The Padres share an important trait with the teams that on Friday will play Game 1 of the World Series in Milwaukee.

It’s the October-habit trait.

The more often a team earns a spot in the World Series tournament, the better its chances of winning the trophy become. The Padres of this era, like the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, have evolved into October regulars.

The Padres, answering their “sustainability” skeptics, have won 90-plus games each of the past three years; they’ve snagged five playoff berths since 2020.

Hope for better days ahead comes from the Brewers and Rays, who, like the Padres, seek their first World Series title.

The Brewers, making their eighth postseason trip in nine years, have reached their first World Series since 1982. The Rays have advanced to their first full-season World Series since 2008.

But it’s not time for the Padres to stock up on champagne for next year.

There’s a “so close yet so far” vibe that comes with knocking on (but not opening) the October door.

The so-close part: In the recent four-game NL Division Series against Milwaukee, the Padres created plenty of chances to win games. They lost by one run twice. In Game 2, they were within one strike of victory five times. And that was with strikeout ace Mason Miller on the mound.

The Padres’ yet-so-far part, alas, better describes where things stand.

This becomes clear as we look closer at the amazing Brewers and, to a lesser extent, the no-less-amazing Rays.

These smaller-payroll clubs can do more than win wild-card playoff berths.

They’ve won multiple division titles, while the Padres — put into a hammerlock by the Los Angeles Dodgers — haven’t won the NL West race since 2006.

By posting their league’s best records this year, the Brew Crew and Rays earned first-round playoff byes and homefield advantage.

Those advantages showed up in the playoffs.

The Brewers-Padres bullpen story was a microcosm of the so-close-yet-so-far angle.

Each team boasted a relief corps that seemed capable of leading a postseason run. Padres relievers threw five scoreless innings in the wild-card playoff series, a two-game breeze against the Cubs.

In the NLDS, Brewers relievers outpitched San Diego’s unit by posting a 0.47 ERA and allowing a .169 batting average.

The Brewers’ dominant sweep of the Dodgers in the NLCS set another lofty standard that — like their MLB-best victory total over the past three years — far exceeds what the Padres, among many others, have been able to achieve.

Astute player evaluations are a strength of Padres team-builder A.J. Preller and his staff. Preller’s smart trades and signings enabled San Diego to advance in October against the Cardinals (2020), the Mets and Dodgers (‘22), the Braves (‘24) and the Cubs (‘26).

The Brewers and Rays are next-level, though, at team-building and getting ahead of the industry in their respective niches.

Who’s going to win it all? I’ll stick with the Brewers. Out of Latin America, they signed their speedy Dominican slugger Jackson Chourio, 22; MLB’s top-ranked prospect, 19-year-old Venezuelan shortstop Jesus Made; and his countryman Luis Lara, a 21-year-old outfielder on the current team.

Milwaukee drafted three junior-college pitchers who should’ve been taken long before the Brewers got them: ace Jacob Misiorowski, a 6-foot-7 fireballer who grew into his body as a professional; fellow 24-year-old starter Logan Henderson, whose rising fastball and high-speed changeup matter more than his average velocity; and Aaron Ashby, 28, who has held up for 100 innings this year.

It’s encouraging for the Padres that Preller may have found a long-term answer at manager.

Craig Stammen’s first season was a success. The fit between Stammen, 42, and Preller, 49, appears promising. It extends even to the basketball court.

The pesky Brewers and Rays, meantime, have that advantage in abundance.

Rays manager Kevin Cash, 48, has guided six of 12 teams to the playoffs. Pat Murphy, 67, has gone to the playoffs in all three years as manager and six times in his eight years as Milwaukee’s bench coach. Murphy, per Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, didn’t take the managerial job until it was agreed that he would have considerable authority, by industry standards. That included getting a say on personnel decisions.

Every franchise tries to make the best of its circumstances, which vary quite a bit. The Padres have done a good job within their niche.

The Brewers and Rays? They’re mastering what Peter Seidler referred to as the art of the possible. Soon, one of them will finally raise the trophy.