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Earlier in the week, I went through the pure free agents coming up this offseason. Now, why didn’t I speculate about those with opt-outs and options? Well, it’s because with a potential salary cap I think maybe some of these club options become more valuable, and maybe some of the player options, too. A salary cap is likely to suppress salaries going forward, but these recent market rate deals might help teams make a floor or fit into under a cap, especially if the deal is from 2-3 free agent markets ago — inflation counts! The Giants can, of course, afford every free agent, but they can easily afford any of these options, too. They even have the trade capital!

So, this is another long list of obvious targets. I don’t know what names Zack Minasian has on his pro scouting ledger who might prove just as valuable (your Anthony Molinas and Cesar Perdomos) or who the Giants might be considering to plug into the rotation next year at some point (Jackson Flora? Jacob Bresnahan?) but, this is a little bit different from that list of pure free agents.

Rather than looking at 2 or even 3 starters who could provide a minimum of 100 quality innings (again, think like the Justin Verlander deal in 2025), I think a trade would necessarily involve a pitcher who could be projected to provide more than that and over a longer term, not only to pair with Logan Webb — as the team has done or at least tried to do since 2022 — but also to possibly succeed him when they let him walk after 2028. I also think a combination of a pure free agent and a trade would be the most effective way to build up the rotation again, and a stronger rotation ought to make it easier to make the bullpen better in a hurry.

So, let’s look at some guys who are plausibly available via trade and, therefore, starting pitchers the Giants could acquire who could stick around for more than a season. But! Some of these players are likely to simply have options declined or opt out, making them free agents.

Opt-outs

Corbin Burnes

Arizona’s final payroll rankings for the past three seasons (per Cot’s MLB Contracts):

• 2024: $223.74 million (13th in MLB)
• 2025: $216.10 million (14th in MLB)
• 2026: $230.00 million (12th in MLB)

So, they’re no slouches on the payroll tip, but in each of those three seasons they’ve carried, effectively, dead money thanks to starting pitching injuries. In 2024 & 2025 it was the injured corpse of Jordan Montgomery (~$40 million), and in 2025 & 2026, it was the TJ’d husk of Corbin Burnes (~$62 million).

Following a successful run as a Brewer (45-27, 3.26 ERA in 709.1 IP from 2018-2023) and Oriole (15-9, 2.92 ERA in 194.1 IP in 2024), he’s thrown just 74.2 IP for the Diamomdbacks across two seasons and 14 starts.

His post-surgery rehab schedule made him available by this season’s end, and Arizona tried him out to see if he might be able to give them some innings and possibly get them into the postseason. It didn’t pan out. After a solid start (0 runs, 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts; 57 pitches in a 3-inning appearance on September 8th), he came apart, allowing 9 runs (all earned) in 7.1 IP in just two more appearances. Five home runs allowed. His season ended on the IL with shoulder inflammation.

He will not opt out of the final four years on his deal ($32.91 million AAV, $24 million in real money annually with $11 million a year deferred to 2033-2036). It’s likely that Arizona will seek some salary relief if only to move some of that money around to help other areas of their roster. The Giants kicked the tires (briefly) when he was last available.

So, look at this as a 4-year, $96 million deal for the age 32-35 seasons of a guy who hasn’t yet cracked 1,000 innings — although, that’s because he’s run into the injury bug as he’s approached that threshold. Still, before he landed in Arizona, he had five straight seasons of receiving Cy Young votes and even won it back in 2021. Of course, the Giants are coming off a terrible year of arm injuries for their pitchers and might not be interested in taking on another patient.

Michael King

Now, I’m going to say that I think the chances of there being a salary cap are still probably well below 50%, but he’s the exact type of player likely to be impacted by it in the short-term. He has a very interesting pair of opt outs he can exercise after this or next season. If he doesn’t opt out this offseason, he’ll make $28 million in 2027. If he opts out this offseason, the Padres will pay him $5 million as a buyout. And if he opts in, he can opt out again or stick around for 2028 and earn $30 million (no buyout if he opts out). A very tricky decision. Less because of the potential salary cap and more because he’s, essentially, contracted for his age 32 and 33 seasons for $58 million — if he wants that. Is he going to be able to get a 4-5 year deal, cap or no cap? If we just double it, does he get a 4-year, $116 million from somebody?

King has been good for San Diego (they got him in the Juan Soto trade with the Yankees) with a 3.15 ERA (3.86 FIP) in 78 games (77 starts) and 432 IP. Left knee inflammation ate into his 2025 season (just 73.1 IP), but he has been their ace. It’s unclear if he’ll opt out (though, admittedly, likely) and, despite the Robbie Ray deal, it’s unlikely the Padres would trade their current ace to the Giants. The Padres have new, young owners who spent a lot of money to get the team. They might want to keep the stadium full, but they also might want AJ Preller to curtail spending a bit. He could be on the trade block even if he does opt in.

Clay Holmes (technically, a player option)

He made $13 million this season but his player option is for $12 million, which might be reason enough for him to decline it. But, heading into his age-34 season and coming off a post-acquisition performance (the Mets traded him to the Cubs for their playoff push) that was simply not good (4.25 ERA /4.09 FIP in 48.2 IP, 6.1 K/9, 4.4 BB/9), it’s plausible that he uses it and becomes a trade chit for Chicago. He is, basically, a lesser version of Logan Webb. He has a higher career groundball rate than Webb (62.3% vs. 56.3%) but he walks way more (3.89 BB/9 vs. Webb’s 2.14 career). But, he has the 93 mph sinker-sweeper combo that’s similar. He has three inches and 20 pounds on Webb, too, and has only gone back to starting pitching recently (he was a reliever from 2018-2024) so his innings count is low. It’s unclear if he will opt out.

Luis Severino (technically, a player option)

I’m sure he wants to get far away from West Sacramento — 4.43 ERA in 225.1 IP overall in his two seasons with the Athletics, but a 5.85 / 3.14 Home/Road ERA split — and there’s still plenty of stuff in his arsenal (96-98 with two fastballs, a great sweeper and an effective-ish cutter), but he might find it difficult to match or beat the $22 million he’ll be owed in 2027 ($22.333 CBT figure) even in his age-33 season. He’s another guy who’s running into the injury bug as he crosses into his 30s and exceeds 1,000 innings, and his 2026 season ended in a somewhat alarming way with a right shoulder strain impacting the shoulder capsule and subscapularis muscle. In terms of a Giants-Athletics trade, I think at this point, neither organization gives a heck about optics. He is unlikely to opt out, but the Athletics will almost certainly be willing to trade him.

