Small-Market Underdogs Brewers and Rays Open World Series Tonight at American Family Field
Finn's Take· TL;DR- Small-market Brewers and Rays meet in World Series despite ranking 19th and 28th in payroll, defying typical championship spending patterns.
- Both teams employed analytical approaches and shrewd drafting to outperform wealthier franchises, with Brewers sweeping the Dodgers and Rays overcoming the Guardians.
- Brewers favored at -165 odds; Rays' 80-to-1 preseason odds would tie the longest underdog championship run since the 1991 Twins.
Baseball's Biggest Stage, Baseball's Smallest Budgets
The 2026 World Series got underway tonight at American Family Field in Milwaukee, and for the first time in decades, the two teams taking the field look nothing like the usual October heavyweights. The matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays marks the first World Series since 1980 to feature two teams both seeking their first championship. No dynasties, no mega-contracts, no Dodger Blue or Yankee pinstripes. Just two scrappy, analytically driven clubs who outworked the richest rosters in baseball all season long.
Neither team spends like a typical 21st-century World Series champion — the Brewers ranked 19th in salary payroll, and the Rays ranked 28th. With payrolls of $154.7 million and $112.9 million respectively, both the Brewers and Rays are decidedly frugal spenders. For context, MLB's most valuable team, the New York Yankees, is worth $9.4 billion, while the Los Angeles Dodgers — whose bid for a three-peat was thwarted by the Brewers — are worth $9.05 billion. The individual rosters of those two powerhouses cost more than Milwaukee's and Tampa Bay's combined.
How They Got Here
Each team was their respective league's best this year: the Brewers topped the National League and all of MLB with a 103–59 record, while the Rays bested the rest of the American League at 98–64. The Brewers swept the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in four games in the National League Championship Series, while the Rays won three straight to overcome a series deficit against the Cleveland Guardians and win the American League Championship Series in six games.
The Brewers easily dispatched the Dodgers in the NLCS despite being outspent nearly 3-to-1 in player payroll, and the Rays did the same to the Yankees in the ALDS. This marks the first time since 1991 that both World Series teams are in the bottom half of payrolls, and Milwaukee — MLB's smallest market — could become the first small-market champion since Kansas City in 2015.
The Arms Race on the Mound
Jacob Misiorowski brings his record-setting heat to the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1, a matchup of modest-money marvels who bumped off glamorous rivals with a throwback style of play. The 24-year-old right-hander, in his first full major league season, threw 1,115 pitches of 100 mph or higher this year — shattering the old high of 673 set by Jordan Hicks in 2018. Misiorowski, the likely National League Cy Young Award winner, earned just $788,300 this season, barely above the league minimum.
Misiorowski will face Tampa Bay's Drew Rasmussen in a battle of baseball's best pitchers. The Brewers ace is expected to win the NL Cy Young Award, and Rasmussen should be a finalist for the AL honor. On the offensive side, Rays star Junior Caminero — an American League MVP candidate — doesn't become a free agent until after the 2030 season and earned just $794,800 this year. Effective drafting and scouting has been critical to both franchises, with stars acquired through the amateur draft or as international free agents.
What's at Stake
Both teams came into the 2026 regular season as relative long shots, with Milwaukee beginning the campaign at 35-to-1 odds and Tampa Bay at 80-to-1 — which, if the Rays were to win it all, would tie the 1991 Minnesota Twins for the longest preseason underdog to win an MLB title. The Brewers enter as -165 favorites to take home the title, while the Rays come in at +145.
Win or lose, this Fall Classic has already made a statement. The first World Series to feature automated ball-strike calls is also the first since 1980 between two teams seeking their first championship, and could feature the first 104 mph pitch in Series history — courtesy of Misiorowski. The Rays are well-known for their frugal approach to roster-building, having finished no higher than 23rd in salary payroll since 2011, yet making the playoffs in eight of those 16 seasons. Whether it's Milwaukee finally hoisting a trophy 44 years after their last appearance, or Tampa Bay completing one of the great underdog stories in modern sports, baseball is guaranteed a brand-new champion — and a powerful reminder that the biggest payroll doesn't always buy the biggest prize.