SAN DIEGO, CA - OCTOBER 06: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the San Diego Padres celebrates after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers in Game Three of the National League Division Series presented by Booking.com at Petco Park on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Welcome to our series grading every member of the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster. The roster being evaluated is current as of Oct. 18, prior to the end of the World Series. Because of that, it will include players who will be free agents once the postseason concludes. Each player will be graded on their performance in the 2026 season, including the playoffs. That performance will be weighted based on how much time the player spent with the team (availability is the best ability).
The Veteran Shortstop
When Xander Bogaerts was signed to an 11-year, $280 million contract prior to the 2023 season (wow, that’s still insane to think about), he was expected to man shortstop for the next several years for San Diego. He’s done so faithfully and has been available for the majority of his tenure thus far. Bogaerts has played in 130-plus games in three of four seasons with the Padres. However, he has yet to perform better than his first year in San Diego (4.2 Wins Above Replacement).
Overall Grade: C+
Bogaerts’ production has continued to decline year by year. This season was no different, with the shortstop posting a .231/.332/.344 slash line and 13 home runs. The homer total was an increase from the last two seasons, but his batting average took a sharp downturn. Bogaerts’ bat was downright anemic apart from certain portions of the year.
That being said, Bogaerts ended the season batting .315 in September and slashed .286/.348/.476 with a home run in the playoffs. His defense took a step back from his stellar performance in 2025 (+6 Fielding Run Value, +7 Outs Above Average), but he was still solid at the position with +4 FRV and +3 OAA. Bogaerts manned shortstop faithfully for the Friars, playing in 151 games for San Diego.
The biggest question for Bogaerts is whether his offense can return to form. Since joining San Diego, he has yet to prove he can make a difference with his bat apart from a solid 2023 campaign. That being said, Bogaerts was somewhat unlucky in 2026. The veteran shortstop batted .231 with an expected batting average of .248. That’s not a great deal better, but it’s certainly an improvement.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 19: Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after defeating the Cleveland Guardians at Tropicana Field on Monday, October 19, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
On the newest Rays Your Voice, I break down the Rays’ pennant-clinching game 6 win over the Guardians, and what the atmosphere was like inside Tropicana Field.
About halfway through the episode, I am joined by Danny Russell to preview the World Series matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Stay tuned for instant reaction podcasts after World Series games, which will be streamed live from our YouTube channel. All episodes are also available wherever you get your podcasts!
MILWAUKEE — The Miz will try to whiz his famous fastball by batters on baseball’s biggest stage, opening a new-look World Series between teams guaranteed to produce a first-time champion.
Jacob Misiorowski brings his record-setting heat to the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night when he throws the first pitch of the best-of-seven championship against the Tampa Bay Rays, a matchup of modest-money marvels who bumped off glamorous rivals with a throwback base-to-base style.
“Forrest Gump, everyone,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Thursday, introducing his ace to the assembled media.
“I’m still fresh to this and have no idea what the hell is going on,” Misiorowski said a few minutes later.
Few predicted this pairing of pennant winners when the season opened March 25. The first World Series with robot umpires is the first since 1980 between teams seeking their first championship and also could be the first with a 104 mph pitch — thanks to Misiorowski — and the first to be played totally indoors.
“I’m excited to see two great teams that play the game a little differently than maybe it’s been played the last decade or so,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Milwaukee is in the Series for the second time after a 44-year absence — an appropriate number given that it was the jersey of the Cream City’s most famous baseball player, Hank Aaron, who became a star with the Milwaukee Braves in the 1950s and ended his career with the expansion Brewers in the 1970s.
Both teams fell short in previous Series trips, the Brewers losing to St. Louis in 1982 and the Rays to Philadelphia in 2008 and to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. Not since the Phillies beat Kansas City in 1980 have two teams met seeking their first title. The time before that was in 1920.
Misiorowski is likely to set a World Series velocity record
Misiorowski, a 24-year-old right-hander in his first full major league season, is a starting pitcher like no other. He threw 1,115 pitches of 100 mph or higher this year — shattering the old high of 673 since tracking began in 2008, by Jordan Hicks in 2018.
His fastest pitch was 105.5 mph to the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong on June 27, and he appears likely to break the 101.1 mph record for a Series starter by the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard in 2015 and possibly the overall Series high of 103.2 mph by Cubs reliever Aroldis Chapman to Cleveland’s Coco Crisp in Game 2 of 2016.
Misiorowski didn’t finish the fifth inning in either of his first two postseason starts this year. Batters have swung at 94 of his 182 postseason pitches and fouled off 51 — 28% of pitches and 54% of swings.
“He hasn’t been as crisp,” Murphy said. “They’re obviously looking at an area. They’re trying to exploit everything. He’s exposed, like all these guys get at some point.”
