There's a chill in the air. Do you feel it? As the baseball calendar turns to September, the MLB Playoff picture suddenly starts to come into focus. Typically, that could limit the interest of a fanbase like, say, the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team which all-too-frequently has an eye towards next season this time of year. However, for the loyal supporters who have stuck around through the dog days of August into some surprisingly brisk nights over Labor Day weekend, looking back at the year that was doesn't have to be all bad.
Yes, even teams like the Rockies, Pirates and White Sox have reason to hope. Every season brings value, and for the best and worst teams alike, it's the surprises that make September worth watching – whether that means a looming postseason push or more false prophets for 2026 depends on the standings.
2025 has been a season unlike any other, just as every MLB campaign is. That's what makes this league and sport so incredible. In Tuesday morning's power rankings, we'll outline some of the best single-season performances none of us saw coming just a few months ago.
This week's panel includes members of the FanSided.com team (myself, Chris Landers and Zach Rotman) along with site experts from across the FanSided network who know their favorite team better than anyone else in the business.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
30. Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies could finish the 2025 regular season with the lowest number of runs scored by a single team since the turn of the century. Considering how dreaful the Rox have been this year, you can add it to the list. Unlike teams near the bottom of this list, it was tough to find a positive spin on Colorado's season – but thankfully their lone All-Star has maintained his torrid pace in the second half.
Hunter Goodman could very well be the face of the Rockies franchise. In his age-25 season, Goodman made his first All-Star team and looks like a player the Rockies can build around. Those don't grow on trees, and Goodman has come a long way in 2025, sporting an .841 OPS as of this writing, a good 200 points higher than his mark at this time last year.
-Mark Powell, FanSided.com
29. Chicago White Sox
The White Sox remain a way’s away from contention. If you squint, though, you can start to see what the next halfway-decent team on the South Side might look like – and the emergence of Colson Montgomery has been arguably the biggest reason why.
The team’s first-round pick back in 2021, Montgomery got off to a miserable start in the Minors this year. But upon arriving in Chicago, something clicked: He hit 14 homers in his first 43 games, and while there remains lots of swing-and-miss in his game, the power appears to be very real. He’s holding his own at shortstop, too; if he can make enough contact to tap into his pull power, Chicago has their starter at the six for years to come.
-Chris Landers, FanSided.com
28. Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals have not taken the leap their fans had hoped for, as they sit comfortably in last place in the NL East and hold one of the worst records in the sport. As frustrating as this season has been for Nats fans, watching James Wood play has been a privilege.
Sure, his second half struggles have been noticeable and there are major strikeout concerns, but the numbers he’s managed to put up in his first full season are eye-popping. At just 22 years of age, Wood has an MVP-caliber ceiling and looks to be the centerpiece of the team for years to come. The supporting cast is tough to picture right now, but having the superstar to build around has to feel good.
-Zach Rotman, FanSided.com
27. Baltimore Orioles
This is a tougher one, given how disappointing the O’s have been this season. But if Baltimore is going to rebound and get back to the playoffs in 2026, they’re going to need to 1) get and stay healthy and 2) fix their pitching staff. The emergence of Trevor Rogers this summer should seriously help with the latter: Long a tantalizing talent, the lefty has been one of the very best pitchers in the league of late.
Baltimore probably can’t expect this level of dominance next season, but there’s no reason why Rogers can’t be a rock in the starting rotation again as he enters his contract year. Given how many question marks still exist with this starting staff moving forward, particularly around the health of Grayson Rodriguez, having at least one known quantity is huge.
-CL
26. Pittsburgh Pirates
A surprising question has made the rounds on Pirates social media the last few weeks – should Ben Cherington and Pittsburgh try to extend outfielder Tommy Pham? The hot-headed outfielder was expected to be dealt at the MLB trade deadline given he's on an expiring contract. However, the sad truth was the Pirates couldn't have gotten much for him at the time.
Pham has been red-hot of late. The Pirates should have a loaded rotation next season, featuring Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Mitch Keller and eventually Jared Jones. What they are lacking is bats. Even if Pham is little more than a veteran presence in the outfield, his teammates love him and he's finally starting to hit like he's about five years younger.
