Connect with us

Published

6 months ago

on

  • Ryan S. ClarkApr 15, 2025, 07:30 AM ET

    Close

      Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.

Scouts throughout the NHL all have a story about the one prospect they watched for countless hours that they begged their organization to draft — only to watch that player become a success elsewhere.

For Judd Brackett, his cautionary tale of what could have been has helped the Minnesota Wild build what might be the NHL’s best farm system as part of a larger plan to become the next long-term Stanley Cup contender.

Before Brackett was the Wild’s director of amateur scouting, he was an amateur regional scout. His life was about those numerous long car rides through hundreds of miles of dreary and repetitive landscapes, with the payoff in finding a prospect who could possibly reach the NHL.

One day, Brackett found one of those prospects. He filed reports about a two-way player who had size, skill, could skate and score goals. A crossover scout came to watch the prospect, only to see him have his worst game of the season. Brackett pushed for another chance, but was told to forget about the player.

Except Brackett didn’t forget. It still haunts him more than 15 years later for two reasons: the prospect was a later-round draft pick who won a Stanley Cup with the team that drafted him, and it taught Brackett the value in making sure that every scout feels heard, a concept he continues to uphold in his current role.

“I always try to be cognizant that even if I see a guy and they didn’t play well, whether it’s in the car ride home or next week, I am calling the scout in the area,” Brackett said. “I ask them, ‘Tell me again what you like?’ If it was just a bad game, it’s a one-off. If I’ve got a scout who really believes in a player and I didn’t see it, I still have to find the right place for that guy.”

When the Wild named Bill Guerin their general manager in 2019, it came with the belief that he could lead the franchise to new heights. The Wild are in position to reach the playoffs for the fifth time in Guerin’s six seasons, but have had to maneuver around salary cap challenges.

How they’ve done that is having young talent on team-friendly contracts who could play right away. That’s what makes Brackett and his staff so valuable to the Wild. Even though Bracket is not in a front-facing role, the work he and his staff have done has been visible for years.

Their first draft pick under Brackett, who started in the 2020-21 season, was Marco Rossi, who has emerged into a top-six center. The Kevin Fiala trade — which led to them getting a franchise cornerstone defenseman in Brock Faber along with a first-round pick that became promising prospect forward Liam Ohgren — was orchestrated with Brackett’s insights.

And with the foundation that Brackett has laid — and some big cap hits coming off the books — they are in position to make a bigger splash this offseason.

“Judd’s critical to what we’re doing,” Guerin said. “I cannot express how important he is to us and how great of a job he has done for us and what it’s allowed us to do with how to operate with our empty cap hits. It’s his staff, his department; he runs it, draft day is his, and he’s a very smart guy and good leader.”

THE CENTRAL DIVISION is arguably the NHL’s toughest, particularly among the top five teams.

Many of their division rivals have chosen to build through the draft. The Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets each have more than 11 players that they drafted or signed as undrafted free agents. The Colorado Avalanche have five on their current roster, but their 2022 Stanley Cup team was built around a homegrown core that had nine players who were drafted or undrafted free agents.

The Wild have only three on their current roster — for now. But the need to develop more talent from within further amplifies what makes the work done by Brackett and his staff so crucial to the Wild’s short- and long-term plans.

“I don’t know what he does, but he does it,” Guerin joked. “He gets it, and he knows and I trust him wholeheartedly. We have Judd with us for development camp, for training camp, for [free agency], for the trade deadline, because even players that have been in the league for three or four years that we’re considering, we go with Judd. We go back to [the player’s] draft year. What do we know about him? What do we know about his character? He has all that information.”

Keeping pace with division powers like the Avs, Jets and Stars is only part of the equation when it comes to the Wild. It’s something that should become hypothetically easier once July 1 arrives and the Wild attain the financial flexibility they’d been missing because of the combined Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.

The Parise and Suter buyouts in 2021 were nine years after they each signed identical 13-year contracts worth $98 million back in 2012. A year later, the NHL and the NHL Players Association came to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement limiting the maximum contract length to eight years.

