Styles Clash: Dodgers vs. Blue Jays makes 2025 World Series a study of contrasts
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TORONTO – The 2025 World Series will be a clash of styles as the Toronto Blue Jays face the Los Angeles Dodgers for Major League Baseball’s championship.
How the two teams play and how their rosters were constructed are a study of contrasts. The Dodgers have one of the largest payrolls in baseball, relying on big, splashy free agent acquisitions to build their roster. On the field, Los Angeles relies on big hits and power pitching.
The Blue Jays’ payroll is sizable but about half that of the Dodgers, with a mix of homegrown talent, savvy free agent signings, and waiver-wire pickups. Toronto has some of the best contact hitters in the game, chipping away at opponents’ pitching with some of the best fielders in MLB.
“I think to get to where you want to go, you’ve got to beat the best,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of the Dodgers. “Whether it’s talent, payroll, whatever you want to call it, man, they’re a damn good team.
“They’ve got Hall of Famers at the top of their lineup and they’ve got really, really good starting pitching and really good relievers.”
Schneider added: “I truly think that the best two teams are left standing for a variety of different reasons.”
Los Angeles is spending about US$509.5 million on players this season, with a $341.5 million payroll plus $168 million in projected luxury tax. That nearly doubles the Blue Jays’ $252.7 million payroll with a projected $13.4 million in tax.
Tyler Glasnow’s $32.5 million deal is the largest slice of Los Angeles’s payroll pie, followed by Mookie Betts ($30.4M), Blake Snell ($28.44M), Shohei Ohtani ($28.22M), and Freddie Freeman ($27M). Twelve Dodgers are earning more than $10 million in 2025.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts leaned into his team’s reputation as a big spender after the Dodgers swept the small-market Milwaukee Brewers in four games to win the National League pennant on Friday.
“I’ll tell you that before this season started they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball,” Roberts said on the field at Dodgers Stadium. “Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball. Let’s go.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is currently on a one-year deal worth $28.5 million that will go up to $40.2 million a season as he begins a 14-year contract designed to keep him in Toronto for his whole career. George Springer ($24.17M), Kevin Gausman ($23M), Chris Bassitt ($22M) and Jose Berrios ($18.71M) round out the Blue Jays’ top five largest contracts with a total of 10 players earning above $10 million in 2025.
Guerrero was asked about squaring off with the Dodgers and their massive payroll on Monday night after being named the American League Championship Series MVP. He didn’t give L.A.’s reputation much attention.
“I mean, for me, every game is a challenge, every series is a challenge,” said Guerrero through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I know they have great players. So do we. But on the field it’s when everything matters.”
That’s another difference between the two clubs.
The Dodgers were second to only the New York Yankees in home runs hit during the regular season, with a total of 244 round-trippers. Toronto was tied with the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins with 191 homers in the regular season, good for 11th in MLB.
Toronto’s team batting average was .265 in the regular season, a full seven points ahead of the second-best Philadelphia Phillies. Big-swinging Los Angeles was sixth with a .253 average. Indeed, the Blue Jays’ overall batting average was better than all but the top 49 hitters in MLB.
Toronto also had the best on-base percentage in baseball, a point ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers at .333. L.A. was fifth in OBP at .327.
“I’ll never count my guys out of any series. It’s going to be fun,” said Schneider on facing the Dodgers. “They’re going to be up for it. There’s going to be some big swings and ebbs and flows in it, I’m sure.
“I’m just thrilled for the guys that they get the opportunity.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.