-MP
25. Minnesota Twins
It’s hard to focus on the positives with a team that just shipped out everything that wasn’t nailed down at the trade deadline. Even the most feel-good story of the Twins’ season, Byron Buxton finally staying healthy enough to put together the season we all knew he was capable of, has been dampened by the dysfunction around him.
But while Minnesota isn’t going to be good again for a long time, there remains some intriguing young talent here. Taking a swing on Taj Bradley could prove fruitful, and internally there are several players to get excited about starting as soon as 2026. Luke Keaschall has burst onto the scene at the MLB level, crushing the ball whenever he’s been healthy enough to play. Top prospect Walker Jenkins, meanwhile, has been so good he’s made it all the way to Triple-A by the age of 20. The future is closer than you think here, even if the Pohlads deserve to be publicly shamed.
-CL
24. Atlanta Braves
Not much has gone right for the Braves this season. Despite entering the season with one of the best rotations in baseball and the last two NL Cy Young award winners on their staff, Atlanta was hit with every injury in the doctor's manual. Rather than starting over via a mass trade deadline sell-off, Alex Anthopoulos is betting on this bunch to bounce back in 2026. We don't blame him in the slightest.
As for a pleasant surprise, look no further than Drake Baldwin. The rookie catcher could still win NL Rookie of the Year and has been one of the more reliable hitters in an Atlanta lineup that has struggled in the second half. Baldwin's emergence gives Anthopoulos options, especially on the trade market with Sean Murphy this winter.
-MP
23. Athletics
For a team that long ago fell out of serious postseason contention, it’s awfully easy to find things to feel good about in Sacramento (you know, besides the fact that this team is stuck in Sacramento). You could just point out the fact that the team acquired arguably the most tantalizing prospect in baseball, Leo de Vries, at the trade deadline and call it a day.
But while de Vries might be awesome in due time, this team is good enough to think about contending as soon as 2026. So instead, I’ll just cheat a bit and go with this entire young offensive core, from All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson (age 23) to outfielders Lawrence Butler (24) and Tyler Soderstrom (23) to catcher Shea Langeliers (27) to first baseman and likely AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz (22). The only player in that list who doesn’t have an OPS+ of at least 120 right now is Butler, who remains an excellent athlete and who just put up a .262/.317/.490 slash line a year ago.
That’s … quite the assortment of cost-controlled talent. Building a pitching staff will be tricky, especially considering their home park, but the A’s have one heck of a foundation to build upon.
-CL
22. Los Angeles Angels
Despite the Angels falling back into last place of the American League West and posting a bottom-three run differential in baseball, the season has actually been much more enjoyable for fans. Mike Trout has played in his most games since 2022, despite nursing a knee injury the whole season which caused him to switch to a full-time DH role. Yusei Kikuchi, the team’s lone All-Star representative, has done an admirable job as the team’s ace. Kenley Jansen has been more than impressive as the team’s closer, and the same goes for José Soriano as the No. 2 starter.
All that being said, Zach Neto, Taylor Ward and Jo Adell have been the bright spots on the roster. The rumblings that Neto might be a superstar are getting louder and louder, as his well-rounded game is taking the sport by storm. Neto is a league leader in defensive runs saved as a shortstop, plus is doing a whole lot of damage as the team’s leadoff hitter. Ward and Adell are currently the only pair of teammates to have 30+ home runs, and the corner outfielders are developing into more consistent and balanced players.
-Evan Roberts, Halo Hangout
21. Miami Marlins
The Miami Marlins are under .500 and well out of postseason contention, but they’ve definitely played better than expected, particularly in the second half. All of a sudden, it feels like this team which didn’t have much going for it entering the year, has several intriguing youngsters to build around.
One of these budding stars is Kyle Stowers, an outfielder who was reportedly on the trade block earlier this season. Stowers made the All-Star team and has five (!) multi-home run games already this season. For a Marlins organization that has lacked power really since they traded Giancarlo Stanton away, having a guy like Stowers (and Agustin Ramirez, too) who could easily hit 35-40 home runs next season is a great thing.
-ZR
20. Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona is very much a team in flux right now, with several pieces of the team's core either shipped off at the trade deadline (Merrill Kelly, Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor) or set to move on in free agency (Zac Gallen). The rotation, in particular, is a huge question mark, especially given that Corbin Burnes is set to miss most if not all of the 2026 season as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery.
