Category: Sports News

What Athletics' John Fisher takes away from low-payroll World Series matchup originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Two low-spending teams making the 2026 World Series begs the question: is a salary cap or floor truly necessary for Major League Baseball? 

It is the central question in the looming standoff between owners and players with the MLB collective bargaining agreement is set to expire Dec. 1, as the owners argue that the absence of a salary cap creates a competitive imbalance between the high-payroll teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and the low-payroll teams like the Miami Marlins. 

The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays are this season’s league champions, who rank 19th and 29th, respectively, in total payroll, according to Spotrac. 

Athletics owner John Fisher, whose team ranks 26th in total payroll, credits both teams prioritizing resources elsewhere besides player salary expenditures. 

“I think it’s incredible that those teams are both in there,” Fisher said Wednesday during newly hired A’s executive Taylor Smith’s introductory press conference. “They both also have put tremendous resources into their player operations piece, not just into the payroll. And I think I’ve seen an ability to get the most out of their players.” 

The Brewers have finished with the best record in baseball in back-to-back seasons despite their low expenditure. Their two top-performing players in the MLB playoffs, William Contreras and Jackson Chourio, made just $9.45 million and $7.25 million this season, respectively. 

Their World Series opponent, the Rays, led the American League with 98 wins this season. Their highest paid player this season is Yandy Diaz, who earned $12 million this season. 

Smith, the new A’s president of baseball operations, worked in the Rays’ front office for seven years. In his introductory press conference, he highlighted three areas that any front office needs to prioritize: acquiring talent, development and in-game strategy. 

The Rays are widely regarded to be on the cutting edge of all three. 

“I think those are two teams that excel in each of those three areas that I mentioned,” Smith said. “They’re great at acquisitions, great at development and they get the most of the players based upon the way they use them in the game and the situations that they put them in.” 

In other words, both teams have shown an adept ability to identify prospects to target in the draft and undervalued talent to acquire via trade. 

Dishing high salaries to proven talent has been a successful strategy for the Dodgers, but teams like the Brewers and Rays have done the tough work on and off the field to make deep runs in the postseason. 

“Obviously we’ve seen the Dodgers win the last two [World Series championships]; we see the Yankees be highly competitive every year,” Fisher conceded. “Certainly, it’s not all about money, but as my grandmother said, ‘it’s not all about money, but it makes you sleep better.'” 

Identifying young talent has been the bread-and-butter for successful small-market teams like the Brewers and Rays. Holding onto that talent after arbitration is another story. 

The Brewers let Willy Adames walk to the Giants, who paid the shortstop a handsome sum. The Rays declined to extend Blake Snell and Randy Arozarena after arbitration, two key players in Tampa Bay’s 2020 postseason run. 

Both franchises have a shot to win their first ever World Series in 2026, but it doesn’t seem like they will foot the necessary bill that will keep their championship window open as long as a high-spending team like the Dodgers. 

With the 25^th anniversary of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2001 World Series title approaching, MLB Network Presents will debut Destined: The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, October 29^th at 5 p.m. Arizona time. Marking the 50^th film in the MLB Network Presents series since its launch in 2015, the 90-minute documentary recounts the remarkable rise of the Diamondbacks from expansion franchise to World Series Champions in four seasons, culminating in their unforgettable seven-game victory over the three-time defending champion New York Yankees in 2001.

Among those interviewed are World Series co-MVPs Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, former Diamondbacks general manager Joe Garagiola Jr., 2001 manager Bob Brenly, and championship players Jay Bell, Steve Finley, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace, Damian Miller, Reggie Sanders, Matt Williams and Tony Womack. Together, they provide firsthand perspectives on the organization’s beginnings, the construction of the championship roster and the experiences that defined the 2001 season.

“When you put the right people in the right room, there is no unachievable goal. …I think the 2001 season was the perfect baseball season for that team … everything about it was perfect,” said Schilling during the film. 

MLB Network Presents – Destined: The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks features past-and-present-day interviews, along with extensive archival footage from the Diamondbacks’ historic 2001 season. The film revisits the decisions, personalities and performances that shaped one of the fastest championship ascents in MLB history, from the organization’s creation to the arrival of Johnson and the credibility he brought to the franchise. 

