What we learned: October 1, 2014

The Brewers second base platoon was one of the better second base situations in all of MLB.

Platoons are put together to take two players, each with a glaring weakness, and play each of them in situations where that weakness is minimized. This season, the Brewers did that at second base with Scooter Gennett and Rickie Weeks. The results were very good, as the two of them combined to put together one of the best situations at second base in the league. Derek notes that the two combined were 11th in fWAR and 4th offensively out of all 30 MLB teams. With Rickie Weeks leaving this offseason, it's up in the air as to what could happen for next season. We could see Gennett at second base full time, or a new platoon could form. Whatever it is, hopefully it can repeat the success of this platoon from this season.

Cram Session

• Doug Melvin is holding to his timeline on Ron Roenicke, waiting until next week to make his decision. Adam McCalvy has some notes on the decision, including Melvin's plans for this week and some adjustments Melvin and Roenicke discussed in September.
• With a decision on Ron Roenicke not coming until next week, the opinions will be out about what the Brewers should do. On Reviewing the Brew, Bill Berg believes that Ron Roenicke should return in 2015.
• Jonah Keri of Grantland released his picks for the different MLB awards, which includes one Brewer among the NL MVP selections.
• Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors has some notes on the Brewers pending decisions, including Rickie Weeks preparing to move on and Francisco Rodriguez wanting to return.
• In former Brewer news, Corey Hart has been designated for assignment by the Mariners. He would have been a free agent anyway after the World Series, so this just pushes it up a little bit.

NL Central Notes

• When will the Cubs compete again for a NL Central title? According to GM Theo Epstein, it could happen in 2015. Carrie Muskat of MLB.com has some quotes from the Cubs GM, where he discusses the future potential of the Cubs.
• Did the Pirates make the right decision by starting Gerrit Cole in the final game of the regular season? David Schoenfield of ESPN SweetSpot notes that the situation wasn't favorable, while Steven Silverman of Beyond the Box Score says the probabilities were nearly the same had Cole started or not. Meanwhile, Tony Blengino looks at it from the other side, saying that it's not a bad idea to start Edinson Volquez in the wild card game.

Postseason Notes

Yesterday's Games

• AL Wild Card Game: Royals 9, Athletics 8 (12 Innings)
  Royals advance to ALDS.

Today's Games

• NL Wild Card Game: Giants @ Pirates - 7:00 pm
  Starting Pitchers: Madison Bumgarner vs. Edinson Volquez

News & Notes

• Mike Oz of Big League Stew has a ranking of all 25 potential World Series matchups.
• Could the wild card game become a wild card series? Eno Sarris of FanGraphs proposes a small change to make that could allow MLB to expand the wild card game into a series.
• Two years ago, Stephen Strasburg was held out of the NLDS for the Nationals, and the decision was questioned after the Nationals were eliminated in 5 games. Howard Fendrich of the AP looks back on that decision and how it set the Nationals up for this year.
• Before last night's game, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs had a few pieces of advice for Ned Yost.
• With the Brewers not in the playoffs, who do you want to see win it? Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs has a poll asking that question, with 22% voting for the now-eliminated Athletics. Pirates and Royals came in second and third, with the Cardinals coming in at ninth.