The Tampa Bay Rays will face the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series, and there is quite a bit of crossover between the two teams.
However, the most noteworthy instance of player crossover in the series is Freddy Peralta. He made his debut with the Brewers and spent the first eight years of his career in Milwaukee. He became a two-time All-Star with the team, but they traded him to the New York Mets in the offseason.
Peralta was in a contract year, and the Brewers likely knew they were not going to pay him and planned on letting him walk. It's similar to what they did with Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader and Devin Williams.
However, Peralta was acquired by the Rays at the trade deadline despite playing terribly in New York. The Rays got him back on track, and he was named American League Championship Series MVP.
It seems fitting that the Brewers will have to get through Peralta to win their first World Series. He was one of the staples of this golden age of Brewers baseball and spent years trying to help the Brewers win it all. However, he had nothing but nice things to say even though they stand in the way of his own championship.
“They’re amazing in general and I’m happy to go there," Peralta said after Game 6 of the ALCS, per CBS 58 News' Cameron Ezeir. "I don’t know how the fans are going to take it, but I’m happy to go there. I have a lot of people that I love over there, that care about me and I’m happy to be there and be able to compete together and take a lot of pictures and videos because it’s something that probably won’t happen again.”
While he cherishes his time in Milwaukee and will try to take it all in when he returns there this weekend, he understands that the Rays are trying to beat them.
"Milwaukee is the team and the city that gave me the opportunity to make my dream and also Milwaukee is always going to be in my heart, but this is time now to compete," he said after Game 6, per FOX 6 News' Lily Zhao.