Small spenders beat rich teams as World Series looms

When the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the mighty, monied Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, it set up the first World Series between two of the MLB’s smallest spenders in 35 years — just as team owners are arguing that such clubs need a salary cap to compete consistently.

Milwaukee face either the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays in a best-of-seven series for the title beginning on Saturday, ensuring that two clubs in the bottom half of big-league payrolls will play in the World Series for the first time since 1991.

Game 4 of the playoff series between the Guardians and the Rays on Friday was postponed due to rain.

Ground staff work on the warning track at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday ahead of Game 4 of the MLB’s American League Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians, which was ultimately postponed.

Photo: Ken Blaze / Imagn Images

The Dodgers, the New York Mets and the New York Yankees will watch from home with payrolls this season that each cost more than the Brewers’, Guardians’ and Rays’ rosters combined.

The low-budget World Series showdown is to start six weeks before a likely management lockout, a work stoppage that threatens next year’s season as owners and players battle over the sport’s lack of a salary cap.

Speaking at the All-Star Game in July, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred made his case for a cap while saying exceptions did not reflect parity.

“Our view of the world is that over a very long period of time there’s a very strong relationship between who gets into the playoffs and who proceeds, notwithstanding the exceptions we’ve got,” Manfred said.

Milwaukee, who won the National League pennant with a four-game sweep of the Dodgers, had MLB’s 19th-highest payroll as of Aug. 31, while Tampa Bay were 25th and Cleveland 30th.

The last time both pennant winners were among the bottom 50 percent in player spending was when the Minnesota Twins (15th of 26 teams) beat the Atlanta Braves (19th) for the 1991 championship.