By Jim Owczarski Sports Editor Published Oct 08, 2012 at 11:18 AM Photography: David Bernacchi

Baseball continues into mid-October without the Milwaukee Brewers in 2012, with the National League Central-winning Cincinnati Reds looking like a World Series contender and the wild-card St. Louis Cardinals also in the divisional round.

On the surface, it seems like the Milwaukee Brewers are in a tough spot heading into 2013.

But as the team packed up following the end of the season on Wednesday, that was not the vibe in the clubhouse.

"We know it's there," Rickie Weeks said. "Our biggest thing was starting the season with great expectations, then to start how we started and then to finish how we finished, you just know it was there. At the same time, I think everybody is eager to get back to spring training. Obviously get some rest, but we are trying to get back there (to the playoffs)."

Despite how bad the Brewers were, record wise, by the middle of the year, you can't blow 29 saves unless you're leading late in games.

And you're not leading in so many games without excellent starting pitching and enough hitting to put you in that position.

The end result is not what the team, or the fans, wanted, but look at it this way: The team posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2007-08 and has had only three losing seasons overall since Mark Attanasio bought the club in 2005.

The last time the Brewers were this consistently competitive was from 1987 to 1992.

"It's always disappointing when you don't make it to the playoffs when you figure you have a team that is championship caliber," manager Ron Roenicke said. "The whole season – disappointment. But when I look back at where we were and where we ended up, I'm really happy with where we went. And there are so many positives this year with what we accomplished and what we saw for going into next year and having to make decisions."

It was an attitude the players took with him as they packed their bags for home, as well.

"Ultimately, we'll look back on the season as a positive," Ryan Braun said. "At the beginning of the year if you would've told us that we'd miss out on the postseason I think we'd all be disappointed, but at the same time you have to reassess your goals when you consider everything we dealt with as a team. Between injuries and trades, new guys coming up (and) performing really well, being 12 or 14 games under .500 or wherever we were in August, to finish over .500 is definitely an accomplishment. Getting back in the race, playing meaningful games in September up until the last three games is something we're really proud of. Hopefully we can build on this heading into next year."

There is much to look forward to, mainly because the entire starting lineup that helped the Brewers lead the National League in home runs and stolen bases is back.

And, after entering 2012 with the 10th highest payroll in all of baseball in payroll at $97,653,944 the team has some flexibility to upgrade its bullpen and the back end of the starting rotation.

The Brewers have five free agents that are all likely to walk away in Alex Gonzalez ($4.25 million), who will be 36 in February, Livan Hernandez ($750,000) will be 38 that same month, Shaun Marcum ($7.7 million), Francisco Rodriguez ($8 million) and Yorvit Torrealba ($3.25 million paid by Texas, Toronto and Milwaukee)

Zack Greinke ($13.5 million) and Randy Wolf ($9.5 million) were also moved.

Nine players are arbitration eligible, with starter Marco Estrada in line for the biggest raise off his $486,000 salary. Carlos Gomez, Chris Narveson and John Axford are all locks to be back, and Jose Veras is also likely to be offered. I also expect Kameron Loe to be brought back.

It's probable that Nyjer Morgan and Travis Ishikawa are non-tendered, as Mat Gamel will likely be the left-handed bat off the bench to spell Corey Hart at first. This should be the end of the Manny Parra era, as well.

Here is a quick overview of who is coming back, and where, in 2013. It's an impressive lineup, and a young and exciting starting pitching corp. The only real question there is who wins the four and fifth starter spots between Chris Narveson, who is coming off shoulder surgery, rookie surprise Mike Fiers and former top pick Mark Rogers.

Starting lineup

Jonathan Lucroy, catcher
Opening Day age: 26
Brief: "Luc" was having an All-Star caliber first half before breaking his hand and missing all of June and most of July, hitting .345 with 30 RBI. He finished the year with a .320 average, 12 homers and 58 RBI and an OPS of .881.

Corey Hart, first base
Opening Day age: 31
Brief: Battled through injuries to hit .270 with 30 homeruns and 83 RBI while entrenching himself at first base for at least the 2013 season.

Rickie Weeks, second base
Opening Day age: 30
Brief: Slumped horribly all the way through July, only to rebound to hit .230 with 21 homers and 63 RBI.

Jean Segura, shortstop
Opening Day age: 23
Brief: The centerpiece of the Zack Greinke trade on July 27, made his Brewers debut on Aug. 6. He started slow at the plate but played a slick shortstop before finishing with a .264 average, 14 RBI and seven stolen bases.

Aramis Ramirez, third base
Opening Day age: 34
Brief: After slumping through most of April and May, finished with a .300 average, .901 OPS, 27 home runs and 105 RBI. Also hit 50 doubles.

Norichika Aoki, right field
Opening Day age: 31
Brief: Began the year on the bench, ended it playing excellent defense in right all year. Hit .288 in his rookie year with 50 RBI and 30 stolen bases. Also had 51 extra base hits, including 37 doubles.

Carlos Gomez, center field
Opening Day age: 27
Brief: Began the year in a platoon situation, ended it by hitting .260 with 19 homers and 37 stolen bases. Also had an OBP over .300 for the first time in his career while playing excellent defense.

Ryan Braun, left field
Opening Day age: 29
Brief: Posted another MVP-caliber year with a .319/.391/.595 slash line, 41 home runs, 112 RBI and 30 stolen bases.

Starting Rotation

Yovani Gallardo
Opening Day age: 27
Brief: After a slow start, finished 16-9 with a 3.66 ERA in 204 innings pitched in a league leading 33 starts.

Marco Estrada
Opening Day age: 29
Brief: Spent most of the year in the starting rotation following Chris Narveson's injury, finished with a 3.64 ERA and 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a 5-7 record.

Wily Peralta
Opening Day age: 23
Brief: A late call-up, went 2-1 in six starts with a 2.48 ERA. Walked 11 in 29 innings, showing better control than in the minors. Season ended with bicep tightness, but he insisted he was healthy.

Chris Narveson
Opening Day age: 31
Brief: Made two starts before tearing his rotator cuff. Began throwing again before the season ended and is expected to be back in the rotation as potentially the only left-hander. Went 11-8 with a 4.45 ERA in 2011.

Mike Fiers
Opening Day age: 27
Brief: Was a revelation for most of the summer until he wearing down at the end. Went 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA and 9.5 strikeouts per nine.

Mark Rogers
Opening Day age: 27
Brief: Was healthy for the first time in his career, going 3-1 in seven starts with a 3.92 ERA and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Bullpen
Expect Josh Stinson and Brandon Kintzler to get long looks in spring training, but there could be a whole new crop of relievers brought in to set up these three.

Jose Veras
Opening Day age: 32
Brief: Rallied with a 3.63 ERA over 67 innings in 72 appearances. Also averaged 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

Jim Henderson
Opening Day age: 30
Brief: A 29-year-old rookie, he appeared in the closer's role as well as the setup spot, which is his likely role in 2013. He averaged 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings while posting a 3.52 ERA in 36 appearances.

John Axford
Opening Day age: 30
Brief: A rollercoaster of a year ended with 35 saves and a 4.67 ERA. Still averaged 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings in 75 appearances.

Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.

A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.

To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.

Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.

In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.

Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.