Worst Nightmare

The Tampa Bay Rays must be Commissioner Rob Manfred’s worst nightmare come to life. First, the Rays knock off the Yankees, a team pretty much touted in the media all season as the second coming of the Bronx Bombers or Murderers’ Row, take your pick. Then, last night they finish off the Astros to punch their ticket to the World Series. Poor Josh Reddick, haters like me win. Poor Dusty Baker, unable yet again to win when it counts, for all the world to see, yet again. As for the Rays, they’re what happens when you mix analytics with moneyball and competence. Tampa is the smallest of small markets. No household names here. Instead, you get the likes of Austin Meadows, Kevin Kiermaier and Hunter Renfroe. Rookie Randy Arozarena has been on fire this postseason with seven homeruns, and he may be the real deal. Blake Snell won the Cy Young in 2018, and he definitely can dominate hitters over stretches. What are the odds for either of them to stay in Tampa for long? The Rays find talent, develop talent and then trade proven trade talent for young talent in what sure looks like a perpetual cycle. They also implement analytics, especially in the form of employing openers more than starters. And this season they’ve made the idea of closer-by-committee work, with twelve pitchers sharing the team’s twenty-three saves. I think openers and multiple closers are bad ideas, but right now the Rays are demonstrating otherwise. If the Braves hold on to beat the Dodgers, this World Series will be a contest between a modest market and a small-to-tiny market. And, if the Rays win their first-ever World Series, MLB will trumpet the success of the little team that could. Meanwhile, the commissioner and all the broadcasters will pray it never happens again. Mike Brosseau?