Former Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin thinks big-market clubs may be looking in the wrong place for their next edge.
With the Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians still alive in the MLB playoffs, Maybin argued on X that teams like the Yankees should be thinking beyond payroll and even beyond the usual analytics conversation.
“We’ve spent years talking about the Dodgers payroll, but are we asking the WRONG question?” Maybin wrote on X.
“Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, Cleveland… year after year, these organizations find ways to compete without spending like the giants.
“At what point do big-market teams stop obsessing over analytics and start POACHING the scouts from these organizations?
“Maybe the biggest competitive advantage in baseball isn’t payroll. It’s knowing how to IDENTIFY TALENT that can compete when the lights are the brightest?..”
The timing makes the point hard to ignore. The Mets, Dodgers and Yankees entered October with the top three payrolls in MLB, and none of them are still playing.
Meanwhile, the Brewers - who rank 18th in payroll per USA Today - are in the mix after sweeping the L.A. Dodgers in the NLCS to reach their first World Series in 44 years.
The Rays, at 25th in payroll, swept the Yankees in the ALDS, and the Guardians, last in MLB in payroll, are still alive too.
There is also a Yankees angle here that supports Maybin’s larger point. Scout Matt Hyde has been credited with finding both Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler, two players taken in spots where impact talent usually doesn’t show up often: the 12th round for Rice and the 7th round for Schlittler. Rice is now an AL MVP candidate, while Schlittler is the AL Cy Young favorite.
Both players also happen to be Massachusetts natives, which has made them a particular pain for the rival Red Sox.
Still, the broader picture remains the same: the Brewers, Rays and Guardians keep finding ways to hang with, and sometimes outlast, the sport’s biggest spenders. That’s not just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about scouting, player development, analytics, and getting players to buy into a culture that has them playing like their hair is on fire.
Former MLB scout Jeff Scholzen, who spent nine years with Milwaukee, described that formula in detail on X.
“I worked for 9 years for Milwaukee, they have 3 things they are elite at,” Scholzen wrote on X. “Scouting and player development + heavy into analytics.
But they marry the 3 together in a way that if I pulled back the curtain to how they evaluate and process it, everyone would be good. But they have and had tremendous people behind it.
“They aren’t gonna slow down anytime soon. They are the modern-day Expos and have to change the ingredients every year, but the food still comes out tasting the same. Delicious!”
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