MLB playoff takeaways: Brewers knock off Cubs, but bigger challenge awaits 

Score one for the small market teams. At least for now. While so much of the discourse around Major League Baseball has centered on the disparity between big market teams and small market teams, the Milwaukee Brewers, with a bottom-10 payroll, advanced to the NLCS on Saturday night with a 3-1, Game 5 win over the Chicago Cubs.

They knocked off one big market Goliath in the Cubs. Now, an even bigger Goliath awaits with the Los Angeles Dodgers looming.

Here are some takeaways from the Brewers' Game 5 win.

Brewers' front office keeps finding ways to compete 

The Brewers do not spend a lot of money, at least not compared to the top teams in the league. In recent years, they have parted with established stars like starting pitcher Corbin Burnes and closer Devin Williams. Despite all of the financial disadvantages and the fact that they play in one of baseball's smallest markets, their front office just keeps finding ways to churn out good teams. 

The 2025 season is their seventh playoff appearance in the past eight years, while this is their second NLCS trip during that stretch.

Part of it is the fact that they have been able to produce a pipeline of young talent throughout their farm system to keep replenishing the cupboard.

Players like Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang (who hit a solo home run on Saturday) have developed into everyday position players. Jacob Misiorowski (who threw four strong innings on Saturday) is one of the young phenom pitchers in baseball. 

But they have also perfectly complemented them with shrewd outside additions that snuck under the radar.

When they acquired Andrew Vaughn from the Chicago White Sox this season, it was easy to overlook him because he was a fringe player who had mostly failed to live up to his draft position. He has been one of the Brewers' best hitters and clubbed a solo home run in Saturday's series-winning game.

Starting pitcher Quinn Priester did not establish himself in Pittsburgh or Boston but found his groove with the Brewers. 

It's just a well-run team that has excelled on the margins. Now it is four wins from winning the pennant. 

Can Milwaukee's shrewd management top Dodgers' unlimited budget?

That is going to be the big question. It's one thing to win the National League Central and win a playoff series or two on a small budget. It's another thing entirely to knock off the defending World Series champions, especially when that team has by far the highest payroll in baseball and an extensive list of All-Stars throughout their roster and pitching staff.

We have seen teams like Milwaukee and the Tampa Bay Rays punch above their weight class over the course of a 162-game season, and even a playoff series or two, before running into teams with superstars. 

The teams with superstars generally tend to win. 

That is going to be the challenge for the Brewers in the NLCS.

Cubs enter offseason of questions

Now that the Cubs' season has come to a close, their focus turns to an offseason of questions. 

The biggest of those questions is whether or not they have any chance to re-sign outfielder Kyle Tucker, and what direction they go in if they can not.

When the Cubs originally traded for him before the season, they knew there was a chance it would be a one-and-done season with him, so it was imperative to go all in on 2025. Whether or not they did that is up for debate. All that matters at the end of the day is that they ultimately fell short of the World Series. Now the work begins on getting back to this level and taking the next step.