Brewers prove that MLB payroll doesn't matter with NLCS victory over Dodgers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Milwaukee Brewers are not one of the most expensive rosters in Major League Baseball, but in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, they defeated the top spender with a dominant series win.
After going up 3-0 over the Dodgers, the Brewers were in complete control of the series. They won Game 4 to secure the series, sweeping the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers to head to the World Series.
This NLCS series win for the Brewers proves that payroll doesn't matter. It's the players who are actually on the team, playing healthy, and contributing that really matter when it's all said and done.
Brewers prove payroll doesn't matter with NLCS victory over Dodgers
According to spotrac.com, the Dodgers are second in MLB only to the New York Mets with a $339,319,244 payroll this season. The Mets are first with a $346 million payroll.
But most other clubs aren't even remotely close to this mark, with the Dodgers and Mets. The Brewers, on the other hand, are in the back half of MLB's payrolls for the 2026 season.
Coming in at 19th overall, the Brewers' $146,206,320 payroll is well below that of the Dodgers' this season. And yet, in the NLCS, when it mattered most, the Brewers won.
If this series doesn't prove that the players matter more than the payroll, there might not be a different series that could prove that.
Milwaukee is spending $26 million on Christian Yelich. No other player on their team is making more than that this season. In fact, no other player is even north of $10 million in adjusted payroll this year.
Dustin May and Antonio Senzatela are making eight figures, but both were acquired mid-season and don't have their full contracts on the Brewers' books.
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Of course, the Brewers do have a lot of money in Brandon Woodruff ($22M) on the injured list, but this team is comprised mainly of players making under $10M per year.
The Dodgers, in comparison, have Kyle Tucker, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez, Edwin Diaz, Will Smith, Tanner Scott, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edman, all making north of $10 million this season.
But even though the Dodgers bought an incredible team over the years, they fell short to the Brewers in the NLCS, as Milwaukee ended their attempt at a three-peat and put themselves in play for their first title in franchise history.
This incredible series from the Brewers proves that payroll doesn't really matter; it's all about the players on the field. The Brewers were, simply put, just better than the Dodgers.
Payroll doesn't determine how good a team is; it's about who is on the team and how the organization constructs a roster.
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