José Berríos

He will not be opting out because he’ll be recovering from Tommy John surgery throughout 2027 for $24 million. He’ll also be owed $24 million the following season. I’m sure Toronto would love to move the salary.

Tatsuya Imai

Not that long ago, he was a highly sought after starting pitcher. He did not finish the season in Houston’s rotation and hit the IL in April due to arm fatigue. Another foreign league transfer to flop or first year jitters combined with misuse and poor development from a franchise that’s very much at a crossroads? I’m inclined to go with the latter. First, though, he will not opt out of his 2 years and $36 million remaining. He is unlikely to improve upon that in free agency, cap or no cap.

Would the Astros trade him is the question? After all, he did get a lot better once they stuck him in the bullpen (2.00 ERA in 18 IP with 25 K against 11 strikeouts and only two extra base hits allowed — a pair of doubles). I’ve got to believe they’d be open to it, in which case there’s a case to be made that he’d be an intriguing addition to the Giants’ rotation. That’s not a terrible AAV ($18 million) for just two seasons and a guy’s age-29 and age-30 seasons. It’d sync up with Logan Webb’s remaining time, too. They have some similarities: a sinker-slider combo (though, Imai has more velocity).

Just looking at Statcast, he seems to use his four-seamer to try to get a strikeout, but his two most effective pitches are his sinker (.182 batting average against) and slider (.167, 39.7% Whiff rate). But, he also threw a splitter, a changeup, and curveball. He stopped throwing his sinker mid-season, too, and that was after he came off the IL. Could that be because the Astros had one of the worst defenses in the sport and wanted to limit balls in play? Unclear. So, there’s an effective pitch mix in here. And, it’s worth noting that Statcast, based on his velocity and movement, compares him to these Giants-y pitchers: Luis Castillo, Cal Quantrill, and Adrian Houser.

Club options

Drew Rasmussen

Because he managed to stay healthy, the 30-year old righty has increased the Rays’ 2027 option to $20 million. The Rays recently declined options on some players we figured they’d trade so maybe there is a change in their decision-making giving revenue streams and the risk of an increased budget if they can’t find a trade partner or whatever, and I doubt this World Series appearance will meaningfully impact that, but it’s worth pointing out that Rasmussen was the seventh-most valuable starting pitcher in MLB this season. His 5 fWAR trailed The Miz (6.6), Cristopher Sanchez (6.2), Cam Schlittler (6.2), Chris Sale (5.8), Jesus Luzardo (5.5), and Dylan Cease (5.5). The Rays will be picking up this option. It’s also only for 1 year, and the Giants will (and should) want to trade for players who’ll be around for multiple years.

Nick Pivetta

Because he spent more than 130 consecutive days on the IL (right elbow flexor strain), his opt out converted into a $14 million team option! I could envision the Padres trading King or Pivetta, but not both, and then it comes down to the risk appetite for a 34-year old coming off elbow problems that persisted into his rehab. The Padres will pick up his option, but the Giants shouldn’t be interested. They had their chance to sign him last offseason (he was one of the last free agents standing).

Sandy Alcantara

It’s a reasonable $21 million option for a former ace who has returned from Tommy John as a #2 or #3 type. He pitched an MLB-leading 214 innings in 2026, averaged 97.6 mph with his fastball, but struck out just 6.4 per 9 (though walked just 2.5 per 9). A 3.87 ERA (4.08 FIP) and 3.2 fWAR. Slightly undervalued by that contract by a few million, but otherwise, a good trade candidate, since the Marlins will pick up his option and try to move him. But with just one year on the deal, the Giants ought to be out.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss these one-year deals, though. There’s certainly utility in trading for them if they’re a part of a larger haul or a three-team deal, or even if another team is just wanting to do a bit of a salary dump/reconfiguration. The Giants, who have no expectations, are in a great position to explore every avenue for acquisition. Speaking of…

Colin Rea

The Cubs have a $7.5 million club option on the righty (with a $1 million buyout), who will play his age-36 season in 2027, both of which seems not terrible for an innings-eater type; but, fellow SB Nation site Bleed Cubbie Blue readers said “No” to that option in this poll and so I’ll go with the wisdom of the crowd here to say he’ll be available. Plus, the Cubs need to improve their pitching significantly if they’re going to be meaningfully competitive in the next couple of seasons and, despite printing money, they’ll likely prefer moving some of their current budget around to achieve their goals rather than increase it.

But the Giants? They’re just marking time until they win the talent lottery and all of the usual competition gets worse. He might be a perfect back-end starter for a team that’ll need starting pitching innings. Since returning from Japan in 2023: 124.2 IP, 167.2 IP, 159.1 IP, and 137 IP. The Cubs probably won’t pick up his option, which means the Giants wouldn’t have to trade for him — so, why is he on this list at all? Well, what, you’d rather I put him as a free agent? What if I’m wrong?

Mutual options

Now, most mutual options are not picked up. They are almost always sops to the player from the front office to show that they’re interested in the player to a degree but are hoping that the player can see the writing on the wall by the time the mutual decision must be made. So, these are most likely just pure free agents who have to go through one extra step to get there, but I’m including them in this post because you never know! The threat of a lockout and the short-term nature of these options might just compel players and teams alike to seek a bit more certainty.

Sonny Gray

It’s a $30 million mutual option with a $10 million buyout, which I assume only comes into play if Boston declines it. If that’s the case, then Gray has to pick up the option on his end, right? He would have the chance to get $10 million plus whatever free agent deal might be out there. Even a 1-year, $25 million deal puts him ahead for the season. He made a ton of sense for the Giants back when I wouldn’t shut upabouthim, but I think that ship has sailed. He’ll be 37 and as good as he was in 2026 (18-5, 2.72 ERA, 3.4 fWAR), he missed time with a hamstring injury (just 169 IP) and his fastball velocity dipped for the third consecutive season.

Matthew Boyd

The Cubs are likely to decline this $15 million mutual option ($2 million buyout), but if they do pick it up, he’s already been a Giant and he seems like he’d cost a lot for the type of pitcher they don’t really want in the starting rotation: a low strikeout (6.8 K/9 in 2026), low groundball guy (42.2 GB%). Even from the left side, it doesn’t seem like there’s a worthwhile trade here.