If they had remained with the Wild, those contracts would be coming off the books after this season. The first of the buyouts saved the Wild more than $10 million at a time in which every team was even more financially conscious because of the flat salary cap. However, the second year of the buyouts went from costing the Wild a combined $4.7 million cap space in the first year to $12.743 million in the second season. The third and fourth years increased to $14.743 million in cap space.

This meant the Wild needed to find talent with team-friendly contracts who could contribute to their lineup.

ENTER BRACKETT, his staff and how their haul from the 2020 NHL draft has benefitted the Wild in multiple ways.

  • They used their first-rounder on Rossi, who has emerged into a top-six center the last two seasons

  • Their second-round pick, Marat Khusnutdinov, played 57 games in a bottom-six role this season before he was traded for forward Justin Brazeau

  • Defenseman Daemon Hunt, who was drafted in the third round, was part of a trade earlier in the season to get prospect defenseman David Jiricek, who was the sixth overall pick in 2022.

Guerin said Brackett was “extremely involved” with the Jiricek trade, just like he was with the Fiala trade with the Los Angeles Kings in 2022. Faber, who was runner-up for the Calder Trophy in 2023-24, has become the Wild’s top-pairing defenseman, while Ohgren played in 24 games this season.

Between Faber, Khusnutdinov, Ohgren and Rossi, it was a quartet that combined to play in 227 games this season, at a collective cost of $3.6 million.

The Wild could have another prospect who plays a pivotal role for them in the playoffs in Zeev Buium. The University of Denver defenseman was part of a Wild draft class that earned an A grade from ESPN’s Rachel Doerrie, and Guerin moved up one draft spot to No. 12 to ensure the Wild could select him. He signed his entry-level contract on Sunday, and began practicing with the team on Monday.

Buium, a Hobey Baker finalist, scored 11 goals and 50 points as a freshman in 2023-24 — tops among all defensemen — as he helped Denver win its NCAA-record 10th men’s national championship. He also won gold twice with the United States at the World Junior Championships. Buium led NCAA defenseman in scoring again in 2024-25, and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker award as college hockey’s top player.

Brackett said every trade scenario — whether for an NHL player, or swapping draft picks — presents multiple options for a team to discuss. He said that it’s difficult to concentrate on one player, because the other team might say no; that makes it important to have someone on staff who can speak about most, if not, all the potential prospects in play going each way.

“It usually starts at a moment’s notice,” Brackett said. “Most trades take some time, but the framework might be right there. There’s usually some ongoing discussion so there’s more time to dig a little bit deeper.

“But you know you must be prepared. You know you could get a phone call whether it’s Bill or from an assistant GM or somebody. They want to know about a player, and you have to be ready to speak about that player with all the pros and cons.”

EVEN THOUGH BRACKETT has a cautionary tale, he also has a success story about the player who made him believe he could be a scout someday.

That player was Marty Reasoner. Brackett was a high school goalie in Massachusetts before he played at Northeastern and later, Connecticut College. He played against Reasoner, who would become a first-round pick in 1996 and play nearly 800 NHL games. Facing Reasoner back then led to Brackett evaluating what made him so good at the time.

Brackett said looking at traits such as Reasoner’s vision and selflessness along with his talent gave him a reference point when it came to player evaluations. It’s something he took with him when he began working as a scout for the Gatineau Olympiques in the QMJHL for nearly three full seasons. Gatineau won the President’s Cup in his final season.

Brackett was then hired by the Indiana Ice in the USHL as their head scout and vice president of player personnel where he helped the franchise win two Clark Cups. He drafted or signed 34 future NHL players during his time with the Ice, before he was hired by the Canucks in 2008.

He was an amateur regional scout for seven seasons and was then promoted to amateur scouting director in 2015. Brackett played a role in the Canucks drafting future cornerstones such as Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson before departing the club in 2020 to join the Wild.

“Bill and I didn’t have any prior relationship before coming to Minnesota,” Brackett said. “We go about it in a very honest way in terms of our evaluation. We try to be unbiased when we’re making those decisions or recommendations.”