The Brewers and Rays have throwback offenses
In an age where power bats usually rule, Milwaukee scored a major league-low 32.1% of its runs on homers and Tampa Bay was second-lowest at 34.4%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“It’s cool that you don’t have to be that team to hit 170 home runs a game or whatever,” Misiorowski said. “You can win a baseball game so many different ways.”
Rays batters had the fewest strikeouts among the 30 teams and Tampa Bay’s 45 sacrifice bunts were the most among American League teams since 2015.
“I was a little discouraged for the last 10 or 15 years in the way the game had gone as far as relying on the home run, not worrying about strikeouts,” said Hall of Famer Robin Yount, a star of the ’82 Brewers. “The game today looks like they’re starting to really focus on playing baseball again.”
After back-to-back Dodgers titles, MLB will have a small-payroll champion
This marks the first time since 1991 that both Series teams are in the bottom half of payrolls: the Brewers were 19th as of Aug. 31 and the Rays 25th. Milwaukee, MLB’s smallest market, could become the first small-market champion since Kansas City in 2015. The Rays rank 15th in market size.
To reach the Series, the Brewers swept the deep-pocketed, two-time champion Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and the Rays swept the New York Yankees in an AL Division Series.
The highest-paid player in the Series, Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, was 44th overall in the majors on opening day. Yandy Díaz, who earns most among the Rays, ranked 154th.
Robot umps are changing games
Batters have succeeded on 63% of challenges during the postseason in the first year of the Automated Ball-Strike System, winning 40 of 63 appeals to the robot umps. That is up from 49% during the regular season.
Catchers’ 58% success rate in the playoffs (58 of 99) is down a tick from 59% during the regular season and pitchers are 1 for 1 — Tampa Bay’s Griffin Jax made the only challenge. The 60% overall rate is up from 54% in the regular season.
Tampa Bay’s batters have yet to make a postseason challenge. Milwaukee’s have won 4 of 7, including a perfect 2 for 2 by Jake Bauers.
Brewers catcher William Contreras has won 60% (12 of 20) and Rays catcher Liam Hicks 67% (8 of 12).
Rest vs rust: Extra time off hasn’t been helpful in recent years
Milwaukee will have had seven days off going into the opener.
While teams with less rest are 15-15 in the Series since Wild Card Era started in 1995, they are 12-4 since 2009.
Both teams are happy at home
Milwaukee and Tampa Bay tied for the best home record this year at 55-26.
Forced from Tropicana Field for 2025 after damage from Hurricane Milton, the Rays played across the bay at the Yankees’ spring training stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, and then returned to the refurbished Trop for 2026.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 13: Manager Stephen Vogt #12 of the Cleveland Guardians talks with media during a press conference prior to Game Two of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Stephen Vogt as next Mariners manager rumors can officially be put to bed. Vogt told Cleveland media at today’s Guardians end-of-season media availability that he is coming back to Cleveland.
Here’s Vogt speaking directly on it:
"You've gotten more phone calls than I have. I have not heard a word about it and I'm under contract here and I love Cleveland. I would love to be close to my family if I'm being honest. I miss them everyday. It's the hardest part of the job…but I'm committed to being here in… pic.twitter.com/OgLhPLzOLu
Vogt’s name has been connected by some to the Mariners managerial search since the position became vacant, despite him being under contract with the Guardians, meaning the two teams would have to pull off a trade in order to get Vogt to Seattle – an extremely rare occurrence, and one that would require the Guardians to willingly part with a manager who has overseen three straight playoff appearances in the three years he’s been with the club. The flames of this fantasy were stoked by geography – Vogt’s family is based in the Olympia area, and the former catcher got his pro coaching start with the Mariners in 2023.
Those flames blew into their biggest fire yet when Anthony Castrovince, a long-tenured MLB.com reporter and generally one of the Voices We Trust around here, went on Cleveland sports radio and said that in his “personal observation” it “kills” Vogt to be away from his family:
“I can’t possibly rule it out, just knowing the personal element.”
Now, Castrovince wasn’t exactly speaking as a journalist here, but more as an opinion-giver on what he’s perceived over Vogt’s tenure, but there’s a reason there’s no “personal observation” class taught in J-school. This soundbite obviously got picked up and bandied about as proof that Vogt might be on the move back to Seattle, logic and facts be darned. It’s a good reminder that smoke doesn’t necessarily mean fire in this process, and the best voices to listen to are the local, deeply informed ones – such as Ryan Divish in The Seattle Times, who called the Vogt idea a “nonstarter” weeks ago.
