This World Series matchup is truly a treat for the baseball nerds out there. It may not get massive ratings, but the Brewers and Rays provide a guide on how to build a winning team without a big budget. These two clubs have a lot in common, but one thing that ties them together is their ability to make a savvy trade.
When you look at the WAR breakdown of these two teams, it is easy to see how important trades are to these clubs, especially the Rays. Out of the 47.1 WAR that Tampa generated this year,
31.2 of those came from trades. Stars like Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz and Drew Rasmussen all came to Tampa via trade. It is not as extreme for the Brewers, but they also made plenty of big moves as well.
Being active on the trade market and constantly looking for ways to upgrade the roster is how these small market teams stay competitive. It is a formula the Nats have used in the Toboni era and under Mike Rizzo. After all, the Nats two best players came over in the Juan Soto trade. Sometimes these tough and painful moves are what sets a team up for long term success.
At the trade deadline, the Nats made some unpopular moves that signaled the team was punting on the 2026 season. They traded Foster Griffin, Luis Garcia Jr., and Curtis Mead despite being within shouting distance of the playoffs. Those moves were made with an eye on turning the Nats into a sustainable winner like the Rays and Brewers. It is too early to say if those moves will work out, but that is what the plan is.
While the Brewers lean more on homegrown players than the Rays, they made a couple painful moves which helped them in the long term. Josh Hader and Corbin Burnes were both stars in Milwaukee, but they were approaching free agency. The Brewers decided to trade both, which gave them multiple pieces which have been valuable in the playoffs. Here are some of the players the Brewers acquired via trade.
Robert Gasser has stepped up in a big way this postseason. The Brewers acquired the lefty from San Diego in the Hader deal back in 2022. Gasser missed time with injuries, but now he is showing why the Brewers wanted him. The Corbin Burnes trade netted Milwaukee Joey Ortiz and DL Hall. Ortiz is a defense first player who has been a solid starter while Hall is part of the Brewers stacked bullpen.
One thing I like about how the Brewers operate is that they don’t trade their stars until they are about one year away from free agency. That allows them to get the most out of their homegrown talents while still netting value. They still got plenty of great years out of Hader, Burnes, Devin Williams and Freddy Peralta, but they also did not lose them for nothing.
The Rays are even more trade heavy than the Brewers. In fact, most of the Brewers core pieces are homegrown and the depth of the roster is built by trades. On the other hand, much of the Rays core has been built by trades, as we have mentioned. These trades are both big and small.
One thing the Rays are masters at is finding hidden gems in deals that nobody pays attention to. Junior Caminero is the best example of this. The Rays traded Tobias Myers to Cleveland for an 18 year old Caminero. At the time, this was a minor move, but it had massive consequences. Caminero blossomed into a superstar in the Rays system and is now the face of the franchise.
Rays mainstay Yandy Diaz is another case of Tampa fleecing Cleveland. The Rays do not spend much money at all, even compared to the Brewers. That means they need to be creative on the market. They have mastered the art of being a small market team over the past 18 years. In addition to Caminero and Diaz, Bryan Baker, Liam Hicks, Freddy Peralta, Drew Rasmussen and Victor Mesa Jr. all came in trades.
With how active Paul Toboni has been on the trade market in his first year on the job, this is certainly a model that he follows. You will not win every trade, not even the Rays do, but if you make enough smart moves, they stack up. The Nats should be spending more money than the Rays, but that model is one that has proven to be effective.
Hopefully the likes of Connelly Early, Harry Ford, Will Dion and minor leaguers like Devin Fitz-Gerald can play big roles on the next great Nats team. This offseason will also be an interesting one to follow. Toboni has a tough decision to make with CJ Abrams. Will he trade him with two years of control like he did with MacKenzie Gore or will he hold onto his star.
Those are the types of decisions that shape the future of your franchise. It seems like the Nats are following a Brewers and Rays type model. Fans have looked at that pejoratively, but now these are the two teams in the World Series.
It turns out that formula works and it starts by making smart trades and developing talent. The two smartest teams in the league are squaring off in the World Series, which is very fun to see. Hopefully the Nats can be among the league’s best and brightest soon. Under Paul Toboni, they at least seem to be headed in the right direction.