It's unclear just who will be making starts for the D-backs next season — which is what makes Ryne Nelson's emergence so crucial for rthe team's future. A former second-round pick back in 2019, Nelson has always boasted a promising fastball and an ability to pound the strike zone. It wasn't until this year, though, that his slider showed up to the party as well. Think of him like a poor man's Joe Ryan: He's liable to give up the long ball when he isn't elevating his heater properly, but when he's on, he's missing barrels and keep runners off the base paths (his 1.053 WHIP ranks fifth among qualified NL starters).
The Snakes still have a long way to go to build a contending roster by next spring, but Nelson becoming a legitimate No. 3 is a huge help.
-CL
19. St. Louis Cardinals
There haven't been a ton of success stories at the Major League level for St. Louis this year; the Cardinals were hoping for young guys like Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar to take the next step, but just about all of them have either stagnated or regressed. John Mozeliak hoped that he'd be leaving Chaim Bloom a foundation upon which to build, but instead there's nothing but question marks.
Thankfully, the situation is at least a little rosier on the farm, thanks to white-hot infield prospect JJ Wetherholt. The team's first-round pick (No. 7 overall) last summer, the West Virginia product has done nothing but lay waste to Minor League pitching since he entered pro ball. He's slashing .331/.423/.620 over his first 36 games at Triple-A, and he sure looks like a future 20/20 guy (at least) with the ability to play anywhere on the infield. If you're looking for reasons to feel optimistic about the start of the Bloom era, look no further.
-CL
18. Cleveland Guardians
While the Guardians’ season has largely been a disappointment due to underperformance on the field and controversy off of it, they’ve gotten a boost recently from the presence of rookie lefty Parker Messick, who has compiled a 0.66 ERA across his first 13.2 innings since making his season debut in the middle of August.
Messick may not have the most electric stuff in the world, but he’s shown a poise and arsenal needed to get major league hitters out, and seems to be on track to be even better next year after a full offseason in the Guardians’ pitching factory.
Although he doesn’t have enough innings to qualify for the Baseball Savant leaderboards, he would rank in the top percentile in walk rate, barrel rate and hard-hit rate. Cleveland’s rotation has featured some lows (don’t look at how Tanner Bibee’s done this year) and some highs (Gavin Williams has become an ace), but Messick’s emergence might be the best sign out of all of them.
-Henry Palattella, Away Back Gone
17. Tampa Bay Rays
Similarly, it’s been something of a lost season for the Rays, who once again have struggled to keep their pitchers healthy and now will almost certainly lose Brandon Lowe to free agency this winter. But if you’re looking for something to build around for the future, you could do a whole lot worse than Junior Caminero, who has blossomed into the sort of star the team hoped for when he was rocketing through its farm system.
The approach is still … aggressive, to say the least. Caminero swings at everything, and that might come back to haunt him as the league adjusts. But man, there just aren’t a ton of infielders who can do this sort of damage on contact: Caminero absolutely crushes the ball, and he’s still just 22 years old. The sky is the limit here, and importantly for the Rays, he’s cost-controlled for years to come.
-CL
16. Cincinnati Reds
It might be unlikely that they get in, but the Cincinnati Reds are hovering around the NL Wild Card race, which is somewhat encouraging, especially given some of the injuries they’ve dealt with. The biggest reason why they’ve been able to hang around the race is because of their rotation.
Hunter Greene has been among the best pitchers in the National League when healthy. Andrew Abbott has taken an All-Star leap. Nick Lodolo might be the best No. 3 starter in the league when healthy. Chase Burns is as dynamic as anybody. Again, health has been an issue, particularly in the rotation, but they legitimately have six or seven guys you can trust to start and win you a game. Their pitching is wildly underrated and shouldn’t be.
-ZR
15. San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants have not had a ton of pleasant surprises in a year that feels like a disappointment after the team fell off a cliff following the trade for Rafael Devers. However, the emergence of Randy Rodríguez as an elite bullpen arm has been a very welcome development. Oh, sorry. What’s that? Oh, he is likely going to need Tommy John surgery and will most likely miss all of 2026? That’s the 2025 Giants for you. Even the pleasant surprises get spoiled.