Destined: The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks details Gonzalez’s leadership and career year as well as big-game pitcher Schilling joining forces with Johnson to form a historic combination atop Arizona’s starting rotation. Featured in the film, Schilling shares original notes he took with him to the dugout during his playing career, offering a look at the preparation and attention to detail behind his performance during Arizona’s championship run.

The film also explores how Brenly proved to be the right manager for a veteran roster largely united by a common goal: winning the first World Series championship in franchise history. Destined: The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks reflects on the 2001 World Series against the backdrop of the September 11^th attacks, including the emotional return of World Series baseball to New York, a series of dramatic late-inning finishes and Arizona’s comeback against Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, capped by Gonzalez’s championship-winning hit. 

The film features new footage and exclusive access captured during the Diamondbacks’ 25^th anniversary ceremony for the 2001 championship team this past September, as former teammates reunited to commemorate their historic season.

Destined: The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks marks the 50^th film in the series and will re-air following its premiere at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on MLB Network.

The Anaheim Angels have announced that manager Kurt Suzuki will not return as the team’s manager in 2027.

In my much younger days, I regularly watched the HBO stand up comedy specials. One that I watched probably dozens of times was the 13th Annual Young Comedians Special, which came out in 1989. Dennis Miller hosted the special, and the young comedians were Jann Karam, Drake Sather, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Fred Stoller, and Warren Thomas. Stoller, now a character and voice-over actor, wrote a book about the experience, and how each of their lives and careers progressed afterwards, which is a really good read.

Sather had a particular line that stuck with me:

People get so weird when celebrities die. I was watching this documentary on Fred Astaire. They said “Friends and family were shocked at the death of the 88-year-old.” Yeah, I was shocked, too: I thought he died 10 years ago.

Similarly, my first reaction was, damn, I thought the Angels canned Suzuki well before now.

Actually, my first reaction to reading this was, “Wait, isn’t Ron Washington the Angels’ manager?” before remembering that he was fired in the middle of the 2025 season. But then after that it was, oh yeah, they hired Suzuki, and I thought he was cut loose already. That’s probably because general manager Perry Minasian — who, like Suzuki, was under contract only through the end of the 2026 season — was fired four months ago, and while I knew Suzuki was not fired at the same time as Minasian was, I think in my mind I had just already consigned Suzuki to the ranks of former managers.

Suzuki appeared to be brought in as a caretaker manager. He was hired as the manager exactly one year ago after the Angels failed to convince Albert Pujols to take the job. Suzuki had been in the front office as a special assistant to the general manager since 2023, after spending the previous two seasons as part of the Angels’ active roster. The announcement today indicated Suzuki had been offered the opportunity to return to his previous role.

Suzuki is now the second A.L. West manager who is a former major league catcher to be fired this month, with the Mariners’ having terminated Dan Wilson already. Another A.L. West team, the Astros, fired their manager, Joe Espada, though he was never a major league catcher. I don’t think the Rangers’ other divisional rival, the Sacramento A’s, have fired their manager this year, though honestly, I’m not really sure they have a manager. They may just pick a random fan from the stands every game to fill out the lineup card and make pitching changes.

The Kurt Suzuki experiment in Los Angeles is over.

ESPN’s Alden González reported Wednesday that the Los Angeles Angels are moving on from Kurt Suzuki after he spent just one season as manager.

That one season was historically bad for the Angels’ franchise. Their 62–100 regular season set the franchise record for the most losses and the worst winning percentage (.383) in the organization’s 66-year history.

González also mentioned that Suzuki, who spent two seasons playing for the Angels, has been offered a role with the organization as a special assistant, but it’s unclear whether Suzuki will want to stick around the franchise that just fired him as manager.

The natural next question is which direction Los Angeles will go to address their managerial vacancy. Albert Pujols’ name will likely surface, as he was in the running to be the Angels’ manager last season before they settled on Suzuki.

Pujols spent parts of 10 seasons with the Angels and served as the Dominican Republic’s manager for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

The Angels are opting for a fresh start in several respects, as longtime owner Arte Moreno finally sold the team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke after years of fans pleading for him to.

This wave of fresh faces should spark some optimism around the Angels’ franchise and fan base.

