On back-to-back nights, there was a Game 7 in the baseball playoffs. The Rangers beat the Astros on Monday and the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies on Tuesday to set the 2023 World Series matchup of Texas vs. Arizona.
This twinning may not include a star force or large trading cities as some would have hoped, but at least it has an overall factor to consider. The Rangers and Diamondbacks have very different team rosters, so in a sense, the 2023 Fall Classic is to see if the miserly can beat the silver. At least that’s what it might look like on the surface.
This is the first time a World Series game has played out like this. A few years ago, the Rays faced the Dodgers in a 2020 World Series where team payrolls differed by nearly $100 million. That year, the Dodgers had the highest payroll in baseball. and the Rays ranked 28th.
What’s the hole like in this year’s World Series?The Rangers have the fourth-highest payroll in the league at $251 million, and the Diamondbacks are 21st at $119 million, according to Spotrac.
That financial advantage may not translate into World Series victory, however. Texas started the season with one of the most expensive rotations in baseball, but thanks to injuries to Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and others, they had the third-highest amount of money on the injured list in 2023, and they have advanced through the postseason thanks to performances from guys like Jordan Montgomery. The Rangers have one of the most expensive middle infields in baseball — Marcus Semien and Corey Seager’s contracts come in at a combined $510 million in total — but aside from those two, their roster looks a lot more like Arizona’s, at least in terms of money spent.
In short, while Texas has spent more than $800 million over the past two sluggish periods, it has had to compete in those playoffs as a team that has spent far less.
Where genuine merit for the Rangers can simply come from the plate. The two groups are tied on the mound — they ranked 18th and 20th in ERA in the regular season, and the two bullpens were also nearly tied. The abyss exists in the attack. Here’s a breakdown of Fangraphs:
Basically, pick an offensive category and the Rangers are better. The Diamondbacks are better defensively, but not enough to nullify some of the runs Texas will score when the World Series begins on Friday. Add in that Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager seem to be warming up at the right time for the Rangers, and it may be simple to start dreaming of the option of their first World Series name in franchise history.
So while this World Series matchup is, at least on the surface, one that pits divergent rosters against each other, there’s a lot more to do that makes it compelling. The Rangers are betting on the $251 million roster this year. so the series has more to do with how the groups compete and the fact that the Rangers and the Diamondbacks were wild-card groups.
Some have argued that the presence of two wild-card teams in the World Series is an argument for a playoff contract, but the most popular idea is that wild-card teams are smarter to get into, and advancing to this point is much trickier. It’s harder than earning a break in the first round.
What this World Series pair is helping to identify is that smart groups can be built in other ways. Spending a lot doesn’t guarantee success, even if it improves a team’s chances. Smaller market clubs can muster the right skill and reach a speed that will propel them ahead of larger city groups with more money to spend. Depth is imperative to success and all you want is to make the playoffs. A hot streak in October would probably be enough to win the World Series trophy regardless. In the case of the Rangers and Diamondbacks, we see a little bit of each of those things.