The 2025 World Series matchup might not inspire a lot of calm, rational debate. The behemoth Dodgers have steamrolled through the postseason, racking up a 9-1 record while facing the Reds, Phillies and Brewers. Some have suggested that it’s necessary for the Blue Jays to beat them in order to avoid a 2027 lockout or even prevent baseball from ruin entirely.
The Blue Jays don’t beat themselves. They have Vlad, Springer, Yesavage and Gaussman. They hit good pitching. They will have home field advantage. They might save baseball from being ruined.
— Karl Ravech (@karlravechespn) October 21, 2025
It’s the Dodgers’ payroll that inspires so much consternation, and it can’t help that they’ve already been connected with this winter’s No. 1 free agent, Kyle Tucker. The Blue Jays, though, have assembled a great deal of talent despite losing out to the Dodgers in their pursuit of both Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki. While their biggest 2025 addition, Anthony Santander, has been a non-factor due to injury and won’t play in the World Series, Shane Bieber, Jeff Hoffman, Andrés Giménez, and Max Scherzer have all been important in getting the Jays to this point. Will it be enough? Probably not, at least the way we see it.
Coming off Shohei Ohtani’s amazing performance to finish off the Brewers in the NCLS, Matthew Pouliot takes a look at the scope of history.
2025 WORLD SERIES STAFF PREDICTIONS
⇒ George Bissell
The Dodgers’ formidable quartet – Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani – gives them a significant starting pitching advantage over Toronto in the Fall Classic, with the emergence of Roki Sasaki as a viable high-leverage arm enabling them to overcome their greatest weakness. The Blue Jays are going to give Los Angeles a competitive series, but I’m skeptical they’ll be able to do enough damage against the Dodgers’ starters to bring a World Series trophy to Toronto.
World Series Prediction: Dodgers in six.
World Series MVP: Freddie Freeman
The obvious pick here is Shohei Ohtani, but with Toronto’s pitching staff skewing heavily right-handed gives fellow lefty bat Freeman an opportunity to be a significant difference-maker.
⇒ Chris Crawford
The only reason I think this series could be close is that Toronto has home field advantage. The Dodgers have the better starting pitching, better lineup, and more experienced postseason manager, and the bullpen issues won’t matter. Maybe the Blue Jays get one or two, but the Dodgers are clearly better baseball team.
World Series Prediction: Dodgers in five games.
World Series MVP: Shohei Ohtani
⇒ David Shovein
As much as I would love to see the Blue Jays upset the Dodgers and win their first World Series since claiming back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993, it’s very difficult to bet against this Dodgers squad at the moment. Their starting pitching has been nothing short of spectacular in the postseason and they boast an incredibly deep and talented assortment of bullpen arms. If that wasn’t enough, they have three former MVP’s in their lineup, including the best player on the planet fresh off of a historic three-homer performance while firing six shutout innings to punch the Dodgers’ ticket to the World Series.
Even if the Jays get Bo Bichette back for the World Series, it’s going to take a Herculean effort to unseat the defending World Champions. My heart will be rooting for the Jays and I think they find a way to steal at least one game here, but my head says it’s going to be Dodgers.
World Series Prediction: Dodgers in five games.
World Series MVP: Shohei Ohtani
A complete look at Dodgers and Blue Jays history, including World Series titles, team records, highlights, and milestone moments.
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D.J. Short
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D.J. Short
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⇒ Eric Samulski
I know the Blue Jays seem like a team of destiny, and maybe they get Bo Bichette back, but this Dodgers rotation, now that it’s healthy, is too good. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani all looking electric in the NLCS, I just don’t see how the Blue Jays win more than one or two games.
World Series Prediction: Dodgers in five games.
World Series MVP: Teoscar Hernández
⇒ Matthew Pouliot
I wouldn’t really say this gives me pause, but it is an awfully fun fact.
In 1988, the A’s swept the Red Sox and then lost to the Dodgers 4-1.
In 2006, the Tigers swept the A’s and then lost to the Cardinals 4-1.
In 2007, the Rockies swept the D-backs and then lost to the Red Sox 4-0.
In 2012, the Tigers swept the Yankees and then lost to the Giants 4-0.
In 2025, the Dodgers swept the Brewers and then…
I believe the Dodgers are clearly better than the Blue Jays, but they’ll enter the World Series not having played for a full week, and their lack of trustworthy relievers could turn into a big problem if the offense starts out cold. So, I’m going to go out on a limb here.
World Series Prediction: Dodgers in seven games.
World Series MVP: Tommy Edman
⇒ D.J. Short
After running countless simulations, I’ve determined that the Dodgers should be the strong favorites in this series. That’s the boring answer, of course, but it’s also the rational and logical road to take. As others have said, it’s the Dodgers’ starting pitching which has been the most impressive part of this dominant run. And while Shohei Ohtani is coming off one of the most impressive athletic feats in history, he was actually relatively quiet with the bat leading into it during this postseason. That’s probably not going to last. At the same time, the Blue Jays’ lineup has enough firepower to potentially break through against this vaunted Dodgers’ rotation. If that can happen, the bullpen is where L.A.’s weakness lies. I just don’t see it happening often enough for the Blue Jays to win four games in this series. So yes, “Operation Ruin Baseball” is going to be successful as the Dodgers complete an emphatic repeat.
World Series Prediction: Dodgers in six games.
World Series MVP: Shohei Ohtani
⭐ Vaughn Dalzell’s Best Bet ⭐
World Series MVP: Shohei Ohtani (+190), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (+700)
We may never see a player perform at the level that Shohei Ohtani has and with him pitching and hitting in the World Series — I love the value on Ohtani.
Rather than take the Blue Jays at +185 to win the series, I would opt for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. MVP at +700. He’s been on fire, hitting .442 with 6 homers, 6 walks, and 12 RBI. Vladdy was born for October and Toronto should keep this series ultra-competitive with tons of runs being scored.
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