His work has been especially important with the Parise-Suter buyouts at their most expensive, with hope on the horizon: The buyouts will cost a combined $1.6 million annually over the next three years, and PuckPedia projects the Wild will have $21.8 million in cap space this offseason.

The team has five pending unrestricted free agents, including Marcus Johansson, Gustav Nyquist, Brazeau, Jon Merrill and Marc-Andre Fleury, while pending restricted free agent Rossi will also need a new contract. The majority of the core is under contract for at least one more season before star forward Kirill Kaprizov becomes a free agent after 2025-26.

Once they re-sign Rossi, it will leave Guerin with more cap space to address the roster than he’s had in recent years. But he can further maximize that space by tapping into a farm system that’s been strengthened by Brackett and his staff.

“Quite honestly, it’s a luxury having a guy like Judd,” Guerin said. “I trust him wholeheartedly. We know we are going to get players that have a chance. Even when we were making the deal for David Jiricek, Judd was the first to raise his hand and say, ‘Don’t worry about our pick this year. Get him.’

“That’s when you know a guy has confidence, and a belief in what he’s doing.”

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Sports

CFP Bubble Watch: Who’s in, who’s out, who has work to do at midseason

Published

6 hours ago

on

October 15, 2025

By

CFP Bubble Watch: Who's in, who's out, who has work to do at midseason

Week 7 shook up the College Football Playoff picture. No team earned a more impactful result than Indiana, whose win at Oregon is now the best in the country during the first half of the season. Indiana’s playoff chances jumped 21%, climbing to a 93% chance to make the playoff, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor.

Not only are the Hoosiers off the bubble, but Indiana also is chasing a first-round bye as one of the top four seeds, having cemented its place alongside Ohio State and Miami as one of the nation’s best teams.

Indiana wasn’t the only winner, though, as South Florida and Texas Tech both saw their playoff chances jump by at least 15%.

Below you’ll find one team in the spotlight for each of the Power 4 leagues and another identified as an enigma. We’ve also tiered schools into three groups. Teams with Would be in status are featured in this week’s top 12 projection, a snapshot of what the selection committee’s ranking would look like if it were released today. Teams listed as On the cusp are the true bubble teams and the first ones outside the bracket. A team with Work to do is passing the eye test (for the most part) and has a chance at winning its conference, which means a guaranteed spot in the playoff. And a team that Would be out is playing in the shadows of the playoff — for now.

The 13-member selection committee doesn’t always agree with the Allstate Playoff Predictor, so the following categories are based on historical knowledge of the group’s tendencies plus what each team has done to date.

Reminder: This will change from week to week as each team builds — or busts — its résumé.

Jump to a conference:
ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten
SEC | Independent | Group of 5
Bracket

SEC

Spotlight: Tennessee. The Vols have looked like a borderline playoff team against unranked opponents in recent weeks, beating Mississippi State and Arkansas by a combined 10 points with one overtime. Offensively they’ve been elite, averaging 300 yards passing and 200 rushing per game. Defensively, they need to stop the run to make to challenge in the SEC. They’ll have a chance against Alabama on Saturday to further legitimize their hopes. With a win, Tennessee’s chances of reaching the playoff would jump to 52%, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor. Tennessee ranks No. 10 in ESPN’s game control metric and No. 19 in strength of record. The Vols are projected in the committee’s No. 12 spot this week, which means they would get knocked out of the actual field during the seeding process to make room for the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion. The five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed spots in the playoff, so if the fifth team is ranked outside of the committee’s top 12, its No. 12 team gets the boot.

Enigma: Texas. The Longhorns took a baby step toward a return to CFP relevance with a big win against Oklahoma, but it was their first win against a Power 4 opponent and their first against a ranked team. Texas has the 15th-most-difficult remaining schedule, and with two losses is already in a precarious position. The Longhorns will play three of their next four opponents on the road (at Kentucky, Mississippi State and Georgia). There were encouraging signs from the win against the rival Sooners, from the stingy defense that flustered quarterback John Mateer all game to what looked like an improved offensive line that gave quarterback Arch Manning some time to throw. He completed 16 of 17 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown when under no duress. If Texas can continue to put it all together against the heart of its SEC schedule, it could make a run to be one of the committee’s top two-loss teams.

