Major League Baseball is a copycat league. It's a rite of passage that after every World Series, executives from 28 other teams will ask why their team fell short of the American and National League champions.
With the 2026 World Series beginning Friday, the second-guessing has already begun.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays' success in 2026 has left at least two rivals feeling inspired to spend less money on player payroll.
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"I've already had two GMs tell me their owners (are) saying, 'hey, if Milwaukee, Cleveland, Tampa can do it, there's no reason we have to increase our payroll. In fact, we can probably decrease it, because look at them.' "
Look at them, indeed.
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The Rays' 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Monday was a watershed. Tampa Bay, whose Opening Day payroll ranked 26th in MLB, clinched its third-ever trip to the World Series. The Guardians fell just short despite possessing baseball's lowest Opening Day payroll at $62.3 million.
The Brewers defeated the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers despite a huge disparity in spending. At $124.1 million (according to the Associated Press), the Brewers' Opening Day payroll was only about 40% that of the Dodgers ($316.6 million).
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Now, the unprecedented Milwaukee-Tampa Bay matchup is guaranteed to crown a first-time champion — and inspire copycats.
What the two teams lack in star power on the field, they make up for in part by making shrewd decisions behind the scenes. As noted by Kyle Glaser and Zack Scott on Twitter/X, the Brewers and Rays have some of baseball's largest analytics and scouting staffs.
The math is simple. A team can pay one star player $20 million, or 200 scouts and analysts $100,000 each, and spend the same amount of money in a calendar year. And the 200 scouts and analysts won't be wiped out for an entire season by a single injury.
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Baseball's Collective Bargaining Agreement expires Dec. 1. MLB is expected to impose a lockout at that time. Rather than permit normal offseason activities to continue during collective bargaining negotiations, owners will fight to impose a salary cap while threatening to shorten the 2027 season.
Bowden's observation suggests that, in a copycat league, some owners won't wait for a salary cap to offer less money to players in 2027.
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