB and 20 bucks off your purchase. Terms apply. Swipe tap ticket. Go download the Game Time app today and uh whether you’re going to a a sporting event or a concert or whatever, there’s lots of great concerts coming to uh the Wisconsin state of Wisconsin this winter. Use the Game Time app and you’ll see how you’ll save 100% authentic tickets with your Game Time app. Chuck Freeman here on Locked On Brewers, partner locked on podcast network. We are your team every day. Get on here in a second. the point of the part of the episode where I tell you, by the way, yes, once the season is over, but that doesn’t mean we’re over. We’re not done. We’ll be here all rest of the fall, winter, into spring training. As you know, we are a daily Brewers podcast talking Brewers baseball with you. There’s a lot of news that’s going to happen in the offseason. A lot of situations, a lot of uh interesting things that are going to happen with the Milwaukee Brewers. We’ll cover all that. And of course, if something happens, a big trade dropped the Reese Hoskins uh signing in the middle of winter last year. Was it January or two years ago in January? Man, we drop a podcast late night. We’ll be on it. We’ll be talking about it. Please subscribe our YouTube page. That’s the best way to go. Go to YouTube, hit lock, you sign in, hit lockdown brewer, search for Lockdown Brewers, hit the subscribe button, hit the bell. that alerts you every time we drop a video so we can draw a short drop a short video like we do After Games. That’ll be all here on YouTube. And if you’re already watching us YouTube, go to our audio platforms wherever you download your audio podcasts, Google, Spotify, Apple, we’re on all of them, wherever you go. All the content is free. And if you’re watching us for the first time, where you’ve been, but good to have you along here on Lockdown Brewers. Our game four episode was the most downloaded Lockdown Brewers in Lockdown Brewers history. And I’m proud of that. And we’re going to keep going, keep going, going, going. So Mark Antonasio didn’t do anything in the offseason. And when I say Antonasio, when Matt Arnold makes a move, he’s clearing it through the big guy, right? He’s he’s he’s clearing it through the big guy. And Antinasio has got a lot of criticism obviously now because the big spending, the Dodgers, the Brewers are never going to spend all that money. They’re never going to spend 30 to 35 million. And some of that money that teams spend is a waste of money. I agree with Antonasio in a sense that man, going out and spending a ton of money on a player to win the press conference that day and make a splash is absurd. Signing Sto like the Mets did. Where did that get him? The Mets signed Frankie Mont moves like this two years 34 million. Where did that get him? Stupid. Why would you do some of the moves David Sterns made? Gosh, why would you make those moves? He was all happy going to New York because he could spend some money. Where did that get you? Player development is really where it’s at. Yeah, you have to fortify your team with spending right down uh at a few spots, but you do got to spend from time to time. Like I do believe the Brewers, if they could find themselves a third baseman in the offseason, yeah, you got to roll it out. like they spent money on Reese Hoskins, but they almost got Reese Hoskins off the the scrap heap. We’ll talk a little bit at Reese coming up here in a little bit as well. Talk about his future. Um, but yeah, if you see a free agent out there and Hoskins, that price began to dip and they got a two-year deal. Yeah, I don’t always like to go bargain basement shopping and that’s what the Brewers do. It turned out for Kintana. It worked out great for Kintana. Get him getting him four million for one year. There’s an option that the Brewers are never going to pick up on that for like 15 million. But that’s what the Brewers have to do. And yes, there needs to be a salary cap in baseball. We’ll talk about that at a future date. Of course, I’m a big proponent of it. Of course I am. But he’s not going to spend money stupidly. And certainly he’s not going to p uh spend any money on starting pitching. Big- time money. Stupid money. No, he’s not going to do that. And I’m with him on that. No need to go out and sp the pitching was just fine. There’s no need to go out and spend $250 million on a pitcher because if that pitcher gets hurt like if they would have resigned Corbin Burns and he had that Tommy John injury here that would just the franchise because that’s the state of baseball. That’s not Markinosio’s fault. That’s not the Brewers fault. That’s a state of baseball. I get that. I understand that. So you know some of you who want him to spend, yeah, he can spend a little more than he does, right? But you still got to develop, make good trades. But I think you need to pick and choose where you spend your money. But spending it on starting pitching and making a move like going out and spending it 34 million over two years on Frankie Montas would have been completely foolish. Matt Arnold is the GM of the year again. He made a lot of great moves. They’re up against it, right? Financial world, they can’t afford to give that kind of money to Blake Snell. Certainly show Otani. I was explaining to my 14-year-old kid how they would never, there’s no way the Brewers could ever afford, it’s an unequal playing ground. The Brewers can afford a Giannis on a Koopo, the Packers can afford an Aaron Rogers or a Jordan Love or a Micah Parsons, but the Brewers can’t afford a player, a superstar player like that, a free agent player or make a trade for a player like they just can’t. I hope that changes someday. spending has never gotten out of under control and it’s been 30 years since the players and owners buted heads over that in 1994 that the players union won. But yeah, Mark Anonasio needs to spend a little bit more money I would think on this franchise. Couple of final thoughts we return on the future of a couple of guys. We’ll get to that next here on Locked On Brewers, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every day. FanDuel. You got to love the FanDuel live betting. Right now, new customers bet five bucks. $300 in bonus bets. If you win, pick a bet, put down five bucks hits, you unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app and use it on live betting. You see a team that’s getting down early, you love them, especially in the college game, man, jump all over them. Live plays or maybe like a favorite. It’s got an early lead. Well, you’re going to pay a