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Four teams remain in the Major League Baseball playoffs, and it's easy to see them as three underdogs and one powerhouse. The Los Angeles Dodgers, with a $338 million payroll that swells past half a billion after luxury taxes, stand apart. The other three—Milwaukee Brewers ($144 million), Tampa Bay Rays ($98.3 million), and Cleveland Guardians ($74.2 million)—operate on far smaller budgets. The Guardians' entire payroll wouldn't even cover the Dodgers' starting rotation.
But beyond the financial disparity lies a deeper truth: these four franchises are among the best-run in baseball. Their success stems from a shared culture of developing talent, both on the field and in the front office, creating a mutual respect as they compete in the American and National League Championship Series.
The connections are evident in the personnel. When the Rays take the field for Game 1 of the ALCS against the Guardians, nine of their 26 players will have previously played for one of the other three clubs, including six who came from Cleveland. Tampa Bay's manager, Kevin Cash, began his coaching career with Cleveland, serving two seasons as bullpen coach under Terry Francona before the Rays hired him in 2015. For Monday's Game 1, Cash will start Drew Rasmussen, a two-time All-Star acquired from Milwaukee in a 2021 trade. The Brewers' general manager for that deal, now club president Matt Arnold, spent nine seasons learning his craft with the Rays. Both Arnold and current Rays baseball operations president Erik Neander worked in Tampa Bay under Andrew Friedman, now the Dodgers' top executive, who has built a perennial contender that has won two of the past three World Series.
Yes, these series will be fiercely contested, but admiration for each organization's approach is warranted.
"Chris and Cherny, they're first-class individuals and they run a first-class organization," Cash said Sunday, referring to Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, the Guardians' longtime top front office executives. "I do think there's more similarities than not. I feel Cleveland does mirror us or we mirror them. And I say that with the utmost respect to them, the way they develop pitching, the way they think about the game. As far as developing and acquiring (players), there's a lot of similarities. And know that we are facing an extremely talented opponent top to bottom on that roster."
The Guardians' influence on the Rays' roster is particularly strong. All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero was acquired from Cleveland in November 2021 for pitcher Tobias Myers, a trade that may be the worst of the Antonetti-Chernoff era. Slugging first baseman Yandy Diaz played 88 games for Cleveland over two seasons before a three-team, five-player trade in December 2018 sent him to Tampa Bay. Second baseman Richie Palacios, who delivered a key blow against the Yankees in the ALDS, was drafted by Cleveland and debuted in 2022 but has become increasingly important in three seasons with the Rays. Relievers Cole Sulser and Kevin Kelly were also Cleveland draft picks, with Sulser now in his second stint with Tampa Bay after originally arriving in the Diaz deal.
Yet the talent pipeline flows both ways. The Guardians can thank the Rays for launching their manager's professional career. Stephen Vogt was a 12th-round pick out of Azusa Pacific University in 2007—the Rays were barely a decade old—and debuted with them for 18 games in 2012, going 0-for-25. "I always joke whenever I come here with the players," Vogt said Sunday, "my career hits as a Tampa Bay Ray will be playing on a loop the whole series." Vogt eventually carved out a solid 10-year career, making two All-Star teams with the Oakland Athletics and developing a clubhouse presence that hinted at a future in managing. A day before Game 1, he reminisced about returning to where it all began, even if his debut was forgettable. "Nate Lowe and I were talking about our time as Tampa Bay Rays," Vogt said of his first baseman. "And once the Rays won their series, I really wanted to get here for a number of reasons. I mean, this is the organization where they gave me my first shot in pro ball. And this is where I grew up in the game. And the reason I'm sitting here is a lot of the people that have worked here or still work here that poured into me that saw value in me and who I was and helped develop me into the person and player that I am. It's going to be really fun to see a lot of those people over the next week. It's really special coming back here."
Once a Ray, then a Guardian, now a star in Milwaukee
Since baseball's Moneyball era began in the 2000s, certain organizations and executives have been labeled as smart. While some are more adept than others, even the brightest minds can grow weary of such tags. And even smart teams make mistakes. If there's a common thread among the Rays, Dodgers, and Brewers, it's a knack for fixing or maximizing a player's skill set. Pitching coach Kyle Snyder has led numerous reclamation projects in Tampa Bay. All three of the Rays' playoff starters—Rasmussen, fellow All-Star Nick Martinez, and former Brewer Freddy Peralta, who struggled with the Mets this season—showed significant improvement under Snyder. Not all waiver claims pan out, though, and not all players succeed on their first try.