It’s also a reminder that the Mariners front office – and specifically Jerry Dipoto – despise internal leaks: recall the brouhaha around who broke the news about Scott Servais’s firing in 2024. There’s a very good chance the list of managerial candidates that circulates publicly vs. the internal list has one or two or zero overlapping names. A more constructive path is to think of what qualities the Mariners might prize most highly in a managerial candidate, and then seek to identify people who fit those qualifications. Teaser: tomorrow we’ll be publishing a wishlist of what the LL staff considers non-negotiables for a future manager that you can refer to in building your own list.
May 12, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; The 1995 World Series trophy on the field in honor of former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner and former manager Bobby Cox before a game against and Chicago Cubs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The 2026 World Series creeps ever closer.
Both teams participated in World Series Media Day on Thursday before the action finally gets underway Friday night in Milwaukee.
Which team are you pulling for to win its first World Series? Personally, a good friend of mine is a diehard Rays fan so I’m throwing my weight behind Tampa Bay to beat Milwaukee.
For those who will be watching even with the Braves not involved for the fifth straight year, here’s an appetizer MLB posted on its YouTube account Thursday.
And for those who are only particularly interested in watching when the Braves are involved, the timestamp you’re looking for is 47:30.
James Hoye has been named the crew chief of the nine-umpire crew that will work this year's Fall Classic, Major League Baseball announced on Thursday, Oct. 22. There are seven MLB umpires assigned to the field with a rotation each game that will ensure a different person is behind home plate. There are also two MLB umpires assigned to manage the league's replay system throughout the series.
The Brewers and Rays are set to open the 2026 World Series with Game 1 in Milwaukee on Friday. Here's a look at the umpires selected to work the series and their assignments for each game:
MILWAUKEE, WI - OCTOBER 13: Hall of Famer Robin Yount embraces Ryan Braun after delivering the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game One of the National League Championship Series presented by loanDepot between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Monday, October 13, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Aaron Gash/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
After the Brewers clinched the pennant, the first person I reached out to was my dad.
My father was born and raised in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. He’s been a Brewers fan his entire life, no doubt a consequence of coming of age during the franchise’s glory years in the late ’70s and early ’80s. When I was a kid, he’d tell me about (and show me highlights of) players like Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Sal Bando, and Rollie Fingers.
In 1982, he was 15, and the Brewers were the best team he’d ever seen. Yount was at short, Molitor at third, Gantner at second, and his cousin Tom was Bernie Brewer. If he had friends he wanted to impress, he’d have Tom wave at him from the top of the slide.
My dad had been going to games at Milwaukee County Stadium for years thanks to his uncle, who would take him whenever he didn’t have school. But that fall, his sister took him to see the Brewers play the Angels in the ALCS. The Brewers beat the Angels, but they went on to lose the World Series to the Cardinals in seven games. I asked him whether that loss took the air out of him.
“If anything, it made me more of a fan,” he said. The Brewers were still a great team, one of the best in baseball, and to him, it looked like they had what it took to win a World Series. They’d make it back soon enough.
But slowly, those late ’70s and early ’80s Brewers teams fell apart. While Yount and Molitor remained, Gorman Thomas and Don Money were gone by the end of the ’83 season, Don Sutton by the end of ’84, Fingers by ’86, and Ben Oglivie by ’87.
From 1988 to 2007, the Brewers won 90 games just once and finished under .500 more often than not. As my dad got older, his fandom faded a little, too. He went to college, moved away, and spent much of those 20 years working, preoccupied with more immediate concerns than the Brewers’ record. Baseball is magical, but it’s easier to see the magic when you’re a kid. He never stopped being a fan, but the love he’d had for those late ’70s and early ’80s teams didn’t quite return. Not until I came along.
He showed me the Brewers, and somewhere along the way, I fell in love with them on my own.
We visited family in Milwaukee in 2007, and my dad took me to a game at Miller Park, the first baseball game I ever saw in person. Rickie Weeks hit a walk-off single, and that was it: I was officially a Brewers fan, too. What my dad felt as a kid watching Yount and Molitor, I felt watching Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo, and Rickie Weeks.
And because I cared about the Brewers, he started caring about them again, too. When he’d pick me up from school or take me to practice, he’d already have the Brewers game on the radio. He’d given me the team. Without meaning to, I gave it back.
I was six years old in 2008, the year my dad really got back into the Brewers. He remembers the CC Sabathia trade fondly, as many fans do. CC only pitched half a season in Milwaukee, but that run was unforgettable. More than that, as my dad put it, it was the “first time in (his) memory that he ever saw the Brewers go after a big name midseason.” That team felt different from the teams that came before it.
As I fell in love with Fielder, Braun, Nyjer Morgan, and the 2011 squad, he did too. That team didn’t make it to the World Series, and neither did the 2018 team or the 2025 team, but our love for the Brewers never wavered. Whether or not the Brewers were doing well, we made a point of watching every game we could together.