Nick Martinez

Another $20 million mutual option that seems the Rays would decline. I could see them keeping Rasmussen or Martinez, but not both, and Martinez is an interloper. He’s wound up being a great free agent pickup, but it’s unlikely they’d have an easy time of finding a trade partner for a soft-tossing righty and so might want to avoid burdening the payroll with such uncertainty. 2027 will be his age-36 season, too. And, I failed to mention above, but it’s tough to trade with the Rays. Even in a salary relief situation, they are likely to extract a player the Giants might actually need more in the near-term.

Dustin May

Another $20 million mutual option ($500,000 buyout) that I feel certain the Brewers will decline. Whether or not they win this World Series, he wasn’t good for them after they acquired him from St. Louis (5.65 ERA in 36.2 IP) and he hasn’t been in the postseason (6.43 ERA in 7 IP).

As a pure free agent addition, he’s not particularly intriguin,g either. Since returning from Tommy John, he has a 4.82 ERA in 278 IP for four teams (Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals, and Brewers). He’ll be just 29, though, and has a live fastball (96+), still gets strikeouts and doesn’t walk too many batters.

Michael Soroka

I presume that Soroka will decline this $10 million mutual option, because he had a good season to reestablish his value. He really broke out there in 2019 at the age of 21 when he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 29 starts, was an All-Star, got Cy Young votes, and came in second for Rookie of the Year. But then he was hurt for all of 2021 and 2022 and before this season he pitched for four teams (Atlanta, both Chicago teams, and the Nats) and was 5-21 with a 4.85 ERA in 215.1 IP, primarily as a reliever. He’ll be 29 to start next season (unless the season begins mid-August, which, gulp). The real problem is that he did miss time with arm troubles: right arm inflammation in August.

Lucas Giolito

The Padres are not so desperate for SP help that they’ll pick up their end of the mutual option and the Giants are not so desperate for veteran depth that they’ll sign another after-30 starter with arm troubles who has been in a steep decline since the start of the 2022 season (4.49 ERA / 4.63 FIP in 520.2 IP).

Griffin Canning

He is another starter the Padres signed in the offseason to provide warm bodies for their rotation, along with Giolito, German Marquez, and Walker Buehler. They needed numbers which is why they opted to spread the money around. Canning was used as either a starter or bulk reliever through his first 16 appearances, but after that, he was firmly a reliever who came in during blowouts in either direction. Over his final 14 appearances, he had a 3.04 ERA in 23.2 IP (3.90 FIP).

In 2025, he was exclusively a starter for the Mets but his season was cut short (just 16 GS) by a left Achilles rupture. If you jump back to those numbers, he seems a little Giants-y: a 94 mph fastball (four-seam) with a high-spin slider (2,736 rpm). The option is for just $5 million so, I don’t know, maybe San Diego picks it up as a depth piece just because there’s a little bit of positive projection in the profile. I would think maybe it becomes tradeable if AJ Preller is able to get into some big transaction and the Giants have decided to keep their powder dry for most of the offseason.

Zack Littell

I’m sure the organization doesn’t like Gabe Kapler any more than it likes Farhan Zaidi, but Littell’s public protest has to be a sticking point, right? Also, it’s not difficult to improve upon Littell in trade or free agency. Technically, he’s a pure free agent now, as ARizona released him back in August, but MLB.com still has that mutual option attached, so, my mistake.

Zach Eflin

Rehabbing from Tommy John for most of next season. Baltimore will decline the option, too, as it’s for $25 million.

Getting creative

Okay, after exhausting all of those option options, let’s just take a look at who’s left: players we can imagine being available just because of arbitration. Now, the entire point of arbitration is to make the cost of players still under team control predictable/projectable, but what usually happens is that teams find out they have other needs that can’t be addressed through draft & development or even cost too much in free agency and so trades become important. To be clear, I don’t think all of these players are on the trade block, I’m just noting that arbitration-eligible players tend to be the more tradeable types out there for execs trying to take a big swing.

For example, the Mariners have fifteen arbitration-eligible players, including:

Logan Gilbert ($15.4 million arbitration projection)

Most likely to be traded given that he (1) makes the most of the group (2) will be in his age-30 season (3) has already crossed 1,000 MLB innings — and had the accompanying injury: a flexor strain of his right elbow in 2025 and (4) is trending upwards in walk and home run rates (a career-high 3.83 FIP).

Now, would the Giants go, “Yessir, Mr. Dipoto. Drop your castoff directly into my spreadsheet!” Probably not, and mainly because it’s his final year of arbitration. Plus, as with a lot of these trades, where’s the requisite value? Gilbert is in decline, but a 3-WAR player for a 1.5-WAR player (Jung Hoo Lee, let’s say) doesn’t make a lot of sense for Seattle. But then, is a Harrison Bader’s un-voidable contract, a top 20 prospect, and another prospect for Gilbert a worthwhile investment for the Giants? Even if they had it in mind that they could trade him at the deadline when the season drives into a ditch again?

George Kirby ($9.8 million)

With two years of arbitration, a Kirby trade feels a little more realistic. Looking at his Statcast and it looks like there’s a potential fix just with the pitch mix; but, his 7.6 K/9 is (1) really bad and (2) a huge decline from 2025 (9.8) and well below his career average in his first four seasons (8.8). He’s also at 812.1 career innings, which puts him right on the precipice of having his first big injury. Oh wait, he experienced that last season when he hit the IL before the start of the season with right shoulder inflammation. Is that injury plus this year’s steep decline a sign that he’s on the verge of a major injury?

Bryce Miller ($6.075 million club option or $3.9 million arb projection)

Miller also missed time in 2025 with right elbow inflammation and this season he missed time with a left oblique strain. In his first two MLB seasons (2023 and 2024), he had a 3.52 ERA in 311.2 IP, an 8.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. With his injury-shortened 2025 and 2026, he has a 4.82 ERA in 209 IP, an 8.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. He amassed 4.6 fWAR in those first two seasons and just 0.9 total the past two seasons. It seems likely that the Mariners will decline their option and negotiate with him with the arbitration pressure. Or, they could simply trade him and the three years of team control for prospects.

He’s got a great arsenal that has been quite effective in his MLB time, including this season.