little bit more price, but hey, that’s what FanDuel is all about. Easy to use. It’s userfriendly. What are you waiting for? Get into FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app at fanuel.com and get started today. Again, pick a bet, put down the five bucks. If it hits, you’ll get 300 big ones put right in your account to use all across the app. FanDuel great payments as well. Payouts easy to get to. FanDuel.com. Use the app today and take advantage of their $300 in bonus bets right now at FanDuel. down the stretch we come here on Lockdown Brewers. All right, a couple of quick notes here. I will say I don’t think Ortiz is going to be on the T. This is my speculating. I don’t think Ortiz is going to be Well, at least he’s not going to be the starting shortstop. I feel like the Brewers are going to move her the shortstop, Durban to second, and find a third baseman. I feel like they’re going to look for some pop over at third base. I really do. Suarez, we want it. Suarez, he struggled when he first got to Seattle in the regular season. Obviously, Seattle bowed bowed out and they had high hopes and they lose the they end up losing to Toronto in game seven of the ALCS. So, Seattle is out, but Suarez, I know some of you were disappointed and I was as well, but Durban did just fine. But I think Durban should be playing second base. Tango over at short. Let’s grow with them at those positions. Ortiz can’t bunt offensively. Brutal runners in scoring position. It’s just awful. Okay, I like Ortiz. I like the kid. Defensively, you always feel good when the balls hit to him, but he can’t hit. And he got and that’s ultimately the problem on this team. We saw in the postseason can’t hit with runners in scoring position. He did it during the regular season. Yes, but Ortiz can’t get it done. Ortiz went 0 for six in the postseason. Just couldn’t get it done. Freddy. Will the Brewers trade Freddy? I think they’ll pick up the 8 million and they will deal him. The Brewers, as I said, will not keep starting pitching. Burns, Williams, to use as my last two examples. They kept the domus going in the final year position player. They will not do the same with Freddy. I would like to see though the Brewers run it back with Freddy one more time. I would I I I think Freddy at the top of that rotation went 17 and six st young type year obviously trading him his value is never more this high right 8 million what would you get back from him yeah getting a couple nice prospects maybe in a position player Nick that you could use I think Freddy there’s a lot of teams that would look at that and would love to have him I’ve go I’ve been going back and forth on this and I would say right Well, I want to run it back with Freddy and keep him for another year. I don’t think the franchise will do it. We’ll see if he gets traded early in the game in the offseason, but I think Freddy is going to get traded. Great clubhouse guy just like Adamus. You’re also trading Freddy Peralta, the heart and soul of this team. And not to mention terrific, terrific guy to deal with. Good person. The Brewers have a lot of guys like that and Freddy is at the center of it. So, I would be sad to see him pitch for anybody else just like Willie, but the Brewers are never giving Freddy 200 million. They’re never going to do that. So, that’s a couple of early thoughts. We’ll expound more on that as we get into the offseason. and Woodruff. Tough to give Woodruff the 20 million next year. That’s the mutually agreed deal. 20 million. I don’t see the Brewers doing it. Maybe they try a two-year deal for something less, but he’s got to test out that arm, I think, before the Brewers check it out. Have had Woodruff pitched in the postseason and not had that setback with that injury, then I think, yeah, you pick up that 20 million. But I have concerns with that shoulder right now. I do. The fact that he didn’t pitch and Woodruff’s another great guy. We love him. Good clubhouse guy. Okay. He was there for the postseason and all that. I mean in the locker room and all that and doing his doing his thing. But can you spend can you spend two years 33 million on a guy who you don’t know? Because if you you spend two years and 33 million and you look at him in May and he hasn’t pitched yet, that’s that’s a tough one to swallow for a team strapped like the Milwaukee Brewers. All right, we have daily shows all this week. Some few things to get into. Looks like Eric Fetti is gonna likely try free agency. Maybe he’ll come back. We’ll see. Pitched 15 innings during the regular season, but when the final day of the World Series, we’ll see who applies for free agents. The Brewers, I think we’re going to have a bulk of their guys coming back, but I do think they’re going to make some moves in the offseason. Wasn’t very busy last offseason, but I think we’ll see some moves made in the offseason by the Milwaukee Brewers. I think it’s going to be a busy move. You got to get better. He won 97 games, but it’s up to the smart guys in that front office, that corner office at Anam Field to figure out why the Ste busted out in four meekly played games. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about the postseason. We had our summer of fun, our summer of entertainment, but Brewer fans, that’s not good enough. And I still think the World Series is on the table as of right now. Brewers to me the favorites going into the offseason in the NL Central. We’ll see what happens in the off season. It’s going to do it for this show. My name is Chuck Freeman. Thanks for listening to Lockdown Brewers, part of Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every day.

Milwaukee Brewers’ playoff dreams shattered. Is 97 wins a successful season?
(Sorry for the blurry video-the tech outage that has ravaged everyone- affected my internet all day long-frustrating)

Chuck Freimund dissects Milwaukee Brewers’ rollercoaster 2025 season. From regular-season dominance to postseason disappointment, he evaluates the team’s performance and owner Mark Attanasio spending strategy. Key topics include potential trades for Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff’s future, and Matt Arnold’s GM prowess. Will strategic off-season moves propel the Brewers to NL Central favorites?

Discover why Freimund calls this “the most exciting team to watch in regular season Brewers history” and how their playoff collapse could reshape the franchise’s future. Tune in for insider insights on Milwaukee’s path forward and potential roster shakeups.

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