7 out the last 10 world series champions have been ranked in the top ten in terms of payroll.
the three exceptions:
Stl '11- ranked 11th
KC '15, Hou'17
Both of these teams tanked for years to hit on multiple high draft picks and cashed in on them. One of the teams paid their young stars and paid to bring in good to elite talent around them. The other one didn't, only one is still relevant, the other hasn't sniffed the playoffs since.
the '90 Marlins are the only team to win a WS ranked lower than 16th. They were 25th, not 27th
Odds say that spending money wins the world series and it makes sense when you think about the fact that the players you really need to seal the deal are expensive.
Now for the decision, it was predetermined that Snell would not face the top of the order a third time. I believe that was even what Cashed offered as his reasoning. It was not a baseball decision, it was analytical decision. A directive from the top to the bottom. I get that he may have been running the meeting that made the decision, but he made based on what he is being asked to do, which is run the club a certain way.
But you are right, they can compete. year in and year out, they can compete. That keeps them relevant enough to make the team profitable and maybe one year, they will put everything together catch that lightning in a bottle and win it all. We haven't seen that yet, but it is a possibility.