Bryan Woo ($5.2 million)

Do I want the Giants to hoard as many Bryan with Ys and Cal Poly grads as possible? Absolutely. Woo would qualify. He’d be a great fit, along with the three years of team control. He’s already amassed 10.9 fWAR in his 3+ seasons of MLB. But if you look at his 2025 & 2026, well…

Top 10 pitchers by fWAR, 2025-2026

1. Cristopher Sanchez, PHI — 12.7 fWAR
2. Tarik Skubal, DET & LAD — 11.9
3. Jesus Luzardo, PHI — 10.9
4. Paul Skenes — 10.7
5. Yoshinobu Yamamoto — 9.6
6. Dylan Cease, SD & TOR — 8.9
7. Logan Webb, SF — 8.6
8. Bryan Woo, SEA — 7.7
9. Jacob deGrom, TEX — 7.7
10. Kevin Gausman — TOR & CHC — 7.2

To acquire a player who has already amassed 10.9 fWAR in 3+ seasons of MLB and has been the 8th-most valuable SP of the past two seasons (7.7 fWAR — trailing Logan Webband would be in his age 27-29 seasons would take a good amount of talent.

Jerry Dipoto’s seat should be white hot. He’s got to do something. The Mariners scored (5) fewer runs than literally the Giants and (2) fewer than literally the Reds. Only the Angels (655) and Blue Jays (648) scored fewer runs than the Mariners’ 664. They were also 16th in runs allowed (722) and value (14.2 fWAR). They allowed more runs than the White Sox? The Padres? The Marlins?? These were all teams they were expected to be better than; and, in the case of their pitching, far better.

Joe Ryan (MIN)

Susan Slusser suggested him a week and a half ago, citing that that he’ll be entering the final year of his deal in his age-30 season and that the hometown connection (grew up in San Anselmo as a Giants fan) would make it easier to get some sort of a discount on a long-term deal.

Injury hampered his season a bit (down to 144.2 IP versus 171 the year prior), but he’s still thrown just 786 MLB innings and his stuff was exactly the same as its been when he did pitch. He’s been, consistently, a 3-WAR player and he’s set to make around $9 million in 2027.

But Ryan isn’t the only Twins starter on the last year of a deal, which complicates matters: Pablo Lopez (30, a 3-WAR pitcher when healthy, $21.75MM), Stockton’s Dean Kremer (31, a 2-WAR pitcher when healthy, $7.75MM arb projection), and Bailey Ober (31, a ~2-WAR pitcher when healthy, $7.25MM arb projection) all figure to be on the trade market, and if Taj Bradley (26 and 3 years of team control) is also made available, then it would seem that the Giants would have to offer a lot for potentially not very much. At least in the offseason. Maybe a mid-season trade could materialize if, somehow, the Giants are competitive. Or they could just wait a year for him to become available.

Reid Detmers (LAA)

The Angels opted not to trade him at this past deadline, but with a new ownership group in place there might be a call for drastic measures to improve the club’s standing after its first-ever 100-loss season. Trading away a bright development success and one of the top pitchers in the sport (4.9 fWAR — 9th in MLB) doesn’t make much sense, but at the same time… looking at Detmers’s cumulative value for his career… he’s at 11.1 fWAR, the same as MacKenzie Gore for whom the Rangers traded back in January before this season. In that deal, the Washington Nationals got Texas’s #5, #11, #12, #17, and #24 prospects in exchange for Gore and his two years of team control. Detmers also has two years of team control remaining. Does that automatically set the floor at 5 top 30 prospects?

Possibly.

If Los Angeheim did that deal today, it would be Ramon Marquez, Henry Lalane, Keyner Martinez, Argenis Cayama, and Yunior Marte. But those are all pitchers, and in the trade, Washington only got back one pitcher.

But also, the Giants shouldn’t expect to be any good the next two seasons… at least not to the point that they should be delivering five Top 30 prospects for two years of one starting pitcher. That seems like a foolhardy move that would do more harm than good. But it is intriguing. And Detmers looks like he’s turned his career around. From this FanGraphs piece back in June:

[Detmers’ conversion to a reliever in 2025] This was about as big of a pitching development success as the Angels have had in the 2020s. Again, Detmers was a perfect candidate for this transition, and he executed it flawlessly. That’s why it was odd to hear rumblings of a return to the rotation. Even in the middle of last season, the Angels seemed set on — and convinced of — Detmers’ future as a starter. Here’s what former manager Ron Washingtontold The Athletic in June 2025:

“That’s just a prelude to him getting back in the rotation,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Detmers’ success out of the bullpen. “Now he has learned how to get outs, because when you come out that bullpen, it’s about one thing: getting outs. And getting them as quickly as possible. When Reid Detmers gets back into the rotation, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

The team could still get creative with other players in arbitration: Bryce Elder (ATL), Kutter Crawford (BOS), Nick Lodolo (CIN), Peter Lambert (HOU), Clarke Schmidt (NYY), Shane McClanahan (TBR), but they’re all in the final year of arbitration and so thinking of them as actual targets doesn’t seem right. The Giants have to behave as though they’re still at least 2-3 years away from being even a tiny bit competitive again and make moves with that timeframe in mind — not in terms of tanking or keeping their powder dry or whatever, but in simply making sure that their trade or financial commitments are multi-year.

After an extensive thought exercise, I’ve come away with these names as palatable or outright interesting options that don’t push the limits of reality:

• Tatsuya Imai
• Bryce Miller
• Bryan Woo
• Reid Detmers

This is not an exhaustive list, of course, but it’s a rundown of the most obvious trade targets. Are there obvious ones you think I missed or some under the radar ones you think fans should keep in mind as the offseason nears?

The 2026 World Series begins Friday night, with the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays facing up to determine a first-time champion, in a series that will go through at least Tuesday and potentially through Halloween.

Three former Dodgers are active for the series — two for the Rays, one for the Brewers.

Jonny DeLuca has started all nine postseason games in center field so far for the Rays, with six hits, including a double, in 30 at-bats plus a walk and two stolen bases. Acquired from the Dodgers in the Tyler Glasnow trade, DeLuca’s third season with Tampa Bay was his best, hitting .266/.300/.429 with a 102 wRC+ in 112, coupled with solid defense for 2.4 fWAR.

Garrett Cleavinger pitched in 51 games for the Rays this season, but none since September 4, missing time in the regular season’s final month with left forearm tightness. He put up a 4.79 ERA and 4.24 xERA in his fifth season with Tampa Bay. The Dodgers dealt the left-hander to the Rays at the 2022 trade deadline, clearing a roster spot as he was further down the bullpen depth chart.

