Insider Says Brewers’ Title Should Give Guardians Fans Hope

The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions for the first time in franchise history. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays in five games, only days after the Rays ended Cleveland’s season in the ALCS. Watching another team celebrate is never easy for Guardians fans, especially with the longest active title drought in baseball still hanging over the franchise. One longtime Guardians insider, though, thinks Milwaukee’s run gives Cleveland good reason for optimism. On the latest episode of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Paul Hoynes compared the new champions to the Guardians and said Milwaukee “took it one step beyond Guards Ball.”

“It’s kind of a small market, well run organization that relies on their farm system, smart moves,” Hoynes said. “They really kind of play team baseball. When you talk about Guards Ball, it looks seems like Milwaukee took it one step beyond Guards Ball.”

Hoynes described Milwaukee as a well run, small market organization that leans on its farm system and makes smart moves instead of chasing big names. He also praised the way the Brewers play as a team, which is the identity Cleveland has built under Stephen Vogt.

The two teams are not on the same financial footing. Hoynes estimated Milwaukee’s payroll at $140 million to $146 million this season, compared with $80 million to $87 million for Cleveland. That is a gap of roughly $60 million, and it matters. Still, both clubs spend far less than the Dodgers and Mets, and both win by developing their own players and getting the most out of what they have.

What still separates the two clubs is the offense. The Guardians ranked 24th in runs scored and 27th in home runs this season, and the lineup went quiet against Tampa Bay with a trip to the World Series on the line. One or two impact bats this winter could be what turns Cleveland from a perennial playoff team into a real title threat.

Milwaukee’s only previous World Series trip came in 1982, and that team lost to the Cardinals. Now the Brewers have shown that a smaller market club with a strong development system can finish the job. The Guardians already have much of that foundation in place. The front office now has to find the final pieces that push the team over the top.