Major League Baseball will crown a new World Series champion at the end of next week.

For the Milwaukee Brewers, it is their first trip to the World Series since 1982. It is the Tampa Bay Rays' third trip to the Fall Classic in the last 18 years. Neither has taken home the Commissioner's Trophy in their history.

However, both teams have lived up to their 2026 regular-season performance in October. Both entered as the top seed in their respective leagues, and both have taken care of business en route to the World Series, which begins Oct. 23.

As the Mets and Yankees sit home, with the former missing the playoffs entirely and the latter losing in the division series, they are forced to watch a few of their former players compete for a long-awaited ring.

Here are the former Mets and Yankees players who will be competing for a 2026 World Series crown:

Jake Bauers, Brewers 1B: Yankees (2023)

Bauers had already journeyed through five organizations, including major league stints with Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Seattle, before he landed with the Yankees in 2023.

The journeyman first baseman played 84 games with the Yankees that season, largely in the outfield, and slashed .202/.279/.413 with 12 home runs, 30 RBI and 28 runs before being traded to the Brewers in the offseason. Bauers' incomplete performance continued in 2024 before the Brewers helped spur his development to this past season's .874 OPS and NLCS MVP.

Jorge Mateo, Rays infielder: Yankees farm system (2012-17)

Mateo's professional career began as a teenager in 2012 when he was signed by the Yankees as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic before he rose to the team's top prospect in 2016. He spent six seasons in the Yankees' system, rising as high as Double A in 2017 before he was traded that summer as part of the deal that landed Sonny Gray from the Athletics.

Mateo made his major league debut with the Padres in 2020 and spent most of his seven major league seasons with the Orioles. He opened this past season with the Braves before being designated for assignment and claimed by the Rays. He has served as a pinch runner in four postseason games with the Rays.

Cedric Mullins, Rays outfielder: Mets (2025)

Mullins spent his entire professional career, including the better part of eight major league seasons, with the Orioles before he was traded to the Mets at the 2025 trade deadline. The Mets were hoping that Mullins could supply a spark in center field as they pushed for the postseason, but the veteran struggled to find his footing in his new locale. He batted .182 and posted a .565 OPS in 42 games with the Mets.

Mullins inked a one-year, $7 million deal with the Rays in the offseason and slashed .205/.284/.344 with 15 home runs, 48 RBI and 56 runs this season. He is 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a stolen base in four postseason games.

Freddy Peralta, Rays starting pitcher: Mets (2026)

The right-hander's rise back to prominence with the Rays has been a painful development to watch for the Mets, who traded away top-five prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to acquire his services for the 2026 season.

Peralta, who had struck out 200 batters in each of his past three seasons while maintaining a combined 3.40 ERA with the Brewers, posted a 5-9 record with a 4.99 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 113 strikeouts in 113⅔ innings in 22 starts with the Mets. He was traded to the Rays for three prospects (Emilien Pitre, Gary Gill Hill and Aidan Smith) at this season's deadline.

In 10 starts with the Rays, Peralta was 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. He has allowed two earned runs in 16⅔ innings (1.08 ERA) this postseason and earned ALCS MVP after picking up a pair of wins and a hold against the Guardians.

Gary Sanchez, Brewers catcher: Yankees (2015-21), Mets (2023)

Sanchez was once viewed as a great hope for the Yankees. He finished as runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year in 2016 and followed it up with a 33-home run, 90-RBI campaign one season later that netted him down-ballot MVP votes and a Silver Slugger. He also earned his second All-Star selection in 2019 when he went on to belt a career-high 34 home runs.

But Sanchez struggled to live up to the hype after his revelatory 2017 season, with two other Yankee seasons with a sub-.700 OPS. He has played with five different major league clubs, including the Mets, since departing the Yankees in 2022. Behind William Contreras, Sanchez played 86 games this past season, posting a .771 OPS with 12 home runs, 38 RBI and 37 runs. He has one plate appearance this postseason.

Cole Sulser, Rays relief pitcher: Mets (2024)

The 36-year-old right-hander has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Rays, back where his major league career began in 2017.

Sulser had opened the 2024 season with the Mets, pitching in four games early in the campaign and giving up five earned runs, before landing back with the Rays. Sulser has been an integral piece in the Rays bullpen this season, appearing in 51 games, tossing 56⅓ innings and posting a 4.31 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Sulser allowed three earned runs in ⅔ inning in his lone appearance in Game 1 against the Guardians.