Cleavinger was active for the Division Series, but did not pitch during the three-game sweep of the New York Yankees. Cleavinger is back active for the Fall Classic.

Dustin May was a trade deadline acquisition this year for the Brewers from the St. Louis Cardinals, a year and a half since he last pitched for the Dodgers. May struggled down the stretch with Milwaukee, putting up a 5.65 ERA and 6.06 xERA in 10 starts.

May started Game 3 of the Division Series for the Braves, and allowed two runs in three innings in San Diego. He pitched a scoreless inning in relief against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS, then pitched three more innings in relief in Game 4. Within his first five batters, May allowed two singles then a three-run home run to Shohei Ohtani, the first long ball for Ohtani in eight weeks.

Other former Dodgers are on the Rays, but both Ryan Pepiot (hip inflammation) and Gavin Lux (right shoulder impingement) were on the injured list all season. Michael Grove missed all of 2025 after shoulder surgery and signed with Tampa Bay during the offseason and pitched three games in relief this season, going back and forth between the majors and Triple-A. But he was claimed off waivers by the Braves in September.

Milwaukee is going absolutely nuts. The Brewers have sold out Game 3 and Game 4 of the World Series.

The Tampa Bay Rays will host those games, but the Brewers invited fans to come to their stadium and watch on the big screen. The Brewers sold more than 31,000 tickets to each of their watch parties at $15 apiece. On Friday morning, StubHub offered them for resale, starting at $168.

There is nothing quite like a city uniting behind a team that never has won a World Series. Ask Logan Henderson.

Henderson, the Brewers’ starting pitcher Saturday in Milwaukee, grew up a huge fan of the Houston Astros. He was 15 when he attended his first World Series game.

“My parents had always said, if we were fortunate enough to be able to watch them go to the World Series, we’re going to do everything we can to get there,” Henderson said. “I was blessed that my parents got tickets to go to the games.

“There’s nothing like it. I’m on the other side of it now. I was a spectator and a fan, now I’m a player. It’s definitely surreal.”

His first World Series game as a spectator and fan? Game 4 of the 2017 World Series.

“I went to the one before the crazy one,” he said. “L.A. ended up winning that game.”

In the crazy one, the Dodgers blew two four-run leads, tied the score with three runs in the ninth inning and lost in the 10th.

If we knew then what we know now, Game 4 would be the crazy one: Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood constantly changing his signs, suspicious that the Astros might be up to something, whatever that might be.

Wood was vindicated three years later, when a league investigation revealed the Astros had been cheating in 2017, stealing signs from a television monitor next to the dugout and relaying them to batters by banging on trash cans. The practice, according to the report issued by commissioner Rob Manfred, was refined during the regular season and extended “throughout the postseason.”

The scandal outraged the Dodgers and their fans. The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to demand Manfred award the 2017 championship to the Dodgers. Their players wanted nothing to do with that. A real championship, after all, would come with champagne and beer in the clubhouse and a parade through the streets.

Still, the players did not turn the other cheek.

“Everyone knows they stole the ring from us,” Cody Bellinger said.

“They cheated,” Kiké Hernández said. “They got away with it. They got a ring out of it.”

When the Astros’ team buses arrived at Dodger Stadium for games during the pandemic season of 2020, when ballparks were closed to the public, Dodgers fans gathered outside to boo.

Those were Henderson’s guys inside those buses: Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Lance McCullers Jr. Those were the guys that brought home the Astros’ first World Series championship, as Henderson’s Brewers are trying to do for Milwaukee.

“Personally, as a fan, Hurricane Harvey hit Houston really hard, and the Astros brought a championship to the city,” Henderson said.

“That meant absolutely everything to the city. I hope that means what it did for me to the fans in Milwaukee here.”

The Rays also are trying to bring their first championship home to Tampa Bay. In 2017, hard as this might be to believe today, the mighty Dodgers had not won a championship in 29 years.

And now, as a major leaguer, Henderson has an acute appreciation of the little things that can mean the difference between victory and defeat, between a parade and another plaintive chorus of “wait ‘til next year.”

It could be a pitcher that blows a throw he could make in his sleep, sending his team home for the winter. It could be a defense perfectly executing a seldom-seen play. It could be a ball that clanks off the roof and into play instead of flying into the stands for a home run.

Read more:Shaikin: Why Dodgers fans need to be cheering for the Brewers in this World Series

It could be stealing signs and banging on trash cans.

“I would rather face a player that was taking steroids than face a player that knew every pitch that was coming,” Wood tweeted after Manfred’s report on the Astros’ cheating.

Henderson knows how hard this is to do. The Brewers haven’t appeared in the World Series in 44 years, and owner Mark Attanasio said nervous fans already are wondering whether their next appearance will be 44 years away.

So I asked Henderson if, all these years later, the scandal changed how he felt about those Astros.

Read more:Plaschke: Give ’em hell, Dodgers fans. Astros still deserve to be booed for cheating

He paused.

He exhaled.

He paused again.

“Maybe a little bit,” Henderson said. “It’s unfortunate. I try not to think about it or talk on it too much. I think now, being in the game, my perspective on it is a little different.

“I think for the kid in me — and the huge baseball fan I was — that team will always have a special place in my heart.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Hey you!

Sitting there at your watch party, observing Nick Martinez induce yet another weak fly ball to Chandler Simpson while the Rays have jumped to a 2-0 lead in Game One of the World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Wouldn’t you like some random knowledge about the Rays and Brewers to throw out the revelers among your group to showcase how intelligent and fun you are. Imagine how impressed everyone will be when you shout out that the first trade between the Rays and Brewers was on March 24th, 2003 when Tampa Bay sent Javier Valentin to Milwaukee for outfielder Jason Conti. If you want to depress those around you, you could bring up that after Conti’s player career, he became a professional chef and started a restaurant where he tragically suffered a stroke and struck his head, dying from the injury a week later in 2025.

The Rays and Brewers have matched up for 17 transactions over the years with names like Aaron Civale, Willy Adames, Drew Rasmussen, Jesus Aguilar, Brad Miller, Ji-Man Choi, Mike Brosseau, Seth McClung,and Grant Balfour among the players dealt.