If the playoff were today

Would be in: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas A&M

On the cusp: Tennessee

Work to do: Missouri, Texas, Vanderbilt

Would be out: Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina

Big Ten

Spotlight: USC. The Trojans have looked like a CFP top 25 team through the first half of the season, with their only loss a close one on the road to a ranked Illinois team. In Week 7, USC’s convincing 31-13 win against Michigan pushed it into more serious Big Ten contention. Ohio State and Indiana are the leaders, followed by Oregon, but USC has the fourth-best chance (7.1%) to reach the Big Ten title game, according to ESPN Analytics. That will change when the Trojans go to Oregon on Nov. 22, but they don’t play Ohio State or Indiana during the regular season. A win at Notre Dame on Saturday would be a significant boost to USC’s playoff résumé, while simultaneously knocking the Irish out of playoff contention. According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, USC’s chances of reaching the playoff would adjust to 58% with a win against Notre Dame. According to ESPN Analytics, USC has less than a 50% chance to win its games against Notre Dame and Oregon.

Enigma: Washington. The Huskies have improved significantly and quickly under coach Jedd Fisch, who’s in his second season. Their only loss was to Ohio State, 24-6, on Sept. 27, but they lack a statement win that gives them real postseason credibility. Wins at Washington State and Maryland are certainly respectable, but bigger opportunities loom starting on Saturday at Michigan. This game has significant implications, because if the Huskies can win, they stand a strong chance of hosting Oregon as a one-loss team in the regular-season finale. According to ESPN Analytics, Michigan has a 67.6% chance to win on Saturday, and Oregon has a 70% chance to beat Washington on Nov. 29. The Huskies are projected to win every other game, though. A win against Michigan could increase their playoff hopes significantly.

If the playoff were today

Would be in: Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon

On the cusp: USC

Work to do: Nebraska, Washington

Would be out: Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, Wisconsin

ACC

Spotlight: Georgia Tech. Raise your hand if you had Georgia Tech at Duke on Saturday circled as a game that would impact the College Football Playoff. The Yellow Jackets would have been the next team to crack the latest CFP projection this week, and their chances of reaching the ACC championship game will skyrocket if they can win at Duke. Georgia Tech currently has the fourth-best chance to reach the ACC title game behind Miami, Duke and Virginia. ESPN Analytics gives the Blue Devils a 61.8% chance to win. The only other projected loss on the Jackets’ schedule is the regular-season finale against Georgia. Even if Georgia Tech reaches the ACC title game and loses, it could get in as a second ACC team with a win over Georgia.

Enigma: Virginia. The Hoos have won back-to-back overtime games against Florida State and Louisville, putting themselves in contention for a spot in the ACC championship. They host a tricky Washington State team on Saturday that just gave Ole Miss a few headaches, though, and need to avoid a second loss to an unranked team. The toughest game left on their schedule is Nov. 15 at Duke. Without an ACC title, Virginia is going to have a tough time impressing the committee with a schedule that includes a loss to unranked NC State and possibly no wins against ranked opponents. It didn’t help the Hoos that Florida State lost to an unranked Pitt, as the win against the Noles was the highlight of their season so far.

