The World Series starts tonight with two teams that know how to build something from less. The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays are both chasing their first championship, and they get there by leaning on the kind of roster-building that has become the sport’s loudest talking point this season: scouting, development, research, and data used with purpose.
Milwaukee sends Jacob Misiorowski to the mound for its first World Series game in 44 years, while Tampa Bay counters with Nick Martinez, who is coming off a career-best season. It’s a fitting matchup for a Fall Classic that arrives with a salary cap and floor hanging over the league conversation, and with the possibility of an owner-imposed lockout looming after this year. Baseball fans have every reason to savor this series while it’s here.
For the Athletics, though, the bigger story is what comes next.
Taylor Smith is stepping into his new role as president of baseball operations with a clear challenge in front of him: build an A’s roster that can finally move out of the basement. The Brewers and Rays offer the template. Both clubs have stayed competitive by pairing strong scouting and player development with smart, research-driven acquisitions, often punching above their market weight against bigger division rivals.
If the A’s can merge that kind of modern Moneyball approach with what should be more revenue from their new Las Vegas ballpark, the franchise has a real path out of last-place purgatory.
But that future still has to wait. Before the Las Vegas era begins, the A’s will spend one more season at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, and the most urgent issue remains the pitching staff. Over the past two years, that group has had a hard time keeping opponents off the scoreboard, and the bullpen in particular needs a serious lift.
That improvement could come from several places. Prospects like Jamie Arnold and Wei-En Lin could make their way into the majors.
Smith could look to free agency or trades. Current arms such as Jack Perkins and Jacob Lopez could also take a step forward.
Smith’s background in research, data and statistics gives him a chance to attack that problem in a way the organization has lacked.
The offseason work does not stop with the roster, either. Smith also has to help Mark Kotsay bring in several new assistant coaches, including a pitching coach. If the 2027 season happens and the team is still stuck in the same place, Kotsay’s future could be on the line as well.
In Other News...
Athletics Still Need One Bullpen Fix Fans Have Been Waiting For
The Athletics spent much of last season trying to piece together the back end of their bullpen without a consistent closer, and it showed in the kind of games that can quietly erase progress over a long year. With Taylor Smith now in charge of baseball operations, the bullpen looks like one of the clearest areas for an offseason upgrade, especially if the club wants to avoid repeating the late-inning uncertainty that dogged it for stretches.
There are already a couple of familiar names in the conversation as possible answers for that role, both with recent track records that suggest they could steady the ninth inning. For a team trying to turn a weakness into something more reliable, landing the right reliever would not just patch a hole - it would give the A's a much clearer endgame when they have a lead. [Read more 🡒]