As for on-field matches, the Rays are 13-15 all-time against the Milwaukee Brewers. The first game between the two teams was held on June 13th, 2005 with Tampa Bay edging out Milwaukee, 5-3. Doug Waechter took the mound for Tampa Bay and allowed 3 runs over 8 innings of work, outdueling Chris Capuano. A notable footnote about that game was it featured the MLB debut of a Brewers top prospect, Prince Fielder; Fielder collected his first big league hit two days later.

The Brewers swept the Rays in the season series back in 2022, but the two sides have split all the games since then with each team winning six games against the other since the start of the 2023 season.

Tampa Bay’s top offensive player all-time against Milwaukee with at least 20 PA is current Rays speedster Chandler Simpson. The 25-year old has played six games against Milwaukee thus far in his career and is hitting .350/.409/.550 over 22 PA.

The best single-game team offensive performance against Milwaukee came during that first game mentioned above when the team hit .370/.371/.686. They notched 13 hits on the day, including five doubles and two homeruns (courtesy of Jonny Gomes and Travis Lee), but were only able to scratch across 5 runs.

The best individual offensive game in team history against the Brewers was provided by outfielder Josh Lowe. On May 21st, 2023, Josh Lowe went 3-4 with a game tying 3-run homerun and a stolen base, gving him a RE24 of 3.33, the highest of any player for the Rays against the Brewers in franchise history.

On the mound, the best start in team history against the Brewers was provided by the stalwart Alex Cobb back on July 29th, 2014. That summer night featured a pitching duel between Cobb and former Ray Matt Garza. Both pitchers had great games, but it was Cobb who prevailed. Overall, Cobb allowed 1 run on 3 hits, while striking out 12 . The game was tied at 1 entering the bottom of the 8th, the Rays scored four runs, sending all nine hitters in the lineup to the plate. Grant Balfour locked things down in the top of the 9th to record the save.

Over the course of MLB history, there have been 86 players to have played for both the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers. The best player in Rays history to have played for Milwaukee would be Willy Adames (7.5 bWAR) while the best player in Brewers history to play for the Rays would be Carlos Gomez (19.0 bWAR). There are plenty of notable players though to have donned the uniforms, including Greg Vaughn, Rickie Weeks, Jake Bauers, Julio Franco, Nelson Cruz, and Rays postseason hero Brett Phillips.

What history will be added the legacy of the Brewers-Rays rivalry this October?

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our bi-weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Craig Z. asks: It would seem a qualifying offer to Bednar is a given. The QO to Jazz also seems likely as Yankees will perceive he will reject it and, unlike the gamble with Grisham that was a huge miscalculation on Cashman’s part, Jazz will probably reject it. Your thoughts?

I don’t know if I’d agree with your second point, as reports have come out saying that the team is actually unlikely to offer the qualifying offer to Jazz Chisholm Jr. this offseason. The gamble over whether Chisholm would accept the deal or not mirroring what happened with Trent Grisham last year is probably informing their decision on that matter, as while I wouldn’t hate bringing Jazz back on a one-year deal the team seems to be angling towards allowing him to walk. Whereas Grisham was coming off of a career-best year, Chisholm had his worst season in pinstripes, but the argument could be made that Grisham knew the market was a lot more crowded with excellent choices while Chisholm is still one of the best options in a free agent field lacking a true superstar or even many stars to compete against.

With that in mind, it might be a more reasonable gamble to give Chisholm the QO and not lose him for nothing than it was with Grisham, but again the team clearly cares about their budget and potentially handing out over $45 million in 2027 salary between Bednar and Chisholm before free agency even opens might restrict them too much to make other moves. I’m not thrilled with the backup option to Chisholm being running Anthony Volpe at the keystone, but if it leads to improvements elsewhere on the roster I could see the logic in the move — and we’ll talk about where that upgrade is most needed in a moment. Ultimately, while I know Chisholm had a disappointing year for New York (and perhaps set himself up to with talk of having a 50-50 season during spring), I think it’s unlikely they field a better player at his position than him in 2027 and I think that makes the QO a worthwhile choice, but it looks like that won’t be the case.

Anton H. asks:With Ryan McMahon struggling to solve the Yankees’ third base problem as hoped, do you think the team will try to trade him this offseason, or is a DFA more likely? Given his $16 million salary for 2027, what teams, if any, could make a compelling case for acquiring him despite the financial commitment?

Now, here is where the resources need to be allocated to improve the position. Third base has been a black hole for damn near a decade at this point, with only small bursts of quality play like Gio Urshela’s 2019 run sparkling before being swallowed back up by the void. Ryan McMahon was never expected to be a quality hitter when the Yankees acquired him, but they were certainly expecting better than the 78 wRC+ he posted in 124 games. He was also expected to overcome his offensive capabilities by providing stellar defense, and while he lived up to that in 2025 his play at the hot corner sizzled out completely in 2026 leading to a frustrating experience where he really didn’t provide much of anything.

That’s not really a compelling case to bring towards any potential suitors, so while the team would surely love to trade him away for whatever they could get, it would require tacking on prospects to get even partial salary relief at the moment. Normally I’d say they’re better off just going the DFA route like they did with DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks, but the team is also staring down the prospect of moving on from Giancarlo Stanton’s contract as well and I’m not sure that Hal Steinbrenner could stomach two deadweight contracts for players not even on the team anymore. Of the two, it would be easier to sell McMahon with a prospect attached than it would Stanton, who has a full no-trade clause and an extra year on his deal even if it is a team option. If push comes to shove the team is better off moving on from McMahon and DFA’ing him would suffice, but if they can find an angle to move him that doesn’t cost any of their blue chip prospects it wouldn’t be a bad move to make — they can’t all make it to the big leagues, and using prospect capital to improve the roster by subtraction is still an improvement. I trust the player development team to find enough talent to keep the pipeline greased up, and they didn’t offload too much in this year’s deadline.

jws85 asks:Assuming no additions during free agency, who would be the best leadoff hitter? Rice and Judge needs to be 2-4. Lombard, Bellinger, or Volpe could be options. Wells, García, Stanton, and Jones makes no sense.