Despite the awful recent injury news on Rodríguez, that does not change the fact that he had an outstanding season. He was the most dominant reliever in the first half of the season and earned an All-Star nod even though he was, in essence, the team’s seventh inning guy. That’s how good he was.
Even though he was essentially a below-average reliever since the All-Star break, he still finished the season with a 1.78 ERA in 50 appearances. One hopes he will be the same guy we saw in the first half whenever he returns from injury and potential surgery, but at least he came out of nowhere to give Giants fans a nice surprise in 2025.
-Nick San Miguel, Around the Foghorn
14. Kansas City Royals
Assuming they aren’t able to snatch a shocking Wild Card berth over the next few weeks, the Royals have plenty of questions to answer – most of them revolving around this offense. But the pitching should once again be strong in 2026, and the emergence of Kris Bubic as a starter is a big reason why.
Bubic revived his career as a reliever last season, but he came up through the K.C. system as a starter, and he was so good in 2024 that the Royals gave him another shot in the rotation. He’s taken it and run with it, earning an All-Star nod and looking like an ideal fit behind Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo moving forward. And he has one more year of team control before hitting free agency next winter.
-CL
13. Texas Rangers
It’s been a frustrating season for the Rangers, who had the talent to make some noise in the AL but were done in by a combination of poor injury luck and a leaky bullpen that has cost them dearly in close games all season long. It’s hard to avoid the feeling that this year has been a disappointment.
If we’re looking for a silver lining, though, it’s huge that both Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter have taken steps forward in 2025 and look like starters in the outfield for years to come. Langford is the real highlight here, given his combination of power, speed and on-base skills that could see him threaten the 30-30 club before too long. But don’t sleep on Carter, either: He bounced back from a miserable 2024 to at least be OK at the plate, which is all you need considering his ability to go get it in center field. That’s two-thirds of an excellent outfield locked in, with more room to grow moving forward.
-CL
12. Seattle Mariners
With 50 so far this season, Cal Raleigh has already broken the catcher home run record — and he still has a shot at various other all-time marks. No matter how the Mariners’ season pans out, they’re thus going to be able to walk away from 2025 with more confidence than ever that they were right to make a $105 million investment in Raleigh back in March.
Yet even if he himself doesn’t throw one, I’m going to throw a curveball and say that Bryan Woo is the Mariners’ greatest success story of 2025. He has been the rock in a rotation that has unexpectedly turned to dust for much of the season, notably beginning the year with 25 straight starts of at least six innings.
Woo was a 2021 sixth-round draft pick who had posted a 6.36 ERA in college, and he was never a top-100 prospect. That he is now one of the very best starters in MLB just four years later is something the Mariners organization has every right to be proud of.
-Zachary Rymer, SoDo Mojo
11. New York Mets
In a year where everyone was under the microscope and the Juan Soto contract confirmed the team wouldn’t be an underdog, many of the players on the New York Mets had elevated expectations. Their biggest success wasn’t in the offseason or at the trade deadline. It came from within.
How is it that someone like Nolan McLean could ditch hitting and become even more unique? Once a two-way player who couldn’t quite live up to his ‘Cowboy Ohtani’ moniker in the minor leagues, dropping his bat and focusing on his mound game has turned McLean into a potential Mets season savior.
He’s not alone. Jonah Tong made the jump from irrelevant pitching prospect drafted in the 7th round to exciting rookie in the majors in less than two seasons. His ascent is an even greater testament to the true biggest success of 2025 for the Mets: their pitching lab. Often overhyped and misunderstood, it’s their minor league pitchers who’ll benefit most from this; not journeymen bargains snatched up in free agency. The Mets failed to get much of anything out of Frankie Montas before his season-ending injury. Fortunately, they had a younger militia building up in the minor leagues.
-Tim Boyle, Rising Apple
10. San Diego Padres
AJ Preller went all-in at the MLB trade deadline, and that meant banking his reputation on the Padres ability to defeat and eventually overtake the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thus far, Preller's moves have paid off, though winning the NL West over the Dodgers is proving easier said than done. However, the Pads are squarely in NL Wild Card position and should be a tough out once October comes around.