Sometimes that meant complaining about the roster and praying for a .500 season, and sometimes it meant hoping the Brewers would finally make it back to the World Series. As every season ended in heartbreak, some more than others, the hope my dad had had for the 1982 team stayed with him, and with me. Someday, maybe next season, they’d be back in the World Series.
Now, for the first time since my dad was 15, the Brewers are back in the World Series. This year’s team is also different. My dad, who watched the ’82 team in person, says it’s the most fun Brewers team he’s ever seen. He loves Pat Murphy and thinks Murphy has them playing “as a team” more than any other version of the Brewers he’s seen. No one player is bigger than the team, and no one lets his ego change the dynamic. No matter who’s in the starting lineup, it’s all the Brewers. He loves the small ball, too: “four hits in an inning instead of waiting around for someone to hit a homer.”
I asked him what it would mean if they finally won it.
“Like many people have said: just one before I die.”
I’m in my hometown for the playoffs for the first time since 2019, so I’ve been watching almost every game with him at my parents’ house. As is often the case with parents, my dad and I don’t always know what to say to each other. When the Brewers are on, we never have to figure it out.
It turns out that works with strangers, too. During last year’s playoffs, I met a guy wearing a Brewers hat in an airport in Portugal, of all places. We were both jet-lagged and tired, but we immediately flashed each other a smile and struck up a conversation about the team. We didn’t have to explain anything. We both knew about 1982, 2011, 2018, the Cardinals, the Cubs, and the Dodgers, and we all know how rare this is.
I wasn’t home for the clincher. I was at the game in Los Angeles. After the final out, I was outside Dodger Stadium high-fiving people I’d never met and will never see again. I saw Yount jerseys, Braun jerseys, Morgan jerseys, Ben Sheets jerseys. Even a Norichika Aoki jersey. In Los Angeles. For a franchise that’s never won a World Series, fans find each other.
It was the first postseason game I’d ever been to; I was both elated to be there and sad I couldn’t watch it with him. So I texted him from the Dodger Stadium bleachers. He wrote back:
“So glad you got to see it. So sad I am not with you.”
“Here in spirit,” I responded.
I’m grateful to the Brewers for always giving me a reason to reach out to him. I’ll be watching every World Series game with him, hoping he gets to see one before he dies. This time, I’ll be there with him.
Because for us, and for so many Brewers fans, the Brewers are more than just a baseball team.
Will Venable has plenty to smile about after leading the White Sox to the postseason in his second year as manager. | (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
The 2026 White Sox broke through the national recognition barrier that has haunted them as a team with a small-market reputation and the figurative youngest child in Chicago baseball. Sporting News named Will Venable AL Manager of the Year and tapped Chase Meidroth for the AL All-Star team, in voting by fellow managers and players, respectively.
Venable became the first manager in MLB history to lead a team to the postseason after the Sox posted back-to-back 100-plus-loss seasons. Although South Siders may scoff at their underwhelming September, no other team has won 84 games after losing 100-plus games in three consecutive years. Venable kept the Sox atop the AL Central for 96 days and became the third manager since 1901 to oversee a 19-plus-win improvement in consecutive seasons, excluding 2020 and strike seasons. Applause is especially warranted considering the Sox started 11-17 in the first month of the 2026 season.
Sporting News’ award makes Venable the sixth Sox manager to earn the title, alongside Ozzie Guillén (2005), Jerry Manuel (2000), Jeff Torborg (1990), Tony La Russa (1983) and Chuck Tanner (1972).
Though Meidroth made less history, everyone felt his impact on the field. The 25-year-old slashed .276/.350/.415 in 154 games and led AL second basemen in hits, walks, runs scored, doubles, total bases (235) and slugging percentage while ranking second in average, on-base percentage and OPS (.765). His 4.5 WAR this year was the highest among all Sox second basemen in the 21st century and the best performance at the keystone since Nellie Fox in 1959 (6.1 WAR).
Meidroth is a Gold Glove Award finalist and the second Sox second baseman named a Sporting News All-Star, and the first Chicago infielder since José Abreu in 2020 to earn the honor.
The Sox will keep basking in the glow of their pleasantly unexpected season while the World Series plays out. Even as chatter shifts to next year, Venable and Meidroth will remain cornerstones of Chicago’s near-term future.
MILWAUKEE — The Tampa Bay Rays had ace Drew Rasmussen available on regular rest to start Game 1 of the World Series.
But Rasmussen on extra rest is even more dominant. And that made it a relatively easy decision for Rays manager Kevin Cash to skip Rasmussen and name right-hander Nick Martinez his World Series Game 1 starter.
Martinez, 36, will oppose Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski in the Friday, Oct. 23 opener at American Family Field. Martinez is coming off a strong 5 ⅓-inning, two-hit, one-run start against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, tying it 2-2.