If the playoff were today

Would be in: Miami

On the cusp: Georgia Tech

Work to do: Virginia

Would be out: Boston College, Cal, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

Big 12

Spotlight: BYU. The Cougars needed a late-night double-overtime win at Arizona to stay undefeated and are on the path to face Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game. The question is if they can stay undefeated until the Nov. 8 regular-season matchup against the Red Raiders. BYU has its second-most difficult remaining game on Saturday against rival Utah, which is also in contention for the Big 12 title. BYU has a slim edge with a 51% chance to win, which would be a critical cushion considering back-to-back road trips to Iowa State and Texas Tech await. The Big 12 has also gotten a boost from Cincinnati, which has a favorable remaining schedule and could be a surprise CFP top 25 team. If BYU stumbles over the next three weeks, a road win at a ranked Cincinnati team would help its résumé. Speaking of the Bearcats …

Enigma: Cincinnati. Is this team for real? The Bearcats have won five straight since their 20-17 season-opening loss to Nebraska, including three straight against Big 12 opponents Kansas, Iowa State and UCF. All three of those teams are .500 or better, and the selection committee will respect that as long as it holds. Cincinnati also has November opportunities against Utah and BYU, which could change the playoff picture in the Big 12. ESPN Analytics gives the Bearcats less than a 50% chance to beat Utah, BYU and TCU.

If the playoff were today

Would be in: Texas Tech

On the cusp: BYU

Work to do: Cincinnati, Houston, Utah

Would be out: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, UCF, West Virginia

Independent

Would be out: Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have the best chance to win out of any team in the FBS, with a 49% chance to finish 10-2. According to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, Notre Dame would have a 50% chance to reach the CFP if it runs the table. That seems accurate, given the selection committee would compare Notre Dame against the other 10-2 contenders, and it’s a coin toss as to whether the room would agree that the Irish’s résumé and film make them worthy of an at-large bid. How Miami and Texas A&M fare will impact this — as will the head-to-head results if those teams don’t win their respective leagues and are also competing with the Irish for one of those at-large spots. It helps Notre Dame that opponents USC and Navy could finish as CFP top 25 teams if they continue to win. Undefeated Navy could also make a run at the Group of 5 playoff spot.

Group of 5

Spotlight: South Florida. South Florida. The Bulls are back on top after their convincing 63-36 win at previously undefeated North Texas, which just a week ago was listed here as a potential Group of 5 contender. Following the win, the Bulls’ chances of reaching the CFP increased by 20%, according to ESPN Analytics. South Florida’s lone loss was Sept. 13 at Miami, 49-12, which was a significant defeat against what could be the committee’s No. 1 team. Although that result showed the gap between the Bulls and one of the nation’s top teams, it certainly didn’t eliminate South Florida, which has one of the best overall résumés of the other contenders. With wins against Boise State, Florida and now at North Texas, this is a team that earned the edge in this week’s latest projection. Still, South Florida has the second-best chance of any Group of 5 school to reach the playoff (30%) behind Memphis (42%), according to ESPN Analytics.

Enigma: UNLV. Undefeated UNLV survived a scare from 1-5 Air Force on Saturday to stay undefeated and in contention for a playoff spot. UNLV and Boise State, both of the Mountain West Conference, are the only teams outside of the American Conference with at least a 5% chance to reach the playoff, and they play each other in a critical game on Saturday. UNLV has scored at least 30 points in each of its six games this season and is 6-0 for the first time since 1974, but it hasn’t always been pretty. UNLV scored the winning touchdown against Air Force with 36 seconds left and allowed the Falcons 603 total yards. The Rebels have the fourth-best chance to reach the playoff at 9% behind the American’s Memphis, South Florida and Tulane.

If the playoff were today

Would be in: South Florida

Work to do: Memphis, Navy, Tulane, UNLV

Bracket

Based on our weekly projection, the seeding would be:

First-round byes

No. 1 Ohio State (Big Ten champ)
No. 2 Miami (ACC champ)
No. 3 Indiana
No. 4 Texas A&M (SEC champ)

First-round games

On campus, Dec. 19 and 20

No. 12 South Florida (American champ) at No. 5 Alabama
No. 11 LSU at No. 6 Ole Miss
No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 7 Georgia
No. 9 Texas Tech (Big 12 champ) at No. 8 Oregon

Quarterfinal games

At the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential and Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

No. 12 South Florida/No. 5 Alabama winner vs. No. 4 Texas A&M
No. 11 LSU/No. 6 Ole Miss winner vs. No. 3 Indiana
No. 10 Oklahoma/No. 7 Georgia winner vs. No. 2 Miami
No. 9 Texas Tech/No. 8 Oregon winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State

Continue Reading

Sports

2025 NLCS: Live updates and analysis from Game 2

Published

6 hours ago

on

October 15, 2025

By

2025 NLCS: Live updates and analysis from Game 2

  • ESPN

Oct 14, 2025, 10:25 PM ET

The opener of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers had a little bit of everything.