When the Padres make the playoffs, their postseason rotation won't rely on either of their perceived aces in Dylan Cease or Michael King. Instead, Nick Pivetta is the best starting pitcher San Diego has. Preller signed Pivetta this past winter to a five-year, $55 million deal, which is incredibly affordable given his output so far. Pivetta has 4.78 WAR and 2.85 ERA in just over 158 innings pitched. He has been one of the best pitchers in baseball. It'd be unfair to Pivetta's body of work to say he came out of nowhere, but few pundits saw this kind of campaign coming.
-MP
9. Houston Astros
There are really two clear options for the biggest success story of 2025 for the Houston Astros: Jeremy Peña or Hunter Brown. While it might be tempting to go Peña here, the heights that Brown has reached this year are undeniable.
His 2.34 ERA is the third best among all starters in baseball, behind only Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal. His 10.13 K/9 is 10th, one spot ahead of Skenes. He's shown the stamina of a true ace as well, logging the 13th most innings in baseball at 161.2.
Two years ago, he struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark and posted a 5.09 in his first full big league season. While he took a leap last season, he's reached another level in 2025, becoming an AL Cy Young favorite from wire to wire, and usurping teammate Framber Valdez for the mantle of Astros' ace in the process. Speaking of Valdez, he's likely a goner once his contract expires at the end of the season, making his emergence that much more important for Houston as they look towards the future.
-Stephen Parello, Climbing Tal’s Hill
8. New York Yankees
The way the vibes are around this team right now, you’d think that literally nothing has gone right for New York in 2025. But a week against the Nationals and White Sox has helped right the ship, and while there’s still plenty to play for this year, the Yankees are also better-positioned for the future than they seemed just a few months ago.
There are several reasons for that – Cam Schlittler says hello – but the biggest one, hands down, is the emergence of Ben Rice as a middle-of-the-lineup force. He started turning heads in spring training, and after a brutally unlucky stretch earlier this season, he’s caught fire of late. His combination of contact ability with exit velocity is very, very rare, and the fact that he can split time with Austin Wells behind the plate is just an added bonus. New York has a new star to slot behind Aaron Judge for years to come.
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7. Boston Red Sox
I mean, maybe it’s too easy to say Roman Anthony – the guy was the top prospect in baseball for a reason, after all – but … seriously, have you guys seen what Roman Anthony’s been doing? It’s hardly a given for a star prospect to immediately hit the ground running at the big-league level; just look at Jackson Holliday’s growing pains, for instance. And yet, Anthony has almost immediately looked the part, with Friday night’s homer off Paul Skenes just the latest in his growing list of exploits.
Anthony is simply a hitter beyond his years, almost Soto-like in his command of the zone and his ability to capitalize on any mistake a pitcher happens to make. We thought he would be good, but right now he looks set to rule this division in the future.
-CL
6. Toronto Blue Jays
For a team that missed the playoffs last season and came into the season with so many question marks, the Toronto Blue Jays have had no shortage of success stories in 2025. Whether that’s prospect Addison Barger turning into a legit power hitting bat, or the combined efforts of 41-year-old Max Scherzer and 30-year-old Eric Lauer having their best seasons in ages (perhaps ever in the latter's case) to lock down the back end of a rotation that was springing leaks from Opening Day.
They also have had huge bounce back seasons from impending free agent shortstop Bo Bichette (leading the league in hits) and 36-year-old George Springer who is having his best season since signing with Toronto ahead of 2021. Don’t forget Alejandro Kirk who is arguably the best catcher in the American League not named Cal Raleigh. But throughout all of that, the number one success story in Toronto in 2025 has to be the long-term signing of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Toronto has never had a single player who they have drafted or signed as an international free agent, developed and committed to this organization for the entirety of their career. A 14-year extension for Guerrero for a franchise record setting $500 million dollars is a comittment from this front office and this fanbase to invest in the now and the future. Regardless of how this season turns out for Toronto, they have their face of the franchise locked in for the long haul. Guerrero has responded with a terrific season. While he isn’t near the top of the league in home runs, he is a top five to top ten player in almost every other offensive aspect, from the regular stats to the advanced metrics.