Rasmussen followed with a dominant seven-inning, four-hit effort to win Game 5 and send Tampa Bay home with just one win necessary to reach the World Series. No. 2 starter Freddy Peralta followed suit with a Game 6 gem to send them to Milwaukee.
Rasmussen pitched Sunday, putting him on regular rest Friday. But Cash is not going to burn that bullet just yet.
“We prioritized Drew getting an extra day. We’re trying to get the full pitch allotment out of him,” says Cash before the Rays worked out in Milwaukee on Thursday. "He's had a pretty thick workload here. We've relied on him heavily.
"When Nick pitches, we win."
Rasmussen is putting together a fantastic body of work: Over three starts this postseason, he’s pitched 21 innings and given up just three runs, a 1.29 ERA. He’s struck out 23 and walked just three and the Rays have won all his starts.
In Martinez, Tampa Bay does not get the raw power Rasmussen can provide. But he creates excellent deception with his changeup playing off his low-90s fastball, benefiting from working under Kyle Snyder in his first year with Tampa Bay.
Martinez had strong seasons recently with both San Diego and Cincinnati after a mid-career return from Japan, but has never been better than his All-Star campaign of 2026, leading to one of the game’s ultimate honors – a World Series Game 1 start, against the likely National League Cy Young Award winner.
"It fell on me, and my job is just to rack up as many outs as I can," says Martinez.
His contributions to the club have been both tangible and otherwise: Martinez has taken it upon himself to organize team dinners in every city, including before this World Series: He reports that there was a fantastic turnout for the squad's dinner at Carnevore, one of Milwaukee's finest steakhouses.
"I’ve been around guys who know how to control a clubhouse. Getting the guys together was a blessing," says Martinez. "That chemistry transfers to the field."
CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 17: Nick Martinez #28 of the Tampa Bay Rays throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians in game four of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 17, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Last offseason, Nick Martinez was seeking an opportunity with a team that would allow him be a starting pitcher. Now, he is starting the first game of the World Series for the Tampa Bay Rays as they take on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Tampa Bay signed Martinez just prior to Spring Training, Martinez was excited by the prospect of getting the chance to showcase himself as a full-time starting pitcher, “I’ve always believed that I can be a starter from beginning to end.”
Over the course of the regular season, the now 36-year old Martinez more than proved himself as he delivered an All-Star season for Tampa Bay. Over the course of 31 starts, Martinez compiled a 3.10 ERA | 3.96 FIP with a 15.1 K% and league leading 3.6 BB% over a career high 180 innings pitched. Thus far in the postseason, Martinez has only appeared in two games, allowing three runs on seven hits over 9 IP.
First pitch is slated a little after 8:00pm Friday night
After a year of being bombarded with information about the lack of competitive balance in baseball, the 2026 World Series will feature the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers. It’s quite the twist from a sport that has made a relentless case that only big market teams can win in the Postseason, but baseball will always baseball and this year’s curveball is the first World Series since 1980 where a team who has never won before is guaranteed to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy at the end of the day.
It does seem worth clarifying the terms of what we mean by a “small market.” After all, according to the Sports Business Journal the Tampa-St. Petersburg media market is the 11th largest media market in the country despite the Rays fielding a team with the 28th largest payroll in baseball according to Spotrac. Meanwhile, Milwaukee boasts the 19th ranked payroll in MLB in the smallest media market in MLB. It’s all rather complicated as you can see here:
Team
Payroll
Payroll Rk
Media Market Rk
Postseason 2026?
