By BRENDAN MEYERS
This year’s Major League Baseball season is down to two teams remaining. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers are playing in the 119 edition of the World Series. This year’s Fall Classic even includes a connection to Beloit College. Joe Davis 11’ is the play-by-play announcer for every game.
The Texas Rangers finished with a record of 90-72, earning the second wild card spot and fifth seed in the American League. They have dominated this postseason, especially on the road with an unblemished record of 8-0 as the away team. The Rangers have a star-studded lineup led by shortstop Corey Seager and outfielder Adolis Garcia. Their starting pitching and defense are above average, but the bullpen is inconsistent.
The Arizona Diamondbacks finished with a record of 84-78, just sneaking into the playoffs earning the sixth and final seed in the National League. They have had solid pitching and defense all year, but their offense has struggled at times. The lineup has been on fire since September and has not cooled off in the playoffs. This team will steal a bunch of bases and is very much not afraid to drop bunts down and play small ball-very much unlike their opponent.
The biggest storyline coming into this World Series is that both teams have had major turnarounds from just the last two years. In 2022, neither team finished within ten games of making the playoffs in their respective leagues. In 2021, both teams lost over 100 games, having two of the worst records in all of baseball. It is remarkable that both of these teams rebuilt to the top using two vastly different methods.
Texas has used a lot of big free agency signings and trades to rebuild their team in the last few years. They signed superstars Corey Seager and Marcus Semien for a combined $500 million in the 2021 offseason. They traded for multiple experienced starting pitchers in Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer at this year’s trade deadline. Maybe the biggest acquisition of them all was signing three time World Series champion manager Bruce Bochy. He came out of retirement to lead this team to a World Series, and in his first season he has done just that.
Arizona has built their team through the developing draft picks and trading for young players. Star center fielder Corbin Carroll was drafted 16th overall by the Diamondbacks in 2019. Ace Zac Gallen was acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins in Gallen’s rookie year in 2019. They traded for two key players in the offseason acquiring Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno from the Blue Jays. Both of those players have had breakout seasons and have had continued success in the playoffs to this point.
Hopefully, this World Series can show all teams that whether they are a large market or small market organization, they can rebuild quickly by either spending money in the right ways or drafting and developing players in the minor leagues.
Featured Image Credit: Corey Seager
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