Does a small-ball, smaller-market World Series hold larger truths for Cardinals and MLB?

The search for larger truths from a small-ball, smallest-market World Series is on, and it's possible that this year's Fall Classic, pitting two of the most innovative and shrewd clubs in the game against each other in the Brewers and Rays, does not buck recent trends as much as prove them.

Best Podcast in Baseball host and Post-Dispatch Baseball writer Derrick Goold welomes recurring guest Kevin Wheeler, of KMOX/104.1 FM, to discuss this years World Series that will crown a new champion for the first time and what, if anything, the Cardinals can learn from it.

Both the can-do Brew Crew and the Tampa Bay Rays have their roots in in the same place, sharing some of the same executives, but they've grown through nurture and opportunity in different directions to meet in this World Series. The Cardinals intend to follow that path with president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who spent his formative years with the Rays, leading the way. But catching up to the division champion Brewers isn't the goal. Getting ahead of the game is, and Wheeler and Goold discuss where the Cardinals can do that and which organization has the brighter future as of right now.

The backdrop to the World Series is the onrushing expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and imminent lockout. With two smaller-market, smaller-payroll teams playing for the championship, the Fall Classic has become an inkblot test. It can be whatever suits the argument for or against a salary cap, for or against restrictions that narrow the payroll disparity, for or against the structures said to be needed to spur competitive balance.

In reality, this World Series only affirms the trends already in place and the edges that bigger-market, higher-spending teams already have and how the owners may need to explore significant adjustments on their end for that to change. A depth of talent to survive the postseason and be versatile for matchups is what wins, and the fatter the wallet the easier it is to acquire and maintain that depth.

Wheeler and Goold outline the reasons why.

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In its 14th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.