# of Postseason Appearances since 2017
World Series Wins since 2017
New York Mets
$346,736,805
1
1
N
2
0
Los Angeles Dodgers
$339,319,244
2
2
Y
10
3
New York Yankees
$308,336,780
3
1
Y
9
0
4th Tier Luxury Tax
$304,000,000
n/a
Philadelphia Phillies
$291,951,676
4
5
Y
5
0
3rd Tier Luxury Tax
$284,000,000
n/a
Toronto Blue Jays
$276,130,679
5
N
4
0
2nd Tier Luxury Tax
$264,000,000
n/a
Atlanta Braves
$262,962,842
6
7
Y
8
1
Chicago Cubs
$249,319,956
7
3
Y
5
0
1st Tier Luxury Tax
$244,000,000
n/a
Houston Astros
$239,763,783
8
6
Y
9
2
San Diego Padres
$218,252,715
9
30
Y
5
0
Boston Red Sox
$207,988,016
10
10
Y
5
1
Detroit Tigers
$202,081,991
11
14
N
2
0
Arizona Diamondbacks
$192,670,027
12
12
N
2
0
Texas Rangers
$191,262,798
13
4
N
1
1
San Francisco Giants
$190,174,131
14
9
N
1
1
Los Angeles Angels
$182,509,023
15
2
N
0
0
Seattle Mariners
$169,556,014
16
13
N
2
0
Baltimore Orioles
$167,039,211
17
29
N
2
0
Kansas City Royals
$150,429,892
18
35
N
1
0
Milwaukee Brewers
$146,206,320
19
39
Y
8
0
Cincinnati Reds
$128,223,748
20
38
N
2
0
Colorado Rockies
$121,526,751
21
17
N
2
0
Minnesota Twins
$115,748,036
22
16
N
4
0
Pittsburgh Pirates
$106,728,501
23
28
N
0
0
Chicago White Sox
$103,330,141
24
3
Y
3
0
Washington Nationals
$101,639,888
25
8
N
2
1
Athletics
$98,948,812
26
20
N
3
0
St. Louis Cardinals
$96,396,498
27
24
N
4
0
Tampa Bay Rays
$95,615,469
28
11
Y
6
0
Miami Marlins
$83,298,123
29
18
N
2
0
Cleveland Guardians
$74,459,014
30
19
Y
7
0
Or maybe it isn’t all that complicated. There has been Postseason success at the top of this table (the Dodgers) in the middle of this table (the Astros, Red Sox, Rangers and, begrudgingly, the Brewers) and towards the bottom of this table (the Nationals, Rays, Guardians and, as much as it pains me, the Cardinals). There are small market teams spending a lot of money relative to their actual, literal, media market size and teams spending a fraction of what you’d expect relative to their market. Some of those teams are winning. Some of those teams are losing.
Perhaps it’s more about how effectively teams use the resources they have than a total amount of spending by any individual team. To that end, a number of front office watchers have been compiling data about the size of R&D departments and/or scouting departments across the league that have led to a number of interesting conversations on social media:
Took a stab at this. See thread for sourcing & explanation of discrepancies.
I think only the tails matter: ATH, ARI, ATL, COL are low (not good!). TBR, NYY, NYM, DET, CLE are high (good!).
As Lance Brozdowski notes in the above thread, it’s a little complicated to just pull these results. Some teams have better visibility into the size and roles in their departments than others, including the Cubs, who were one of the big movers as people honed in on this particular metric.
But again, this doesn’t overlay with MLB Postseason success or failure either. Yes, the perennially successful (although still zero rings to show for it) Rays are at or near the top of both lists, but the Braves and Astros are near the bottom.
It’s enough to make you wonder if success in the October is just a crapshoot in baseball. Admittedly, a crapshoot you have a much better chance of being a part of if you’re deploying resources wisely, but a crapshoot nonetheless.
One thing that hasn’t changed this Postseason: ticket prices to the Fall Classic are outrageous, especially in Milwaukee where they’ve been waiting 44 years for a chance to play in the World Series. Getting into a World Series game in Tampa Bay or Milwaukee is going to set you back some cash, regardless of the spending habits of the team you’re cheering for:
Has there ever been a greater disparity between regular-season and World Series ticket prices?
The Brewers' World Series get-in price is now 125x their typical regular-season get-in.
When the MLB season began in February, few predicted the final two teams standing in October would be the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers. While many will frame this as an old-school Fall Classic matchup, these clubs are both powered by two of the largest scouting and analytics departments in baseball. Though they emphasize contact and speed on the field, the Rays and Brewers have long been at the forefront of pitch design, tech integration and data-driven strategies.
Follow along with all our team’s bets in the Bet Tracker.
World Series Betting Preview
For only the sixth time in the Wild Card era, the top team from each league will clash in the World Series. Even more remarkable, this marks the first time since 1980 that two franchises both chasing their very first World Series title will face off, guaranteeing a milestone moment no matter who emerges victorious in this strength versus strength matchup. It all sets up a truly historic Fall Classic.
Bookmakers opened the Brewers around a -160 favorite, which implies a 61.54% win probability. While I expected Milwaukee to be favored, I figured we’d see an opener closer to -125 (55.56% implied win probability). Not only did bookmakers disagree with me, but the market has as well – we’ve seen the Brewers get bet all the way up to -175/-185. As of now, I haven’t bet a side in this series, and I’m not sure I will. While I’ve fired on a couple of series props that I’ll share, I’ve had much more success betting props game by game this regular season and postseason.
Offensively, these clubs have similar approaches and results. Neither team’s philosophy is to continuously sell out at the dish; instead, they rely on putting the ball in play and utilizing speed on the basepaths. They’re both in the bottom 10 in home runs – Tampa cranked 169 (22nd) and the Brewers launched 152 (29th) – but both rank top five in stolen bases and wRC+. One of the bigger differences in their offense is their strikeout rate: Milwaukee ranked 14th at 22%, while the Rays posted the lowest punchout rate in the majors at 18.8%. Overall, the Brewers averaged the second-most runs per game (5.09) and led the league in scoring at home at 5.49 runs per game, while Tampa averaged 4.51 runs per game, ranking 12th in MLB.