-Matthew Sookram, JaysJournal.com
5. Los Angeles Dodgers
This season has been a tad frustrating for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Many thought that the defending champs would cruise to one of the greatest seasons in MLB history because of how much talent they have, but injuries, particularly on the pitching side of things, have hampered them a bit.
While the regular season hasn’t been quite as fun as Dodgers fans had envisioned, getting to see Shohei Ohtani in his true two-way form has been great. He’s been limited to five innings or fewer in all 11 of his starts, but he’s allowed two runs or fewer in all but two of them, and he looks like a guy who can give them meaningful innings on the mound (in addition to all he does at the plate) in October. Ohtani the hitter has been as advertised, but Dodgers fans are finally getting the full Ohtani experience.
- ZR
4. Chicago Cubs
It would be easy to go with Pete Crow-Armstrong’s breakout campaign or Matthew Boyd defying the odds and making the Cubs’ bet on him look smarter with each passing day, but I’ve got to give the nod to big right-hander Brad Keller, who has been this team’s unsung hero all season long.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is notorious for piecing together his bullpen every winter, avoiding any sort of long-term or high-dollar investments. The strategy has worked more often than not and Keller is just the latest diamond in the rough to emerge after joining the organization.
A first-round pick of the Royals way back in 2013, the 30-year-old signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Cubs in late January and has been a revelation for manager Craig Counsell. Keller leads the team with 58 appearances - and it’s not just the quantity that’s been valuable. He’s been incredibly effective, pitching to a 2.24 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, serving as a late-inning anchor for a Chicago ballclub gearing up for October.
-Jake Misener, Cubbies Crib
3. Detroit Tigers
It was tough to find one singular Tigers narrative to focus on for this story, but in our case we'll go with catcher Dillon Dingler. Utilityman Zach McKinstry was a close second, with Casey Mize finishing third. However, both of those players have fallen off slightly in the second half as the Tigers struggled to maintain their torried pre-All-Star break pace.
You could argue Dingler has been the Tigers second-best player this season, which is saying a lot considering Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene are on the roster. However, Dingler manages a solid pitching staff and is having his best offensive season at age 26. Dingler has an fWAR of 3.6, which is second only to Skubal. He has a .760 OPS while playing the toughest defensive position on the baseball diamond.
If the Tigers go as far as they hope to in October, Dingler ought to be a household name.
-MP
2. Philadelphia Phillies
It’s World Series or bust in the eyes of many Philadelphia Phillies fans this season even with Zack Wheeler out. I’m not sure whether this team has what it takes to win it all without Wheeler, but the starpower on this team has been evident all season.
Kyle Schwarber might win the NL MVP award as a DH who does literally nothing other than crush baseballs. Christopher Sanchez is probably the leading candidate to finish behind Paul Skenes in the NL Cy Young balloting. Bryce Harper has been the Bryce Harper Phillies fans expect for the most part. Trea Turner is having his best all-around season with the Phillies. The supporting cast has its share of question marks, but the stars have been able to shine bright for much of the season. If they can do so in October, who knows what the future holds?
-ZR
1. Milwaukee Brewers
Finding a success story on the 2025 Milwaukee Brewers is not a difficult task. From Isaac Collins’ breakout campaign to Jacob Misiorowski’s memorable rookie season to the re-emergence of Christian Yelich’s power to the triumphant return of Brandon Woodruff to the arrival of Andrew Vaughn to Freddy Peralta’s quiet Cy Young-worthy season, there really is a success story in every corner of the Brewers’ clubhouse. But the biggest success story of all has been the Brewers sticking to their brand of baseball and, as a result, holding the best record in baseball.
During an era where power reigns supreme, the Brew Crew opted for a group of scrappy ballplayers who get on base and wreak havoc once they do. While other teams are sacrificing defense for more power in their lineup, the Brewers aren’t entertaining moves that hurt their excellent defensive unit. While other teams are paying big money for home runs on the free agent market, the Brewers are searching for undervalued tools that allow them to win games while staying within their modest budget. A small-market club like the Brewers should not be able to sustain a competitive squad for this many years, but on September 1, Milwaukee has already secured a winning record for the 8th consecutive full season.