Ryan Braun's thumb issues didn't help matters in Milwaukee this year.
Ryan Braun's thumb issues didn't help matters in Milwaukee this year. (USATSI)

The Milwaukee Brewers season, that was spent mostly in first place, has come to a mathematical conclusion with a 5-3 loss to Cincinnati Thursday. As we do in these parts, let us eulogize the season that was.

What went right

The Brewers stormed out of the gate, starting 10-2 and running their record to 20-7 at one point in April. They were either tied for or sitting alone in first place from April 5-Aug. 30. Sit back and think about that for a bit. They were never in second place for almost five full months of a six-month season. As such, they appeared a lock for the postseason for most of August, at the very least.

Overall, they're a marked improvement over the 2013 Brewers, who went 74-88. So even with the collapse, the season wasn't a lost cause, as they've already improved by seven wins.

Individually, Jonathan Lucroy and Carlos Gomez will rightfully get some MVP votes (remember, voters fill out 10 spots on their ballots), Aramis Ramirez showed he can still swing it, Khris Davis showed good power and Scooter Gennett had a quality season. The bullpen and rotation had their bright spots (Zach Duke!), especially the lights-out bullpen in April. Mike Fiers was brilliant in the rotation down the stretch while the rest of the starters struggled to find consistency.

What went wrong

Thumb issues hampered Ryan Braun, preventing him from returning to MVP form. Jean Segura was awful at the plate in a major step back.

The rotation ERA ranks ninth in the NL and the bullpen ERA is 11th, so the pitching as a whole didn't help matters.

Mostly, though, the Brewers' season is a tale of having two awful stretches of baseball and allowing that to ruin the season. They were able to overcome losing 11 of 12 just before the All-Star break, but teaming that with losing 16 of 19 from Aug. 20-Sept. 9 was just too much. That's a 4-27 record in two stretches. Aside from that, the Brewers were one of the best teams in baseball, but that's basically a month where they only won four games.

During those stretches, it was inconsistent hitting, poor starting pitching or poor bullpen work -- often combinations thereof -- that were the culprit. Not having a bona fide ace probably hurt, because sending someone like Clayton Kershaw to the hill during a losing streak is a mental positive before the game even starts and then gives the team a great shot at winning, but there's no single proven formula for breaking bad streaks.

MVP: Lucroy is one of the best offensive catchers in baseball while providing great defense behind the plate. He's the choice, though I'd be fine with Gomez, too.

LVP: Braun's thumb. Simple-minded fools like to scream about him being "off the juice," to which I'd like to ask why this hasn't happened to the likes of Nelson Cruz and Melky Cabrera? No, Braun's down numbers are due (at least mostly) to his thumb injury and the offense would've been a lot more consistent with vintage Braun in the middle. With it getting worse as the season has progressed, Braun has hit .234/.292/.390 since the All-Star break, compared to .298/.348/.515 before it.

Free agents to be: 2B Rickie Weeks ($11.5M club option), 3B Aramis Ramirez ($13M mutual option with a $4M buyout), SP Yovani Gallardo ($13M club option with a $600K buyout), RP Francisco Rodriguez, RP Tom Gorzelanny, 1B Mark Reynolds, 1B Lyle Overbay, RP Zach Duke

Gameplan heading into the offseason

First of all, GM Doug Melvin has the in-house decisions to make. Just look at the list immediately above. Weeks is definitely gone, but I think they'll keep Ramirez and Gallardo around for one more year with this group.

Without options, baseball-reference.com pegs the estimated payroll (including arbitration raises and pre-arb players) to be roughly $79 million. The Brewers were over $113 million this season, so they could retain Ramirez and Gallardo and still have enough room to reasonably add an $8 million player for next season.

With the closing situation, Jonathan Broxton is signed through next season. Not that his outings to this point with the club have inspired confidence, but it's feasible to see the Brewers planning for him to be the closer while letting K-Rod walk. Given his performance this season and the fact that he's a lefty, re-upping with Duke would be a higher priority for me than K-Rod.

Past that, Melvin has publicly said he's not going to focus on starting pitching but will instead focus on improving the offense. First base would be the area to add, just like they tried last offseason. We know they tried to grab Justin Morneau off waivers from the Rockies in August, so trade talk there is possible. Michael Cuddyer is set to hit free agency while Adam LaRoche, Adam Lind and Billy Butler all have reasonable chances of having options declined. Any of those guys could be a solution.

Otherwise, they'll probably be hoping for better help and better fortune in dealing with bad stretches in 2015. There's good talent here.

Having said all this, it's at least remotely possible that Melvin isn't making these decisions. With the collapse complete, we can't be certain Melvin and/or manager Ron Roenicke will be retained for next season. The gut feeling is they'll both stay, but you never know after a collapse like this. Sometimes heads roll.

Ridiculously premature prediction for 2015

Braun plays back to form, but overall the pitching staff just can't keep up with the offense. The Cardinals and Pirates are both better again while the Brewers duke it out with the Cubs and Reds for third place.