On the pitching side, we’re expecting a lower-scoring series as game one opens with a full-game total of six.
Milwaukee is led by 24-year-old runaway Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski. Misiorowski led the majors in punchouts with 252 and posted a 1.80 ERA while going 16-5 in regular-season starts (where the Brewers went 22-8 overall). Milwaukee is 24-8 in his games if you include the postseason, despite the fact that he hasn’t been asked to pitch deep into outings. While the Rays’ bats boast the lowest strikeout rate in the majors, they’ll be facing a Brewers staff that posted the best K-rate in baseball at 25.8%.
Rosters and rotations haven’t been announced yet, but I’m expecting the Brewers to roll out the following rotation:
1. Jacob Misiorowski
2. Logan Henderson
3. Robert Gasser
4. Some combination of: Dustin May/Shane Drohan/Bullpen
Drew Rasmussen has been the Rays’ ace, posting the seventh-best FIP in the majors at 2.71. Rasmussen went 16-5 for Tampa, and the Rays went 21-9 overall in his starts. Unlike Misiorowski, the Rays have gotten real length out of Rasmussen this postseason. He’s thrown 21.0 innings across three starts with a 1.29 ERA, leading Tampa to two wins in those three outings. One of the biggest surprises of this playoff run has been Kevin Cash’s willingness to push his starters deeper into games. Cash will always be remembered for pulling Blake Snell in the sixth inning of Game 6 during the 2020 World Series while he was shoving, but the Rays manager has largely ignored the third-time-through-the-order penalty so far this October.
It’s safe to expect Tampa to deploy the following starters:
1. Drew Rasmussen
2. Freddy Peralta
3. Nick Martinez
4. Griffin Jax
I’m unsure what order the Rays will use Martinez and Jax, but both will be crucial in a seven-game series. The Rays chose to use Ian Seymour out of the bullpen against the Yankees and Guardians despite him being a rotation staple this season. He could featured in either role, having already logged 7.1 postseason innings – only one fewer than Misiorowski.
Things get a little trickier when looking at the bullpens.
Kevin Cash seems to have a tight circle of trust in the relief corps, relying heavily on four arms: Ian Seymour, Bryan Baker, Tyler Wells and Cam Booser, who have combined for 22.1 innings. I do wonder if we’ll see starting pitchers get game action on their throw days. We saw the Nationals do this during their 2019 title run with a thin bullpen, and Freddy Peralta has already made a relief appearance, throwing nine pitches over two-thirds of an inning in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Guardians.
On the other side, Pat Murphy has leaned heavily on his high-leverage arms because his starters haven’t provided length. He’s already extracted 35 innings from Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, JoJo Romero and DL Hall. Ashby, in particular, has been unhittable, posting a 0.00 ERA while striking out 11 batters over 12.1 postseason innings.
Given variance in sports, it’s not often that we see the clear two best teams throughout the year get to battle it out for a championship. I don’t really have a strong opinion on who will win the series, I’m mostly rooting for maximum baseball with a seven-game series.
Pick: Rays in Six
I mentioned above a couple series props I looked at. I’ll mostly be betting some batters under props and pitching outs props but I did fire on one prop already.
Series Prop
Chandler Simpson 2+ Steals in the World Series (+125, DraftKings)
While the Brewers’ pitching staff and catcher William Contreras excel at controlling the run game, Simpson ranked second in the majors with 46 stolen bases. He should start every game for Tampa, even against a lefty.
"I said the two things I didn't want to hear was, 'We're too small' or 'We can't do this," Attanasio said Thursday, Oct. 22, a day before the club opens World Series Game 1 against the even lower-revenue Tampa Bay Rays.
"I actually kept trying to say we were a mid-market team even though clearly we weren't."
Yet Attanasio's side hustle these days is his ranking on the owners' labor relations committee, as the league prepares to lock out the players in December during collective-bargaining agreements centering on the leagues' desire for a salary cap.
And so even though one of the Rays or Brewers will win a World Series championship without benefit of a salary cap that pervades every other major sports league in the USA, Attanasio does have a party line to toe.
"I think the system that's being proposed, which is similar to other leagues in terms of revenue-sharing system, not only will help us compete but more importantly all of the other teams with lower payrolls too," he said.
"Which is something also I think the fans want."
While nearly two-thirds of the league – 19 of 30 teams – have reached a World Series since 2008, including the three-time AL champion Rays, Attanasio believes the Brewers and others like them need more help.
"I used to use the words punch above our weight, and the payroll and whatnot affects that," says Attanasio. "Still, with some of the metrics you point out, I think we still have among the smallest media revenues, including this year, but we're able to get to a No. 19 or 20 type out of 30-team payroll because of that (fan and community) support that we get.