So what can we expect in Game 2? We’ve got you covered with the top moments from today’s game, as well as takeaways after the final out.

Key links: How this NLCS could decide if baseball is played in 2027 | Bracket

Top moments

Follow pitch-by-pitch on Gamecast

Ohtani gets in on the fun with RBI single

Muncy’s drive adds to L.A.’s lead

Dodgers take their first lead of Game 2

Teoscar answers with a blast of his own

Chourio gets Brewers on board first

Continue Reading

Sports

Passan: Why a Dodgers-Brewers NLCS could define MLB’s labor battle

Published

7 hours ago

on

October 15, 2025

By

Passan: Why a Dodgers-Brewers NLCS could define MLB's labor battle

The winner of the National League Championship Series could determine whether Major League Baseball is played in 2027.

This might sound far-fetched. It is not. What looks like a best-of-seven baseball series, which starts Monday as the Milwaukee Brewers host the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1, will play out as a proxy of the coming labor war between MLB and the MLB Players Association.

Owners across the game want a salary cap — and if the Dodgers, with their record $500 million-plus payroll, win back-to-back World Series, it will only embolden the league’s push to regulate salaries. The Brewers, consistently a bottom-third payroll team, emerging triumphant would serve as the latest evidence that winners can germinate even in the game’s smallest markets and that the failures of other low-revenue teams have less to do with spending than execution.

The truth, of course, exists somewhere in between. But in between is not where the two parties stake out their negotiating positions in what many expect to be a brutal fight to determine the future of the game’s economics. And that is why whoever comes out victorious likely will be used as a cudgel when formal negotiations begin next spring for the next version of the collective bargaining agreement that expires Dec. 1, 2026.

If it’s the Dodgers, MLB owners — who already were vocal publicly and even more so privately about Los Angeles spending as much as the bottom six teams in payroll combined this year — will likely cry foul even louder. Already, MLB is expected to lock out players upon the agreement’s expiration. Back-to-back championships by the Dodgers could embolden MLB and add to a chorus of fans who see a cap as a panacea for the plague of big-money teams monopolizing championships over the past decade.

Such a scenario would not scare the union off its half-century-old anti-cap stance. The MLBPA has no intention of negotiating if a cap remains on the table, and considering MLB was on the cusp of losing games in 2022 because of a negotiation that didn’t include a cap, players already have spoken among themselves about how to weather missing time in 2027. Certainly, the Brewers winning wouldn’t ensure avoiding that, but if in any argument about the necessity of a cap, the union can counter that the juggernaut Dodgers lost to a team of self-proclaimed Average Joes with a payroll a quarter of the size, it reinforces the point that team-building acumen can exist regardless of financial might.

The Brewers have joined the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians as vanguards of low-revenue success in this decade. Over the past eight years, Milwaukee has won five NL Central titles and made the playoffs seven times. At 97-65 this year, the Brewers owned the best record in baseball. And they did so with a unique blend of players.

Of the 26 players on Milwaukee’s NLCS roster, 15 came via trade, according to ESPN Research, including a majority of its best players (slugger Christian Yelich, catcher William Contreras, ace Freddy Peralta and Trevor Megill, the closer for most of the season). The Brewers drafted four (Brice Turang, Jacob Misiorowski, Sal Frelick and Aaron Ashby, all major contributors), signed three as minor league free agents, brought in two via international amateur free agency (their best player, Jackson Chourio, and closer Abner Uribe) and snagged one in the minor league portion of the offseason Rule 5 draft.

That leaves one major league free agent. One. And it was left-hander Jose Quintana, who signed a one-year, $4 million deal in March.

