How the Brewers utilized Moneyball to beat Padres & Dodgers, reach the 2026 World Series

In the context of Major League Baseball, San Diego and Milwaukee are extremely similar. The Padres reside in the league’s 5 th -smallest market. The Brewers are in the 2 nd -smallest. Both teams sit in the shadow of mega-brands with global appeal just two hours away.

Over the last half decade both have found a way to be legitimate, consistent title contenders. That, however, is where the franchises diverge.

You have two teams that have gone about it a different way,” says A.J. Preller, Padres President of Baseball Operations. “Both are, you know, considered, probably smaller market teams, or at least historically have been considered that. But both teams have found a way, to year in and year out, be successful.”

As with most conversations about baseball success, we’re talking about cash. This year the Padres payroll is $80 million higher than the Brewers. Yet Milwaukee knocked them out, then swept through the free spending Dodgers to reach the World Series. They didn’t do it with witchcraft or some super-secret formula.

The book that became an Oscar-nominated movie outlines how, as the general manager of the low-budget Oakland Athletics, San Diego native Billy Beane found underutilized assets to compete for titles while spending fractions of what other teams spent. 25 years ago, it was “guys who get on base.” The modern version is “guys who hit singles.”