Evan Grant

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For much of the last decade, it's been kind of a tradition for Rangers officials to look at the surprising team in the playoffs and pronounce said club a model to follow.

The reason: The model team had gone to the playoffs despite a low payroll.

Oakland and Minnesota each did it five times during the decade. Colorado, Tampa Bay and Detroit, with surprising advances to the World Series, were prime examples.

Those teams offered hope that despite a payroll in the bottom third of the league for the last half of the decade, the Rangers could reach the playoffs by hoarding homegrown talent and reducing expenses.

Yes, you can reach the playoffs with a low payroll, but if the Rangers really want to find a postseason participant to model the franchise on, how about the Phightin' Philadelphia Phillies? The Phillies, who open the World Series at New York tonight, are the first team since the Yankees in 2000-01 to reach consecutive World Series.

The Phillies had a payroll of $113 million this season, which ranked seventh in baseball. They are playing the No. 1 payroll ($201 million). Each of four League Championship Series participants ranked among the top seven in payroll.

This is not to say the only reason the Rangers should follow the Phillies example is a higher payroll. It's because Philadelphia has built itself a dynastic team the smartest way possible.

They invested in scouting and development, which is where they found the core of a championship team. On that front, the Rangers have already done an admirable job. The Rangers could one day envision Chris Davis, Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus being the equivalent of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. Derek Holland could be a version of Cole Hamels.

The Rangers have yet to take the next step, though. As the Phillies core players have matured, they supplemented them with free agent additions such as Raul Ibanez and by trading prospects for established pitching talent (Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge and Cliff Lee). The payroll has grown from $70 million in 2003. In the same span, the Rangers have shrunk from $103 million to $68 million. For the last four years, payroll has remained within a $600,000 range.

It goes beyond the money. On the operations side, the Phillies hired people with the unique understanding of how a team functions from playing at the highest levels. That's the way baseball operated for a century before the Moneyball revolution. Understanding the peculiar dynamic of playing the game can't be undervalued. They hired people who can argue passionately for and against moves and emerge stronger for it. One of those who can argue the loudest: Charley Kerfeld. They got him from the Rangers in 2006.

In the Rangers' offices, differing opinions have been seen more as disloyalty rather than simply dissenting views. There's no better example than the bloodless coup staged against Grady Fuson from earlier this decade. But as recently as this month the Rangers surprisingly shuffled lots of roles in the front office after a successful season, firing scouts Jay Robertson and Mel Didier, who had more than 80 years of playing/scouting experience between them. Like Kerfeld, both quickly found jobs elsewhere.

The Rangers are on the right track when it comes to acquiring young talent. But if they want to be where the Phillies are now, there are still lessons to learn.