Take Jake Bauers, now a star for the Brewers, who couldn't stick in the big leagues with Cleveland and Tampa Bay. At 31, Bauers has been part of some massive trades, landing in Tampa Bay as part of the famed three-team, 11-player deal in December 2014 that sent Wil Myers from Tampa Bay to San Diego and Trea Turner to Washington. He debuted for the Rays at 22 in 2018 and hit 11 home runs in 96 games. But the Rays saw something special in Diaz—notably his hard-hit rate and average exit velocity—and acquired the bodybuilding slugger from Cleveland. Bauers couldn't stick in Cleveland either, posting a sickly 73 adjusted OPS across the 2019 and 2021 seasons. He then bounced to Seattle, Cincinnati, and the New York Yankees, with stops at a pair of minor league affiliates. He carried a lifetime .302 OBP and 80 adjusted OPS into Milwaukee after the Brewers acquired him from the Yankees in a roster-churning move for both clubs. In Milwaukee, he found a form of tough love that he acknowledges might have been missing earlier in his career. "I'm super grateful they traded for me. Super grateful to be here these last three years," Bauers told USA TODAY Sports last month. "At the same time, I think playing here can be a little bit uncomfortable, compared to some places. There's a lot of things that the staff, starting with (manager Pat Murphy), and also the players in the clubhouse - we don't let slide. That's a big key to our success but at the same time, it can be uncomfortable at times if you're not willing to face the man in the mirror. But it's been awesome."
Bauers set career highs this year in virtually every offensive category, most notably home runs (26), OBP (.389), and OPS (.874). The left-handed hitter batted cleanup against Dodgers ace Tarik Skubal in Game 1 of the NLCS, which the Brewers won 2-1. One might say his Rays connection saved his career. Arnold, now running the Brewers, remembered Bauers from his time in Tampa Bay and sensed there was more potential. "Had some history with Jake in Tampa and knew who he was as a guy," Arnold said before the NLCS. "There were some ingredients that we liked. For him, again, to take those next steps putting in the work -- he was talented already, but he's put in real work and gotten strong and physical, and he's done a tremendous job and really can't be thrilled more." Murphy added: "What he's done this year is just - it's been tremendous. Really happy for him. He got his chance, and he broke through. To see that happen and to see a guy have that belief system, that's the greatest feeling in the world."
Dodgers-Rays: An unbreakable connection
If the Rays are Guardians South, then the Dodgers are Rays West. Los Angeles carries four former Rays on its NLCS roster, two of them starters Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell—examples of flexing their financial might, as they acquired Glasnow and signed him to a $130 million extension the Rays weren't willing to pay. Snell, traded by Tampa Bay to San Diego after the 2020 World Series, signed a $182 million deal after a stop in San Francisco. Reserve catcher Hunter Feduccia was drafted by the Dodgers in 2018 and then shuttled to St. Petersburg and back to Dodger Stadium twice in 369 days—both clubs sharing joint custody, it seems. And then there's reliever Evan Phillips, who was a Ray for just 12 days in August 2021, appearing in one major league game before a roster crunch put him on waivers. He was claimed by the Dodgers—and has never left. Phillips has saved 46 games for them since 2022, sitting out most of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery yet posting a 0.96 WHIP in six seasons with L.A. Sometimes being smart is having an open 40-man roster spot at the right time. Then again, Friedman knew Phillips came with the Rays' stamp of approval, and now he can't get away from them.
Arnold and Neander watched and learned at Friedman's side, and now, for the second consecutive year, Friedman and Arnold are matching wits in the NLCS. Friedman has led the Dodgers to three World Series championships since 2020, the first over Neander's Rays. The Brewers have not reached the World Series since 1982. Regardless of which teams advance to the Fall Classic, there will be plenty of familiarity. "When we worked together, I thought, he's going to be really successful," Friedman said of Arnold before Game 1. "Obviously worked together with Matt and Erik for a long time. Both are very creative, big motors, really good leaders. To see each of their respective teams having success is not surprising at all. I think the creativity but also the ability to connect and relate to everyone - it's not surprising that they have organizations that are so synced up. And watching them have the success they've had is awesome."
Originally reported by usatoday.