"We put all of our resources back into the team."
In a sense, Attanasio was giving a how-to for other, smaller markets to follow. The Rays and Brewers are both consistently lauded for getting the most out of players and positive workplace cultures. It seemingly is something almost any team can do.
The Brewers and Rays got here without any help. Come December, and into February when CBA negotiations get even more contentious, Attanasio, at least publicly, seems poised to offer that helping hand to larger-market teams like Pittsburgh who have come nowhere near the Brewers' track record of eight playoff berths in nine seasons.
"I think the fact hat two teams like the Brewers and Rays - we hear all the time we play baseball the right way - I think that's good for baseball," he says.
"So whatever that means relative to revenue systems or otherwise, I think if you have a more competitive set, you can have more exciting baseball."
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 01: The Washington Nationals formally introduce their new Washington Nationals President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni at Nationals Park in Washington, DC on October 01, 2025. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The looming lockout hangs over baseball like a dark cloud at the moment. All indications point to no CBA agreement being reached by the December 2nd deadline. Once the sport is locked out, no moves can be made. That means there could be a flurry of activity before December 2nd.
According to industry insiders, that seems to be a likely outcome. There is precedent for this as well. Back in the winter of 2021, both Corey Seager and Marcus Semien signed with the Rangers right at the lockout buzzer. Super agent Scott Boras also hinted at this taking place.
From @ByMcCullough: MLB’s lockout is coming. Before it arrives, baseball insiders expect a free-agent frenzy. Unlocked and free to read. https://t.co/MJdFIEQii9
With this in mind, could the Nationals make an early strike on the market. It is certainly possible. If this is the year that the Nats want to spend, getting it done early would be a wise move. You do not want to get beaten to the bunch in a fast moving market. The lockout creates a soft deadline of sorts.
The Nats can take advantage of that soft deadline in a number of ways. This market could create a sense of desperation on the trade block as well. As we all know, CJ Abrams’ name has been on the trade block for about a year now. If the Nats want to move Abrams, getting it done before the lockout would be smart business. Insider Robert Murray listed Abrams as a player who could get moved before the lockout.
The best MLB trade candidates before the lockout, per @ByRobertMurray
– William Contreras – Jeremy Pena – Steven Kwan – CJ Abrams – Zach Neto – Reid Detmers
Paul Toboni has proven to be an aggressive deal maker early in his tenure with the Nats. This market place could be frenzied, and I think Toboni will be involved. I am not sure what moves he will make, but I would bet that the Nats do something big before December 2nd.
Everyone knows a lockout is coming, so front offices will be well prepared for this. Based on what I know about Toboni, he probably has a model for about 50 different scenarios. The Nats have been preparing for the time between the end of the World Series and the start of the lockout for months now.
Making the team better before there could be totally different rules to the game is something I think Toboni will aggressively pursue. So buckle up, because I think the Nats could be active in these next six weeks.
This lockout truly could be a game changer. Jeff Passan has been saying that there is a real possibility that games are missed. If I had to make a prediction, I think we will have a 100 game season next year. Once games are lost, the two sides will need each other in the end.
Jeff Passan on the upcoming CBA negotiations, via @FOS:
"It’s what makes this so scary, I think, for baseball long-term. It’s a possibility that they are going to remain in their corners and no one’s going to want to come meet in the middle. And when that happens, the… pic.twitter.com/LsA7dR7JTz
The looming lockout sets the stage for a drama filled start to the offseason. Some fans complain about the slow pace of MLB free agency, but I think names could be flying off the board quickly this offseason. We will see how active the Nats end up being, but I would be surprised if they did not make at least one major move before the lockout freezes the sport.
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 02: Matt Olson #28 of the Atlanta Braves tosses the ball to first base against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 02, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves, who won the NL East and defeated the Phillies in the Wild Card Round this season, had one of the their players honored today.
Matt Olson won Fielding Bible award today. Olson, who is a National League Gold Glove finalist with two others at first base, is number one in both leagues for this award. The Fielding Bible is voted on by a panel of experts and presented by Sports Info Solutions.
First base: Matt Olson, Braves In a very tight race with the Padres’ Ty France, Olson wins his sixth Fielding Bible Award at first base, surpassing Albert Pujols for the most won at the position. He’s now tied for second most all-time (Yadier Molina, Andrelton Simmons), trailing only Mookie Betts’ seven.
Matt Olson has been saving the Braves from poor throws since he started. But where he has really excelled this season are plays away from the first base bag. Matt Olson ranks number one by Fangraphs’ defensive adjustments to WAR. He’s also number one at first base with 12 outs above average.
In addition to the sixth Fielding Bibles, he owns three Gold Gloves. He looks to be the overwhelming favorite for a fourth one. Congratulations, Matt.