If you’re forcing me to keep Ben Rice and Aaron Judge somewhere in the 2-4 range then I’d set my sights on George Lombard Jr. earning the leadoff role, as the rookie showed solid results at the plate during his whirlwind debut in the second half and throughout the postseason. The defensive misplays were atypical of his performance down in the minors, but the bat showed some promise and the only other candidate I see would be Volpe, who has already had his chance to be a leadoff hitter to no avail. However, what I would rather do in this scenario is just have Rice hit leadoff, bat Judge second and have Bellinger flanking him with Lombard or Jones at cleanup and García hitting fifth. Rice proved that he’s a capable enough table-setter, and without an ideal OBP-driven player in the lineup as is you might as well give your best hitters the earliest chances to get up to bat.

The Nats had a lot of prospects take meaningful strides in 2026, but the one I want to talk about today is Miguel Sime. When the Nats took Sime in the 4th round of the 2025 draft, he was a raw but electric prospect with a massive fastball, but not much else. There is still rawness in his game, but Sime took big steps in the right direction this year.

The development of Sime’s slider is the biggest story of this season. Heading into the year, Sime had a curveball and changeup to go with his triple digit heater. Both pitches had promise, but neither were refined yet. In the offseason and during Spring Training, Sime worked hard to find a slider grip that worked for him. He talked about this in an interview last month.

Once he found the right grip, the pitch came naturally to him. The slider became Sime’s go to weapon, even throwing it more than his fastball at times. Sime’s slider has deceptive downward movement that makes it difficult to pick up. Hitters often think the slider is coming and by the time they realize their mistake it is too late.

The development of the slider gives Sime two elite pitches. His body type, pitch mix, velocity and control woes remind me a lot of Jarlin Susana. Like Susana, Sime generates a ton of swing and misses. For the season, his strikeout rate was 41.3%, or 16.18 K/9. Even as he got aggressively assigned to High-A, that strikeout rate remained around 40%.

That mid-season promotion told me a lot about how much the Nats believe in Sime as both a pitcher and competitor. They easily could have left him in Low-A to develop for the rest of the year. However, the organization wanted to challenge him and Sime responded well. 

His numbers were actually much better despite facing better opposition. In Low-A, Sime struck out over 45% of hitters, but posted a 4.44 ERA due to a 21% walk rate and some bad luck. Once he got to Wilmington, Sime posted a 2.15 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 46 innings. His walk rate was still an alarming 19.9%, but it did not matter because opponents hit under .150 against him. 

Obviously, control is the biggest thing Sime needs to work on. We knew his control was not pinpoint heading into pro ball, and we saw that play out. However, his stuff might be even better than expected. Sime’s fastball shape is very good and as mentioned, the slider has become a lethal weapon. At the Futures Game, Sime’s raw stuff might have been the best of any pitcher.

Between the Futures Game outing and his Spring Breakout appearance, the stuff models loved his pitches when there was Statcast data. He has velocity, movement, deception and several different nasty offerings. At 19 years old, there is still plenty of time for the control to come around.

However, that lack of present control does give him a lot of relief risk. If I had to bet right now, I do think the bullpen is Sime’s ultimate home. That is no sure thing though, and the Nats will and should give him every opportunity to prove he can start. With how young he is, we have plenty of time.

Despite his youth, there is a chance that Sime starts next season in AA as a teenager. He showed that his stuff can overwhelm High-A hitters. While he has walk problems, they have not mattered that much yet. In Double-A, those control issues are likely to hurt him more and force him to adapt.

Overall, Sime is a high upside arm with triple digit velocity and a nasty slider. His huge physical presence gives him an intimidating look on the mound. All of these things scream future closer, but his ultimate home is still to be determined. 

If the control trends in the right direction, Sime could be one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Even with shaky control, he has loud enough stuff to make him a fairly safe bet to pitch in the big leagues for a long time. Sime’s first year in pro ball was a resounding success. Now I am excited to see what he can do in year two.

The World Series begins tonight.

Normally, when the Dodgers aren’t involved, I generally ignore the proceedings, reveling in the de facto time off before being absorbed by the many tasks I launch into during every off-season. With this year’s offseason likely to be much longer due to the own goal that is the impending lockout, I have embraced something I generally disdain: procrastination.

The baseball hipsters are drinking their figurative oat drink lattes and living well by reveling in the pending matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. The list of teams that have never won a title should decrease to four.

As both stadiums are domed, if there are weather delays, something weird has happened. The play on the field should entertain, as the venues themselves are not that picturesque. Still, if you want more information, updated with recent travel, we shall oblige.

Before this year, the last time the Brewers made the World Series, I was gestating in utero (October 1982 vs. January 1983). I know folks in Milwaukee losing their figurative minds about something some started to take for granted in Los Angeles.

I’d tease about their enthusiasm, but unalloyed joy is a good thing. After all, how much of a moron do you have to be to do something to catch my attention by screwing up when everyone is either literally waiting or celebrating?

Timeless…well, Mostly Timeless Tickets

11 years ago, the Milwaukee Brewers sold their Timeless Ticket. For $1,000, one would get a personalized brass ticket that was good for one use only to “any future Brewers home game at American Family Field. Whether it’s this season, the year 2050, or the 7th game of the World Series, all are valid games to redeem a Timeless Ticket.”

Only 1000 tickets were produced, and they allowed for redemption “subject to ticket availability at the time of redemption.”

The Brewers lay out the procedures for redemption, which allow for one ticket and the option to purchase three additional tickets at full regular retail price.

In the fine print, the Timeless Ticket cannot be used for any hypothetical All-Star Game in Milwaukee or any MLB game at American Family Field where the Brewers aren’t playing. On its face, if you suddenly were reminded of Forever Stamps from the U.S. Postal Service, that’s by design, per Darren Rovell of ESPN:

In late October, the team announced it would sell 1,000 “Timeless Tickets” for $1,000 each. They come in 1-pound bronze tickets with the owners’ names engraved on them.

…[A]s the offer went online for the first time, the team announced that it would add another nine timeless tickets to each deal, which would be redeemable for any regular-season game in the team’s future, except for Opening Day games.

The original bronze ticket is good for any single game, including say, a World Series home game at Miller Park, or whatever stadium the Brewers happen to be playing in should they return to the Fall Classic. The team’s only appearance came in 1982.

The idea is the brainchild of Brewers chief operating officer Rick Schlesinger.

“I was at the post office and got caught up with the idea of forever stamps,” Schlesinger said. “So I wondered what we could do to offer our fans something where we could give them the promise of being able to go to any game.”

In theory, speaking from personal experience, it’s a banger of a deal and a heck of a gimmick. I have certainly spent more money on more frivolous Dodgers-related purchases.

