The Milwaukee Brewers are set to face off with the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2026 World Series, as both franchises are searching for their first championship. As a pair of small-market teams with analytics-heavy philosophies, it should come as no surprise that these two squads have plenty tying them together. Let’s take a quick look at the players (and executives) that have overlaps in this series.
Jake Bauers
The lone Brewer player on this list, Bauers began his career with the Rays. Drafted by the Padres in the 13th
round of the 2013 MLB Draft, Bauers was sent to Tampa in December 2014 as part of the return for Wil Myers. He entered 2015 as the team’s No. 24 prospect and, after batting .272/.342/.418 with 11 homers and 74 RBIs across 128 games between High-A and Double-A, remained in the team’s top five prospects through the 2018 season, when he made his debut. Across 96 games with the Rays that year, he slashed .201/.316/.384 with 11 homers, 22 doubles, 48 RBIs, and 48 runs, compiling 0.5 bWAR.
After the conclusion of the season, he was flipped to the Cleveland Indians in a three-team deal that also featured a young Yandy Díaz (who went from Cleveland to Tampa) and veterans Edwin Encarnacion (who went from Cleveland to Seattle) and Carlos Santana (who went from Seattle to Cleveland).
Bauers compiled negative WAR in parts of each of his next few seasons with the Indians/Guardians, Mariners, and Yankees before landing with the Brewers in 2024. He had a strong finish to the 2025 season, hitting .360/.458/.560 with two homers, four doubles, nine RBIs, and 11 runs over 22 games in September and .308/.357/.615 with a homer and double over six games in the 2025 postseason. He continued that trend in 2026, turning in a career-best season at age 30 (he just turned 31 a couple of weeks ago) as he hit .266/.389/.484 with 26 homers, 22 doubles, 86 RBIs, 93 runs, and 11 steals over 144 games, totaling 3.3 bWAR. He then turned in two of the best at-bats (here and here) we’ve seen all postseason in the NLCS, earning NLCS MVP honors to guide the Brewers to the World Series.
Freddy Peralta
We’re all familiar with the fan-favorite Freddy Peralta, who gave us the best of moments but also some of the most frustrating with his inconsistencies and short starts — overall though, things were very positive. Across his first seven seasons in Milwaukee, Peralta compiled 9.3 bWAR and one All-Star appearance, reaching the 200-strikeout mark in both 2023 and 2024 while leading Milwaukee’s rotation.
In 2025, his final season with Milwaukee, he took a big step forward. Across a career-high 33 starts, the 29-year-old right-hander went 17-6, pitching to a 2.70 ERA and 204 strikeouts across 176 2/3 innings, earning his second All-Star appearance and finishing fifth in NL Cy Young voting. Set to be a free agent after 2026, the Brewers opted to trade him while his value was the highest, sending him to the New York Mets in January alongside Tobias Myers in return for a pair of prospects in right-hander Brandon Sproat and utility man Jett Williams.
Things didn’t go great for Peralta in his stint with the Mets, as he got the ball on Opening Day and made 22 starts for New York, going 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA, 4.46 FIP, and 113 strikeouts over 113 2/3 innings, totaling -0.5 bWAR, his first negative WAR season since 2019. The Mets, who had a dismal season, then flipped him again at the trade deadline, sending Peralta to the Rays for pitcher Gary Gill Hill, outfielder Aidan Smith, and shortstop Émilien Pitre. He was solid down the stretch, going 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA, 3.93 FIP, and 43 strikeouts over 55 1/3 innings, earning the AL Pitcher of the Month Award in September. He’s been even better in October, making four appearances (three starts) with a 2-0 record, 1.08 ERA, 3.88 FIP, and 12 strikeouts across 16 2/3 innings, earning the ALCS MVP with strong starts in Games 2 & 6.
Drew Rasmussen
Another star pitcher for the Rays, Drew Rasmussen was a sixth-round pick by the Brewers out of Oregon State in 2018. He quickly rose through the minors, making his debut as a reliever with Milwaukee in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He then made 15 appearances out of the bullpen in early 2021 before being sent to the Rays alongside J.P. Feyereisen in the trade that netted Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames and right-hander Trevor Richards.
Rasmussen immediately had success with Tampa, making 20 appearances (10 starts) with a 4-0 record, 2.44 ERA, 2.86 FIP, and 48 strikeouts across 59 innings. He continued rolling (albeit with some injury troubles) over the next few years, with a sub-3.00 ERAs in each season since that time. He was named an All-Star in both 2025 and 2026, finishing ninth in AL Cy Young voting a year ago and likely to finish top 10 once again here in 2026, when he pitched a career-high 172 innings with a 2.67 ERA, 2.82 FIP, and 174 strikeouts. Like Peralta, Rasmussen has been solid in the postseason, starting three games with a 1.29 ERA, 2.58 FIP, and 23 strikeouts across 21 innings.
Matt Arnold
The Brewers’ general manager and president of baseball operations began his career with an internship with the Dodgers before stints with the Rangers and Reds. He caught on with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007, spending nine seasons with Tampa in various roles, including assisting Andrew Friedman and Matt Silverman with roster decisions. In an analytics-heavy front office, “he worked to develop the process of integrating science, biomechanics, and human movement analysis within all levels of baseball operations,” per his Brewers bio. His tenure with Tampa included four postseason appearances, including an AL pennant in 2008, the franchise’s first World Series appearance. Arnold was promoted to director of professional scouting in November 2009 and to director of player personnel in June 2015.
After the Brewers hired David Stearns as the team’s new general manager in September 2015, Arnold was hired away from Tampa as vice president and assistant general manager. Arnold was promoted to senior vice president and assistant general manager in 2019 before being named as the franchise’s 10th general manager in November 2020. After Stearns stepped down as president of baseball operations to join the Mets’ front office, Arnold became the leader of Milwaukee’s front office in October 2022. He was then promoted to president of baseball operations in October 2025. The Brewers have won at least 92 games in each of Arnold’s four seasons as the head of the front office, winning the NL Central each time and winning a franchise-record 103 games in 2026 en route to the NL pennant. Named MLB Executive of the Year in 2024 and 2025, Arnold is the first executive to receive the honor twice, also earning MLB Executive of the Year by The Sporting News (2024 & 2025) and Baseball America (2024). Safe to say he’s one of the better executives in the league.
Bonus Names
Here are a few players who you won’t see on the World Series roster, but I felt like they deserved to be mentioned anyways, either because of recency or because I just felt like it.
- Oliver Dunn (2024-25 with Milwaukee, 2026 with Tampa Bay)
- Danny Jansen (2025 with Tampa Bay, traded to Milwaukee at trade deadline where he finished his season)
- J.P. Feyereisen (Wisconsin resident, 2020-21 with Milwaukee, traded to Tampa Bay with Drew Rasmussen for Willy Adames and Trevor Richards, 2021-2022 with Tampa Bay)
- Willy Adames (2018-21 with Tampa Bay, traded to Milwaukee with Trevor Richards for Drew Rasmussen and J.P. Feyereisen, 2021-2024 with Milwaukee)
- Brett Phillips (one of my favorite Brewers ever, even if he didn’t really pan out; 2017-18 with Milwaukee, 2020-22 with Tampa Bay, including this key moment in the 2020 World Series)
