Congrats to the Milwaukee Brewers who will represent the National League in the 2026 World Series after sweeping the two time champ and hated fat cats LA Dodgers. That got me thinking. I have mouthed off a lot this season about small market teams (like my beloved Cincinnati Reds) having no chance against deep pockets big market ball clubs. I’ve been to Milwaukee. How different can they be? Turns out, not much.

While there are complicated formats to determine team payroll levels, the Brewers are about 19th in rank in the 30 teams in MLB. The two AL teams are even lower in rank: Tampa Bay Rays are about 28th and the scrappy Cleveland Guardians are dead last at 30th. And my precious Reds? 20th.

So no more crying for me about market size as tempting as it may be. So time to build on a very talented Reds core. We can still do this. Hire Joey Votto to be on the coaching staff. We have great prospects in our pipeline. Use them. No excuses going forward. Go Reds. I mean it this time…