Think about that: The MLBPA, which has fought for free agency since its inception, would be heralding a team that does not spend on free agents. Strange bedfellows, yes, but it strengthens the union’s position: If the current system is beyond repair because of money, how did a team that doesn’t spend win a championship?

The Dodgers, on the other hand, are not nearly as free-agent-heavy as might be assumed. They’ve acquired the most players via trade, too, though it’s only nine, and several of them — from Mookie Betts to Tyler Glasnow to Tommy Edman to Alex Vesia — play a significant role on the team. Los Angeles signed five major league free agents (including Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Blake Snell), plus two professional international free agents (Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Hyeseong Kim), two amateur international free agents (Roki Sasaki and Andy Pages) and two minor league free agents (Max Muncy and Justin Dean). They drafted five of their players — one more than the Brewers, whose development system is regarded as one of baseball’s best — and rounded out their roster with Jack Dreyer, an undrafted free agent.

Dreyer highlights what the Dodgers and Brewers do exceptionally well: extract talent from players through systems that value a combination of scouting, analytics and superior coaching. It doesn’t matter whether you spend half a billion dollars or the $115 million or so currently on the Brewers’ books. If you can become an organization that gets the best out of players, winning will follow.

Perhaps if they weren’t so terminally parked at opposite ends of the continuum, the league and union could agree that staking an argument around one playoff series is foolhardy. Both sides should understand that, in the grand scheme, a seven-game series says very little, particularly when it comes to the complicated economic system of 30 billion-dollar corporations competing in the same space.

But this battle is as much about narrative as it is reality, and if MLB is going to push for a salary cap, it needs as much evidence as possible, and the Dodgers becoming the first team in a quarter-century to win back-to-back World Series would provide another nugget on top of the reams the league already cites. The last team to do that was the New York Yankees — and the competitive-balance tax, the proto-cap that currently penalizes high-spending teams, came into existence specifically to check what other owners believed the Yankees’ runaway spending.

The Dodgers are the new Yankees, more moneyed and willing to spend than anyone. They’ve won the NL West 12 of the past 13 years and captured championships in 2020 and 2024. And despite their seeming inevitability, baseball is not suffering in most areas important to the league. Television ratings are up. Attendance has increased. The implementation of the pitch clock before the 2024 season modernized the game and is now almost universally beloved. The addition of an automated ball-strike challenge system next year will only add to the game’s appeal.

This NLCS is baseball at its best: a well-oiled machine of superstars, peaking at the right time, looking to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions since 2000, against a team that plays a delightful brand of baseball, is wildly likable and always seems to succeed, too. The Brewers haven’t won a championship yet — not just in this recent run of excellence but in their 57-year history — and derailing the Dodgers en route to doing so would make the tale of triumph that much greater.

And, yes, despite the higher win total, the Brewers enter this series as the underdog, and it’s a fair designation. Even if they swept the Dodgers in the six games they played in July. Even if their bullpen is filled with fireballing nastiness. Even if they have whacked as many home runs this postseason as Los Angeles, despite the Dodgers hitting 78 more during the regular season.

There will be a lot of great baseball played in Milwaukee and Los Angeles over the next week-plus, fans’ cups running over with the sorts of matchups that make October the most special month of the year. Ohtani, Betts and Freeman trying to catch up to Misiorowski’s fastball and read his slider. Chourio, Contreras and Turang trying to solve Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani. The Brewers’ terrifying bullpen, with five relievers throwing 97 mph-plus, against the team that hit high-octane fastballs better than anyone this year. The Dodgers trying to figure out if they can rely on any reliever other than Sasaki, and the Brewers, who were the fifth-toughest team to strike out this season, trying to get to Los Angeles’ bullpen with a barrage of balls in play.

While the baseball itself will be indisputable, this NLCS is bigger than the game. Its tentacles will reach into the future, with an unwitting but undeniable place in something far more consequential. It’s just one series, yes. But it’s so much more.

Continue Reading

Trending