In an age of baseball where some MLB teams have assembled rosters worth north of $300 million annually as they pursue a World Series title, the two teams participating in this year’s Fall Classic have gone against the grain. The Rays and Brewers both rank in the bottom half of the league in terms of their respective payrolls, with Tampa allotting just $95,615,469 million to its roster (third-lowest in MLB) and the Brewers paying $146,206,320 which is the 19th highest payroll in MLB.
The Rays have just one player on the books making more than $10 million annually, and only six players making more than $5 million. The team’s top earners are Yandy Díaz ($12 million), Nick Martinez ($9 million), Freddy Peralta ($8 million), Steven Matz ($7.5 million), Cedric Mullins ($6.5 million) and Drew Rasmussen ($5.75 million).
As for the Brewers, they have eight players making north of $5 million per season. Captain Christian Yelich is the team’s highest-paid player at $26 million annually. Veteran starter Brandon Woodruff earns $22.025 million per year. After those two, Dustin May and Antonio Senzatela are each making $12 million, followed by William Contreras who earned $9.45 million through arbitration this season. Andrew Vaughn makes $7.65 million and Jackson Chourio is next on the list at $7.25 million. Lastly, standout reliever Aaron Ashby makes $5.7 million per season.
Both of these teams have been built on extracting value out of their bargain contracts. Milwaukee’s top two starters, Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson, are making close to the league minimum, as is key setup man Abner Uribe. The same can be said for the Rays and two of their most important bats in Jonathan Aranda ($796,400) and Junior Caminero ($794,800), both of whom are still in pre-arbitration. They’ll be due significant raises down the line, but for now Tampa is able to capitalize on their low salaries.
Over the past decade-plus, majority of the World Series winners have been teams with high payrolls. Let’s see how the Rays and Brewers’ payrolls stack up against the last five World Series winners.
2021 Braves: $152,753,755
Highest-paid player: Freddie Freeman, $22,409,375
World Series MVP salary: Jorge Soler, $8,250,000
2022 Astros: $183,791,796
Highest-paid player: Jose Altuve, $29,000,000
World Series MVP salary: Jeremy Peña, $700,000
2023 Rangers: $251,332,754
Highest-paid player: Corey Seager, $35,500,000
World Series MVP salary: Corey Seager, $35,500,000
2024 Dodgers: $270,561,298
Highest-paid player: Shohei Ohtani, $70,000,000*
World Series MVP salary: Freddie Freeman, $27,000,000
*Ohtani counted for just $28,216,994 towards the team’s competitive value tax, due to the deferrals in his contract
2025 Dodgers: $359,227,505
Highest-paid player: Shohei Ohtani, $70,000,000*
World Series MVP salary: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, $18,333,000
*Ohtani counted for just $28,216,994 towards the team’s competitive value tax, due to the deferrals in his contract
Each of the last five World Series winners have had higher payrolls than both the Rays and Brewers. The 2020 Dodgers were the last championship team to have a payroll lower than what Milwaukee is paying this year’s squad, though of course that was in a 60-game pandemic-shortened season. To find a title team that had a lower payroll than Tampa’s ’26 squad, you have to go as far back as the ’08 Phillies, who won the World Series with a payroll of $66,576,256.
For reference, there were three teams in MLB with payrolls in excess of $300 million in 2026; the Mets ($346,736,805), the Dodgers ($339,319,244) and Yankees ($308,336,780). There were 11 teams, including the aforementioned three, with payrolls greater than $200 million; the Phillies, Blue Jays, Braves, Cubs, Astros, Padres, Red Sox and Tigers. The only teams in MLB with lower payrolls than Tampa are the Marlins ($83,298,123) and Guardians ($74,459,014).
But what about other top leagues in North America? Let’s compare the Rays and Brewers payrolls to that of the reigning Stanley Cup, NBA Finals and Super Bowl champions.
Carolina Hurricanes 2025-26 payroll: $87,122,892
Highest-paid player: Sebastian Aho, $9,750,000
Conn Smythe Trophy winner salary: Jordan Staal, $2,900,000
Seattle Seahawks 2025 payroll: $274,260,060
Highest-paid player: Uchenna Nwosu, $15,209,186
Super Bowl MVP salary: Kenneth Walker III, $2,693,517
New York Knicks 2026-26 payroll: $209,750,638
Highest-paid player: Karl-Anthony Towns, $53,142,264
NBA Finals MVP salary: Jalen Brunson, $34,944,001
With the exception of the NHL, which has seen salaries rise dramatically during this past offseason, this year’s World Series teams come in well behind the other champions of top leagues in North America in terms of payroll. Of course, NFL teams roster double the amount of players that MLB teams do, though NBA roster sizes are roughly half that of MLB’s.
As for college sports, the Texas Longhorns football team is estimated to be worth roughly $47.9 million, and the sport’s highest-paid player, Miami quarterback Darian Mensah, is estimated to be earning around $6.5 million through NIL, per On3. Mensah would be tied with Cedric Mullins as the fifth-highest earner on this year’s Rays team, and is making more than Junior Caminero, Jacob Misiorowski, Jonathan Aranda, Logan Henderson and Abner Uribe combined.
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