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The Red Sox are once again making changes to their coaching staff.

The organization is reassigning third base coach Chad Epperson and first base coach Pablo Cabrera to minor league roles next season, according to MassLive.com.

Epperson will take over as manager of Triple-A Worcester in 2027.

Cabrera will return to his previous role as the franchise’s minor league defensive coordinator, a position he held before joining Boston’s big league coaching staff.

Epperson, in particular, came under fire this season after a number of Red Sox baserunners were thrown out at home plate. 

During a stretch in May, four runners were gunned down at home plate over a six-game period. 

The team has not yet announced replacements for the pair of base coaches leaving at least two vacancies on manager Chad Tracy’s coaching staff heading into the 2027 season.

The moves come less than a year after the Red Sox cleaned house in April, firing manager Alex Cora and four members of his coaching staff — hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, third base coach Kyle Hudson and assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson — while reassigning game-planning coach Jason Varitek.

The Red Sox are coming off a rollercoaster of a 2026 season.

After a dreadful start that saw Cora and Co. lose their jobs, Boston got red-hot over the summer, winning 32 of 37 games at one point during a stretch that included a 15-game winning streak.

The shocking turnaround got the Red Sox into the postseason and earned Tracy the full-time managerial job.

But their season ended in disappointment after they were outscored 18-2 in a two-game sweep by the Yankees in the American League Wild Card Series.

There have been ample foibles foisted in the laps of Cincinnati Reds fans from the seemingly bulletproof front office over the last few decades of copious losing. We need not rehash them all here, of course, as this is simply put out to highlight that perhaps the lone reason why the powers that be are still the powers that be is due to their ability to draft rather well each and every year.

It’s looking more and more like the front office nailed the 2024 draft, for instance.

Chase Burns cracked the big leagues within his first full season as a professional and during the 2025 season established himself as a bona fide ace who was in NL Cy Young Award talk before the Reds chose to curtail the innings on his prized young arm. He also landed a nine-figure contract, and rightfully so.

Tyson Lewis was who the Reds selected with their next pick in 2024. He rocketed into Top 100 overall prospect lists on the backs of a 2025 season that featured incredible exit velocities, the SS/3B now firmly on the national radar.

Lewis isn’t even the top rated prospect drafted by the Reds in this class, though. That honor goes to Mike Sirota, who eschewed concerns about his college production coming up north from tiny Northeastern University to surge all the way into many Top 20 overall prospect lists by late 2026. The only problem there is, though, that the front office saw fit to deal him away for a single awful season of Gavin Lux, so Sirota is doing this within the system of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Leading a draft class with that trio would be impressive enough, but the Reds actually took someone else in between Lewis and Sirota in 2024. That honor belongs to former LSU righty Luke Holman, who we’ve seen for a grand total of 15.2 IP across two years after being drafted.

Holman, now 23, needed Tommy John surgery early in 2025 in his first year as a pro, and that paired with a groin problem in 2026 cost him almost two full seasons of rehab with only 6 games on the mound in any form. That was before this month’s Arizona Fall League, however, and like many of the recent players the Reds have sent to the AFL, Holman’s job there wasn’t simply to soak up the spotlight in a great environment for future experience, it was to use it as a bridge after injury-plagued seasons so that he can hit the ground running again in 2027.

So far, that’s precisely what he’s done. David Laurila of FanGraphs caught up with Holman after his most recent outing left him having fired 9.0 IP in AFL play and having allowed just a lone earned run – with a brilliant 15 strikeouts against just a lone walk in that time. Holman talks shop about his bevy of pitches and how his arm feels as good as ever at the moment, and it’s enough to give hope that the arm FanGraphs rates as the #17 prospect in the system (he ranks 23rd at MLB Pipeline) may well be back and 100% within a Reds farm system that’s seriously devoid of solid starting pitching prospects at the upper levels.

‘Upper levels’ may sound like a stretch when talking about a guy who’s thrown just 15.2 IP in two years across rookie ball and Low-A Daytona, but at 23 with a trio of years spent in the SEC with LSU it wouldn’t shock me at all to see him climb quickly this season if he can simply stay on the mound and prove he’s healthy.

And if he does, the Reds have some long-awaited depth in their pitching ranks again.