Think about the depth of your talent when you have a Wil Smith catching and is about the ~4/5th weapon on your team.
It's this scenario we just saw. One superstar has a terrible series (Betts) one is getting older and was so/so (Freeman) but still won a game for you so some of these other "role players" have their moment to step up. When Wil Smith is sort of your answer to a "role player" you are so damn good you win back to back World Series.
I don't like it for the Reds but I sure as hell respect what they have built. Making it even worse, other than Max Muncy, none of them really piss me off. Most are likeable guys. Freddy Freeman is a HOF guy as well as player. Pure class and grace.
I wish I could hate them more.
Way back around the time Ishiro appeared, I remember reading that small market teams like the Reds can't afford to scout far-off lands like Asia for new talent. So, as we all know, the financial discrepancy goes beyond the huge contracts. Of course the Dodgers, not the Reds, add the best Japanese pitchers to their rotation and lock them in with obscene sums of money.
And when a small or mid franchise does get a superstar like Ohtani, they usually don't get better by letting him go to the dodgers, phils, yankees or mets. I don't know the details of Ohtani leaving the Angels, but they should be one of the best teams 2 or 3 years out from that. Like Dallas trading Herschel Walker. But they're still one of the worst.