Fast forward eleven years, and one would think the Brewers have a public relations layup just waiting for the positive press. “Grandpa bought a Timeless Ticket, and now in his twilight years he gets to see his beloved Brew Crew play for a title after beating those crumbum Dodgers. Also, he bought three additional tickets at full price for his family.”

The positive copy writes itself. Considering how much goodwill there is in Cream City right now, you’d have to be an absolutely incompetent moron to blow it now.

When folks tried to redeem their Timeless Tickets this time, they were presented with the option of Terrance Level seats (Upper Deck) or Standing Room Only. Speaking from personal experience with the venue: ouch. For a Dodger Stadium equivalent, imagine buying a one-time pass that should allow you in the best available seat, including Field Level or the Loge, and instead you have to settle for a seat in the rafters of the Upper Deck.

Back in 2018, Timeless Ticket holders had the option to try to redeem their Timeless Tickets for a potential World Series berth. Some fans were able to secure seats behind home plate at field level. Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig had other ideas, making these reservations moot.

It turns out that the Timeless Ticket holders’ position in the queue was bumped at some point. Rather than selecting seating after the season ticket holders, the holders were placed behind the general public, seeing seating options that they could not select.

“Back in 2015, that was a big selling point from the sales people about this,” [Danny] Fochesato said. “They really touted, ‘Hey, this is going to be the best available seats. You’re getting the priority just behind season-ticket holders. Anything the season-ticket holders don’t have, you’ll have dibs at it for the World Series.’ That’s kind of the story they sold.”…

“We had a form, and it only had 400-level or standing-room options,” Fochesato said. “We couldn’t even know what game we had. We just had to put a preference of which ones we wanted, and then we had to submit the form and just sit and wait for them what we got. I immediately was like, ‘No, that’s bogus.'”

Going from “any game, best available ticket” to “hope and pray for the game you want.” We have a word for that situation, but it is unprintable in this generally family-friendly publication. So we will instead use the time-honored substitute of “malarakey,” with indications of another word: “fraud.”

Rather than have to analyze and explain Wisconsin contract law or write about impending lawsuits (I will leave our cousins at Brew Crew Ball to handle that story if it ever comes), the Brewers acknowledged that they screwed up.

Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger said Tuesday that several hundred fans had indicated they wanted to redeem their Timeless Tickets for a World Series game. Schlesinger acknowledged that “we subsequently erred in our internal communications on the logistics of fulfilling the requests.”

“While we were able to accommodate all with seats, we received feedback from some that they were unhappy with their seat locations,” Schlesinger said. “Clearly, even with extraordinary limitations on available seats, we did not live up to the spirit of the program, and we have been working through a resolution.”

Schlesinger said any Timeless Ticket holder who applied for World Series tickets before the deadline will now get to keep those World Series tickets while also being able to retain their Timeless Ticket to redeem for another game in any future season.

“We regret our mistake and look forward to welcoming them to American Family Field for their World Series experience,” Schlesinger said.

[Emphasis added.]

To be a fly on the wall of the Brewers’ Legal Counsel’s office over the past week…Whether these patrons are satisfied is another question entirely. This situation is right out of a law school textbook. But you might think, well, they still get to go; why throw a stink at all?

If I pay for something and you don’t give it, there’s a problem. Or if you change the deal, it better be in a movie, or you’re going to have a problem on your hands.

In short, the Brewers went full Michael Scott; you never go full Michael Scott.

Having to be publicly shamed to do the right thing by their most loyal fans — that’s a move right out of monetizing Dodgers Fan Fest to the gills. If there is a moral here, it is: do not overpromise and then underdeliver.

Sticker shock

World Series ticket sticker shock is emanating from both Milwaukee and Tampa. Direct sales are long gone, leaving the secondary market as supply and demand go into overdrive.

The get-in price for tonight’s Game 1 in Milwaukee is north of $2,000, and the get-in price for Game 3 in Tampa is north of $700. Some Milwaukee fans are likely finding it cheaper to go to Tampa, in which case, welcome to the brotherhood of traveling fans. It’s neat.

I get the sudden sticker shock. Back in 2024, I shared their collective pain:

No one should have to make what is essentially a rent payment to sit in the upper deck of any game. I am mindful that ticket prices are like real estate: it all comes down to location, location, location.

I understand that sitting at the Loge at Dodger Stadium should cost more than the upper deck. But should that cost equal a small used car (about $2,500 to $3,000, based on current listings on the secondary market)?

As I wrote about in my amateur adventures, before joining the staff here, I had World Series tickets for a potential Game 6 and 7 for about 24 hours. Both tickets combined cost about $1,200 and these seats were in the upper deck with no rhyme or reason as to location as I felt a closeness to the 2021 team because of all the games and cities I went to, warts and all.

As a comparison, I spent about $800 to sit atop the Green Monster in Boston for the finale of the series where Mookie Betts returned to Beantown for the first time. Ironically enough, seats in that section went up to $1,300/ticket as I recall. That seat was easily the most I ever paid in the regular season.

I have often decried the “Dodger tax” that I have to pay when I go see the Dodgers on the road. The truth is that it is often significantly cheaper for me to go see the Dodgers elsewhere than in the confines of Our Blue Heaven unless I am willing to entirely abandon a decent view of the game.

It is okay to pay for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

But no one should have to go into debt to enjoy something that they love.

My reaction now: I was being naive, or, if one requires a meme:

It’s not that I don’t have sympathy; it’s that some fans are caught in the gears of a system designed both to pay the players and line the owners’ pockets, especially if the series goes beyond the minimum length.

MLB sets the baseline purchase price for playoff and World Series tickets, which serve as the basis for creating the playoff prize pool that gets split amongst all of the participating players, with the World Series winners getting the largest share.

Spending what I spent to go see regular-season games in Tokyo is one thing, and frankly should not be repeated unless I was living in Japan. But the World Series is different. Last year, I spent around $3,000 USD on the secondary market just for the ticket for Game 7 in Toronto. Remember, I’m not bona fide; I have to pay my own freight. All things considered, I got a heck of a seat for the price.

I could have spent less for a seat farther away from the action, but when it matters, you pay the extra expense to see your team in action. Maybe you see history, maybe you don’t, but at the end of the day, seeing your team on that final stage is what matters. Everything else is silence.

Good luck to the Brewers and Rays in what should be an entertaining and exciting series.