Rays, Brewers Head Into 2026 World Series With Many Connections

Ozzie Timmons was the Milwaukee Brewers' hitting coach for three seasons before returning to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2025 for a second stint on manager Kevin Cash's staff. He had plenty of good things to say about Freddy Peralta the day the righthanded pitcher was acquired from the New York Mets at this season's trade deadline.

"He's a great teammate, a competitor and he works hard," said Timmons , who is Cash's assistant hitting coach, a Tampa native, a former University of Tampa superstar and played in a dozen games for the Rays in 2000. "He's a good person, a family man, has a lot of energy."

Peralta spent his first eight seasons in the majors with Milwaukee and was a two-time all-star, including 2025 when he won 17 games. In his short time with the Rays, Peralta been nothing less than sensational. That is especially the case since late August when he began a current stretch in which he is 7-0 with a 0.89 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) with the Rays winning all 10.

Peralta, who won a pair of games and had an effective relief outing against Cleveland en route to winning ALCS MVP honors, and Timmons are among a number of connections between the Rays and Brewers.

Timmons compared Peralta's healthy clubhouse disposition to that of current Giants' shortstop Willy Adames, who also played for both clubs and was a teammate of Peralta's in Milwaukee. (More on Adames below.)

Here are few more connections and similarities between the teams.

Rays or Brewers will be first-time World Series winner

Only five of 30 MLB teams have not won a World Series. The short list will whittle down to four with either the Rays, a 1998 expansion team, or the Brewers, who got their start as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 before moving to Milwaukee for the 1970 season, achieving a franchise first.

The others who have yet to enjoy a late-October champagne soaking are the San Diego Padres (1969), Seattle Mariners (1977) and Colorado Rockies (1993).

To accommodate the expansion Tampa Bay Devils Rays' residency in the American League East and that of fellow expansion partner, the Arizona Diamondbacks, in the National League West, some realignment was engineered to maintain an even number of teams in each league. With Tampa Bay on board, the Detroit Tigers shifted from the AL East to the AL Central. The Brewers moved from the AL Central to the NL Central to boost the National League's inventory to 16 teams and keep the American League's at 14. (The Astros moved from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013 to give each league 15 teams.)

The above realignment made the World Series that will begin Friday night in Milwaukee possible.

Tampa Bay's staff ace and Cy Young contender was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 draft by Milwaukee out of Oregon State. Rasmussen appeared in 27 games, all in relief, during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. It was during the latter campaign that he was dealt to the Rays along with fellow righthanded reliever J.P. Feyereisen for the aforementioned Adames and pitcher Trevor Richards.

Rasmussen joined the Rays' rotation in the latter stages of 2021, which set him up for a nice 2022 season when he won 11 games with a 2.84 ERA. He was off to a nice start (4-2, 2.62) in 2023 when he was shelved for the duration of that year as well as the first four months of 2024 thanks to having a third elbow procedure, which was of the non-Tommy John variety.

The Washington state native worked his way back, joined the Rays' bullpen in August 2024. He returned to the rotation in 2025 and went 10-5 with a 2.76 ERA 31 starts while having his workload (150 IP) carefully monitored.

With no governor holding him back, 'Ras' flourished this season. He went 16-5 to finish second in the American League in wins, posted a league-best 0.91 WHIP, a 1.67 BB/9 rate that was second to teammate Nick Martinez, and a 2.67 ERA that was good for fourth. The performance carried into the postseason where the 31-year-old is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three starts.

Adames helped lead the Brewers to the postseason in 2021 when he posted an .885 OPS in 99 games after the trade, 2023 and 2024.

The lefty-swinging Bauers was part of a seven-player trade with San Diego that brought him to the Tampa Bay organization in 2014, one year after he was drafted by the Padres. He made his MLB debut with the Rays in 2018, hitting 11 homers and posting a .700 OPS in 96 games.

That off-season, Bauers was included in a three-team swap that sent him and $5 million from the Rays to Indians, Edwin Encarnacion and a draft pick from the Indians to the Mariners, and Carlos Santana from the Mariners to the Indians. Who did the Rays get? Yandy Diaz from Cleveland. Reliever Cole Sulser was also sent to Tampa Bay by Cleveland, and the righthander is in his second stint with the Rays.

Bauers spent less than two full seasons in Cleveland before he was dealt to Seattle. From there, it was off to the Yankees, who sent him to Milwaukee in November 2023 for a pair of minor leaguers.

The 31-year-old Bauers entered this season with a .211 career average. Hence, his .266 was rather stunning. The best season of his career also included 26 homers, 86 RBI and an .873 OPS, which was 150 points above his career mark. His .389 on base percentage was third in MLB.

Colton Gordon has never been employed by the Rays and is not on Milwaukee's active roster. The lefty pitcher, who was acquired from the Astros in mid-July along with Lance McCullers, Jr., is a St. Pete native. Gordon grew up a Tampa Bay fan and faced the Rays in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field last season when the club was forced out of the Trop due to damage sustained from Hurricane Milton.

Steinbrenner Field is adjacent to Hillsborough College where Gordon pitched in 2019. The campus is the location of the Rays' new ballpark, which is scheduled to open for business in 2029. McCullers, like his father, is a Tampa native.