Brewers and Rays bring big World Series drama with smaller payrolls

Here’s a heartfelt message to Major League Baseball viewers more focused on a ratings slide than a mascot sliding down a tube after home runs, and to detractors who think baseball is boring unless the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Dodgers are involved: Some of us are still here for the love of the game.The Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers, both hunting for their first World Series title, gave us a lot to cheer about in the first two games of this fall’s series. And their yearlong success is indicative of why baseball is bigger than its big-name franchises.Boring? How about a pair of one-run games to start things off? Friday night, down 3-1 in the top of the ninth, Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out and Liam Hicks at bat. Milwaukee then comes up with the defensive gem of the night: a game-ending double play. Or did they? Replays showed that shortstop Cooper Pratt’s foot came off the bag at second, extending the game and giving the Rays new life. No matter. Milwaukee closer Trevor Megill ended the threat – and the game – with a strikeout. Brewers win, 3-2.Fresh off Friday night’s heartbreak, Mr. Hicks capped off the first inning of Game 2 with a two-run homer that gave the visiting Rays a 4-0 lead. Surely, the series would be tied heading to St. Petersburg, yes? Not so fast. The Brewers ran down Tampa, and Mr. Pratt drove in the go-ahead RBI in the bottom of the seventh. Game 2 also ended in thrilling fashion, when a check swing by the Rays’ emotional leader, Yandy Diaz, was called a controversial game-ending third strike. Brewers take a 2-0 series lead with a 5-4 victory. David J. Phillip/APTampa Bay's Liam Hicks hits a two-run home run first inning of Game 2 in Milwaukee, Oct. 24, 2026. Despite taking an early 4-0 lead, the Brewers came back to win 5-4. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay are small-market teams. But “small market” doesn’t mean small-hearted. It’s a different sport, but the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs faced the same narrative, yet built a dynasty by dominating the draft with elite post players and actively scouting international talent.Small-market teams in baseball might not have the wallets of the teams in New York or Los Angeles to pick up players through free agency. What keeps them in contention is their attention to detail in drafting players and developing talent. The team with the best record in the National League this season? You guessed it: Milwaukee, winners of 103 games, while the Dodgers won 100 games. In the American League, that achievement went to the Rays, winners of 98 games. Postseason baseball has all types of twists and turns, but the probability of a Rays-Brewers World Series was always in the mix.Now that justice has been done to the matchup, baseball budgets can be discussed. The Rays are among the bottom five of team payrolls in baseball, and the Brewers are just outside the bottom third. Ashley Landis/APFans arrive at American Family Field in Milwaukee before Game 2 of World Series between the Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays, Oct. 24, 2026. Sports Illustrated’s Karl Rasmussen remarked upon both teams’ ability to get the most bang for their buck.“Both of these teams have been built on extracting value out of their bargain contracts,” he wrote in a recent report. “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 and Junior Caminero.” Both players are making less than $800,000 this season, remarkably low for players with such high production.The Brewers’ and Rays’ low-budget, high-reward success stories have been a salve to contentious labor discussions between baseball owners and the players. The current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire this December, and owners are expected to impose a lockout in their push for a salary cap. Super agent Scott Boras spoke about the potential for a lockout and thumbed his nose at the owners who want to limit how much teams can spend on talent.“Look, in the major-league pools, there are a lot of ownership groups that swim, and there’s a lot of owners that just choose to wear their floaties all the time,” Mr. Boras told CBS Sports before Game 1 between the Brewers and Rays. “And so, how do they get rid of their floaties? And the answer is, they either have to do it through talent, or they have to do it through investment and acquisition of talent to go out and compete.” Mr. Boras’ commentary is an example of how baseball, traditionally a purist and conservative sport, is adjusting to the times. Deepen your worldviewwith Monitor Highlights.Politics with respectGet political stories with respectful analysis.There‘s a world of new ideas in everyBooks newsletter.There‘s more to life, enrich yours withCulture & Learning weekly.Follow humanity‘s discoveries withScience & Nature stories in your inbox.Gain a spiritual perspectivefrom the stories in your inbox.Want to understand the deeper impact of critical events? Learn the Monitor‘s insight.Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. Even the managers are less buttoned-up. Take Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who said after his team swept the big-spending Dodgers: “They may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but we have a bunch of gamers. And the gamers won this week.”The vitality of the game, boldly evident enough before the season with a thrilling World Baseball Classic, is now on full display. If the first two games of the World Series are any indication, the spirit of the game is alive and well. Whether that remains true is in flux and, in some ways, is reflective of this particular series. What matters more? The game’s soul or its payrolls? ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LoginReal news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to “speak the truth in love.” Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.