The Brewers and Rays will face off in the 2026 World Series, which begins on Friday in Milwaukee, and there’s no shortage of connections between the two clubs.
Look no further than the Championship Series MVPs for each team. Jake Bauers took home those honors for the Brewers in the NLCS sweep against the Dodgers. Freddy Peralta did so for the Rays in the ALCS against the Guardians. Both Bauers and Peralta are prominent players that have played for both the Brewers and Rays.
Peralta, of course, spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Brewers, posting a 3.59 ERA with 1,153 strikeouts, while making two All-Star teams with Milwaukee. Peralta was Milwaukee’s Game 1 playoff starter in both 2024 and ‘25 before he was traded to the Mets last offseason. Peralta was then traded to the Rays at this year’s Deadline and became an integral part of Tampa Bay advancing to the World Series.
Bauers, meanwhile, debuted with the Rays in 2018. After bouncing around with multiple organizations from 2019-23, Bauers has been with the Brewers since 2024 and churned out a career year with Milwaukee in 2026. Bauers hit a career-high 26 home runs in the regular season and had an epic NLCS against the Dodgers.
Adding more intrigue is that both players debuted in 2018. Peralta did so with the Brewers, Bauers with the Rays. Now, those players found themselves winning LCS MVPs for the opposite organizations.