Milwaukee Brewers a Popular World Series Pick in A's Clubhouse

As the season was winding down, Athletics on SI was conducting some end-of-season interviews for player wrap-ups this offseason. One of the final questions we would ask the players we spoke with was who they had winning the World Series, since they had played every postseason team by that point in the season.

The Milwaukee Brewers ended up being a popular pick in the clubhouse, and it's easy to see why. When the two clubs met up back in April, the A's were still hovering around .500 and had yet to go on their 1-20 run that essentially ended their own hopes of making the postseason.

This is to say that the A's were playing some decent ball, and the Brewers still managed to take the series, outscoring the green and gold 20-7 in three games, including a 14-1 drubbing in the finale. Up to that point, the A's had scored at least four runs in one game in their previous series, but against Milwaukee they racked up totals of 3, 3, and 1.

Milwaukee went on to hold the best record in MLB at 97-65 while also holding an outstanding +172 run differential. This team just ran through opponents all season long.

A's standout starter Jacob Lopez mentioned both the Red Sox and the Brewers as his World Series picks, and noted that Milwaukee is a scrappy team that knows how to put up runs, while also pitching and playing defense. "They just do everything really well."

Utility-man Max Schuemann even said that he draws inspiration from the Crew. "I love the way the Brewers play. Full team unit, and them being there like, payroll wise, they're not supposed to be there. So it gets me fired up for our team. I'll take the Brewers. I like the way they play the game."

Infielder Max Muncy named most of the National League, which was a bit of a trend in the A's clubhouse as only one AL club was mentioned a few times. That said, Muncy's phrasing may have spoken more loudly.

"I think the Padres are a good team. I like the Phillies. I think the Brewers are like a good team unit. I think they play well together." Milwaukee was the only club there that he gave more than a "good team" to. Regardless, he said he's excited to watch as much postseason baseball as he can while also playing in the Arizona Fall League.

Next season, the Athletics hope that they'll be playing in the postseason rather than watching from home. The Brewers are currently waiting for the winner of the series between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. Each series this round will be a best-of-three, with all three potential games being played at the better seed's home ballpark.

Since Milwaukee owns the best record in baseball, they'll have home field advantage throughout the postseason, which is terrific news for them. The Brewers went 52-29 at home this year, but they also went nine games above .500 on the road, making them dangerous wherever they play. Only the Phillies (55-26) and Blue Jays (54-27) finished with more wins at home.