What's next for the Brewers and Athletics after their wild-card losses?

Winning the World Series is hard. These teams couldn't do it. So, what's next for the casualties of the wild-card round? Jonah Birenbaum, theScore's senior MLB writer, tries to suss it out.

Milwaukee Brewers

After storming back to contention in 2018 following an uncharacteristically aggressive offseason - riding the additions of Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain to 96 wins and a National League Central title - the Brewers tried to maintain those gains this past winter, bringing in Yasmani Grandal and re-signing Mike Moustakas to fortify a solid but unspectacular roster.

Instead, regression ensued.

Amid sizable steps backward from the likes of Cain, Travis Shaw, and Jesus Aguilar (who was traded away in July), coupled with the continued mediocrity of the starting rotation and a season-ending injury to Yelich on Sept. 10, the Brewers finished 89-73 - a record that belied their ho-hum run differential of plus-3 - and qualified for the NL wild-card game only by virtue of a torrid September. There, Yelich's absence loomed large, with rookie fill-in Trent Grisham committing a pivotal error in the Washington Nationals' eighth-inning rally on Tuesday night that turned a two-run Milwaukee lead into a 4-3 loss.

And now, despite playing into October for the second straight year, a winter of big decisions - and potentially unpopular ones - looms for the Brewers. Only two years after propping open his club's competitive window, general manager David Stearns will have to decide whether he wants to keep it ajar or start building for the future (again). Either direction is defensible given the state of the roster and the turnover that's expected this offseason.

First and foremost, the Brewers are poised to lose two of their biggest contributors to free agency, as both Grandal and Moustakas are likely to decline their mutual options for 2020. Grandal was easily Milwaukee's second-most valuable player in 2019, accruing 5.2 WAR - second among all catchers - while appearing in a career-high 153 games. He's positioned himself for the lucrative multi-year contract he sought last offseason, and he won't be attached to draft-pick compensation this time around after receiving a qualifying offer last year.

Moustakas, meanwhile, finished third among Brewers position players in WAR (2.8) this season, managing an .845 OPS with 35 homers in 143 games. And, like Grandal, he'll hit free agency unencumbered by draft-pick compensation.

Assuming those two are gone, the Brewers have only three position players currently under contract for 2020: Yelich, Cain, and Ryan Braun. (Eric Thames also has a $7.5-million team option.) Nobody could fault Stearns for being apprehensive about re-committing to that group. Cain, 33, endured a miserable season in 2019, eking out a .697 OPS and racking up just 1.5 WAR; Braun, at 35, isn't a player to build around anymore.

Every other position player on the 40-man roster is either arbitration-eligible or pre-arb, which theoretically bodes well from a financial perspective. The Brewers' projected Opening Day payroll is just $51.9 million, according to Cot's Contracts, but none of those players save for Shaw, who accrued 3.6 WAR in 2018 before faltering this year, and Keston Hiura, who finished his rookie campaign with a .303/.368/.570 slash line, have much upside.

Milwaukee's farm system isn't poised to graduate an impact player anytime soon, either. Infielder Brice Turang, the only Brewer ranked among MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects, has yet to play a game above High-A.

Meanwhile, the state of the rotation isn't particularly encouraging. The Brewers, because of injuries and, frankly, a lack of talent, received less WAR from their starting rotation than all but 10 teams in 2019, and it's fair to wonder if the group actually overperformed. Three starters - Zach Davies, Chase Anderson and trade-deadline addition Jordan Lyles - had fielding independent pitching (FIP) marks well above their actual ERAs.

Expecting anything out of Jimmy Nelson, who stumbled through 10 appearances in 2019 after missing almost two years due to injury, seems dubious. Ultimately, after wild-card starter Brandon Woodruff, the Brewers' rotation is a melange of mediocrity and injury risks. The bullpen, at least, should remain strong, with Josh Hader, Brent Suter, and Adrian Houser. But relievers are volatile, as evidenced by the 2019 struggles of Jeremy Jeffress and Corbin Burnes.

To make a long story short, the Brewers have Yelich, Hiura, Woodruff, a decent bullpen, and a whole lot of question marks. Even with potential returns to form from Cain and Shaw, they'll need to spend to contend in 2020, and a couple of mid-market additions - they've never given out a contract worth more than $80 million - won't put them in the same tier as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves.

Pulling the plug this soon after committing to contending would not go over well in Milwaukee, but don't be surprised if Yelich's name pops up in trade talks this winter.

Oakland Athletics

Despite a paucity of household names on their roster, the Athletics stormed out of the American League West basement in 2018, winning 97 games and claiming a wild-card berth, but not earning a lot of respect. In 2019, they showed it was no aberration, with their still largely unrecognizable roster putting up a second straight 97-win campaign before once again having their postseason dreams dashed after one game.

Still, those successive early exits notwithstanding, there's no ambiguity about where this team is headed. The A's are an off-brand powerhouse, boasting a robust core of young, controllable talent that doesn't necessarily need to be augmented via free agency this winter to contend in 2020.

Pick an offensive stat. The A's probably finished in the top 10 in the majors in that category this year. Runs per game? Yep. Weighted runs created plus? Yup. Homers? Uh-huh. And that was in a down year from 2018 home run champion Khris Davis, who smacked only 23.

They can play defense, too. Only the Astros and Dodgers - the two best teams in the game - finished with a higher defensive efficiency rating in 2019 than the A's, who also ranked 10th in defensive runs saved (42).

The best part, though? Of their five most valuable players in 2019, by WAR - Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman, Mark Canha, Ramon Laureano, and Matt Olson - all but Semien remain under control for at least two more seasons. Moreover, even their most frustrating players in 2019 - Davis, Stephen Piscotty, and Jurickson Profar - have enjoyed past success at the big-league level.

And while Oakland's starting pitching has been unfairly maligned for the last two seasons, it was surprisingly reliable in 2019 and could be legitimately lights-out next year. Sean Manaea returned from shoulder surgery with aplomb down the stretch. Frankie Montas authored a 2.63 ERA with a 4.48 strikeout-to-walk ratio before getting slapped with a suspension. Mike Fiers and Chris Bassitt are perfectly fine back-of-the-rotation options. And, presumably, both A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo - two of the game's most highly touted pitching prospects - will compete for starting jobs in the spring.

Meanwhile, the Athletics' bullpen was one of the best in baseball this year, even amid the struggles of Blake Treinen, who was expected to close. With Liam Hendriks returning and Yusmeiro Petit able to be retained for a $5.5-million club option, don't expect that to change in 2020.

Ultimately, the A's are a damn good team, and they'll be good for a while. Their biggest flaw is that they play in the same division as the Astros.

(Advanced stats via FanGraphs)

Jonah Birenbaum is theScore's senior MLB writer. He steams a good ham. You can find him on Twitter @birenball.