It’s a dream World Series matchup for the Major League Baseball Players Association, which has been shouting to the world that baseball’s competitive balance is just fine, and there is absolutely no reason to dramatically change the economic system.
It’s a nightmare World Series matchup for Major League Baseball, which has stressed to everyone who’d listen that that a salary cap is desperately needed, even running advertisements into the the postseason.
It’s a dream World Series matchup for the fans of two small-market franchises whose shrewd front offices continually outsmart their big-spending brethren.
It a nightmare World Series matchup for the TV executives with two small-markets – including one which failed to even sell out several games of the postseason – that could lead to the lowest ratings in World Series history.
It’s a dream World Series matchup if you love the underdog, and learn about players you’ve never heard of in your life. It’s a nightmare if you love star power, with only one MVP, one presumptive Cy Young winner and not a single veteran with a ticket into Cooperstown.
Either way, it’s the Tampa Bays and the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series.
This is the first World Series between two small-market franchises since the Florida Marlins and Cleveland in 1997.
And it’s the first time in 35 years that two World Series teams ranked among the bottom half of spending when the Minnesota Twins (15th out of 26 teams) and Atlanta (19th) met in the 1991 World Series. The Brewers have baseball’s 19th-lowest payroll and the Rays have the 25th-lowest.
No matter who wins, we will have the first small-market World Series champion since the 2015 Kansas City Royals.
While Bruce Meyer, executive director of the players union will be vehemently arguing to the assembled media that there’s no reason for a salary cap (“Don’t believe what you hear from the owner who’s complaining") and commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB executives will be laying out reasons why a cap is essential for baseball’s future (“It defies human experience to ask a fan to think that the bottom end of that gap has the same opportunity to win as the top") two plucky small-market franchises will be fighting on the field for the first World Series championship in their franchise history.
The Brewers, who haven’t been to the World Series in 44 years, and the Rays, who have twice been to the World Series since 2008 but came up empty, are two of baseball’s last five franchises who have never won a title – joining the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockies.
Once we get past the rhetoric whether this matchup is great or god-awful for baseball, we’ve got two teams who have proven all year that they are the best teams in baseball and belong on the big stage.
The Brewers won a franchise-record and MLB-leading 103 games, winning the NL Central in a runaway and cruising though the playoffs, sweeping the two-time World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.
The Rays won an American-League leading 98 games, capturing the powerful AL East, and survived a grueling six-game series against the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS.
Next stop, saving the grand ol’ game of baseball, with these two teams showing that you don’t need $700 million players. They are the antithesis to the three-outcome brand we’ve become accustomed over over the years.
These two teams, who met the first weekend of the season with the Brewers winning two of the three games at American Family Field, are actually mirror images of one another.
Their offenses put relentless pressure on you. They don’t strike out. They put the ball in play. They run. They hit-and-run. They bunt. They steal bases. They have speed. They play exceptional defense.
This will be only the second World Series since 1918 that each team stole at least 162 bases during the season, with the Brewers the first World Series team since the 2014 Royals to have more stolen bases than home runs.
Then, there are intriguing similarities:
The Brewers have The Miz (Jacob Misiorowski). The Rays have The Raz (Drew Ramussen).
The Brewers have 22-year-old Jackson Chourio. The Rays have 23-year-old superstar Junior Caminero.
The Brewers have beloved captain and team leader Christian Yelich. The Rays have beloved unofficial captain and team leader Yandy Diaz.
The Brewers have speedster David Hamilton. The Rays have Chandler Simpson, perhaps the game’s fastest player.
The Brewers have a powerful bullpen led by closer Trevor Megill. The Rays have a powerful bullpen led by closer Bryan Baker.cThe Brewers have NLCS MVP Jake Bauers, a former Ray. The Rays have ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta, a former Brewer.
The Brewers have one of the shortest teams in baseball with three primary players who are 5-foot-10 or shorter: (Luis Lara (5-7), Sal Frelick (5-9) and Williams Contreras (5-10). The Rays have one of the shortest teams with three players who are 5-foot-9 or shorter: Cedric Mullins (5-7), Richie Palacios (5-8) and Taylor Walls (5-9).
The Brewers don’t have a single everyday player who was signed as a free agent. The Rays don’t have a single everyday player who was signed as a free agent.
The Brewers badly wanted two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, only to be out-bid by the Dodgers. The Rays badly wanted Skubal at the trade deadline and were outbid too.
The Brewers acquired their MVP, Christian Yelich, in a trade. The Brewers acquired their MVP candidate Junior Caminero, in a trade.
Milwaukee prides itself on bratwurst. Tampa Bay prides itself on Cuban sandwiches.
Two brilliant organizations, each finding the edge through analytics and scouting, with the Rays having more pro scouts than any team in baseball, going head-to-head in what looms as a riveting matchup.
This World Series should be an absolute doozy.
No matter who bothers to watch.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brewers-Rays World Series inspires both dreams and nightmares around MLB