Dodgers Have Taken Advantage Of MLB Owners' Stupidity To 'Ruin Baseball' With World Series Win

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2025 World Series, becoming the first back-to-back champions since the New York Yankees of the late-1990s.

They did it in the most preposterous way imaginable. Miguel Rojas, who had barely played in a month, hit the game-tying home run in the top of the 9th inning off Toronto Blue Jays' closer Jeff Hoffman. Then Rojas stumbled after fielding a groundball to second with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 9th, recovering just in time to cut down the winning run at home. Center fielder Andy Pages, just inserted into the game minutes earlier, made a series-saving catch while crashing into Kike Hernandez to end the inning.

Will Smith, a catcher who caught more innings in a single World Series than any catcher in baseball history, hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 11th inning to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. And even then, the Blue Jays put the tying run at third with less than two outs. But a broken-bat ground ball double play from Alejandro Kirk finally ended it.

The Dodgers celebrated, and many were quick to credit money for the repeat.

RELATED: Money Can Buy Championships, As The Dodgers Proved Again 

But does that actually hold up to scrutiny? Can money actually buy a championship? Or would a Blue Jays championship have demonstrated the same thing anyway?

TORONTO, ONTARIO - NOVEMBER 02: Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (C) celebrates with teammates after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in game seven of the 2025 World Series at Rogers Center on November 02, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Dodgers Success Is Suddenly A Problem After Years Of Being A Punchline

Lost in the moral panic over the Dodgers win is the fact that these same fans, just a few years ago, were calling the Dodgers historic postseason losers. After years of postseason failure, LA lost the 2017 World Series to the Houston Astros, who we later learned had engaged in an unprecedented season-long campaign of cheating. The Dodgers were steamrolled in the 2018 World Series by the Boston Red Sox, blowing a 4-0 lead in Game 4, which could have evened that series at two games apiece. 

In 2019, the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Washington Nationals entering the sixth inning and a 3-1 lead in the 8th, only to see Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto hit game-tying home runs. Then Howie Kendrick hit a grand slam in extras to send the Nationals through. Fans then rushed to call the 2020 World Series a "Mickey Mouse ring," despite being devastated when their team didn't win that year's championship. 

San Diego Padres fans, for example, celebrated their Wild Card series win in 2020 by pouring into downtown San Diego. Then proceeded to act as though counting 2020 was indefensible.

Then the 2022 Dodgers happened. LA built one of the best rosters and teams baseball's ever seen. 111 regular season wins. One of the best run differentials in Major League Baseball history. Trea Turner, Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Justin Turner, Max Muncy. Their rotation was dominant. Their bullpen was deep. They won Game 1 of the NLDS over the Padres. Then lost three in a row, blowing a lead late in Game 4 with a chance to send the series back to LA. All that dominance, all the regular season success… evaporated. All the money, the high payroll, for nothing. Fans cheered, the Dodgers had "choked" once again. 

In 2023, LA once again won 100 games and clinched a first round bye. Then got swept in the NLDS by the Arizona Diamondbacks. This is the team that has now "ruined baseball."

The Dodgers recovered to win in 2024, finally getting their first full-season championship since 1988. Now they've won again in 2025. For the fans who incorrectly discard 2020, that means LA has won two championships since 1988. The Yankees have won five titles in that time frame. The Red Sox have won four. The Giants have won three. The Blue Jays have won two. The Braves have won two. The Cardinals have won two. The Astros, including the 2017 asterisk title, have won two. The Marlins, the literal Marlins, have also won two. 

So, for all the Dodgers' success, discarding 2020, they've won the same number of full-season championships over the last 37 seasons as the Marlins.

bAsEbAlL iS rUInEd.

If Money Can Buy Championships, Why Haven't Other Teams Won?

The list of teams who've spent the most money on payroll from 2022-2025 is as follows:

1. Mets $1.267 billion
2. Dodgers $1.176 billion
3. Yankees $1.143 billion
4. Phillies $1.027 billion
5. Blue Jays $875 million
6. Astros $869 million
7. Padres $862 million
8. Rangers $851.5 million
9. Braves $838 million
10. Red Sox $814 million

The Mets haven't made the World Series in that time frame, despite spending over $90 million more on payroll than the Dodgers. They missed the postseason in 2023 and 2025. The Yankees made the championship round once and lost, then lost in the ALDS in 2025. The Phillies lost in the 2023 World Series to the "small market" Arizona Diamondbacks. The Blue Jays, who were labeled as the "David" in this year's series, have actually run a top-5 payroll.

The Padres haven't made the World Series, winning just one game in the NLCS over that timeframe, while missing the playoffs in 2023 despite having Juan Soto, Blake Snell, Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Josh Hader, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Fernando Tatis Jr. 

The Rangers won in 2023, the Braves lost 3-1 in the NLDS in 2022, 3-1 in the NLDS in 2023, were swept in the wild card series in 2024, then went 76-86 and missed the playoffs in 2025. Boston missed the postseason in 2022 and 2023, finishing dead last in the AL East both years. They improved to 81-81 in 2024, and finally reached the playoffs again in 2025 after an 89-73 season. Then lost two in a row to lose the wild card series.

Obviously, spending money is important. What's more important is spending money intelligently. That's where the Dodgers have excelled, taking advantage of other franchises' incompetence.

For example, LA acquired Mookie Betts in a trade with Boston for virtually nothing. Why? Because the Red Sox determined they wouldn't pay Betts what he was worth, dumping his contract to save money. Freddie Freeman is one of the best contracts in baseball, delivering 22.5 wins above replacement in four years in LA, which is 8th highest in baseball since 2022. Betts ranks 9th. Freeman's cumulative weighted runs created plus, where 100 is league average, is 149 over that time frame, which is fifth, behind just Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Yordan Alvarez and Juan Soto. Yet the Braves let Freeman walk because of his age. LA gave him $162 million. Xander Bogaerts got $280 million from San Diego a year later. His wRC+ is 107 over the past three seasons. 

The Padres spent $120 million on a free agent, and he's been much worse. Blake Snell won two Cy Young Awards, and got a one-year contract from the Giants in 2024. Anyone could have signed him, nobody did. 

That's where the Dodgers have excelled. They traded for Tyler Glasnow, because the Rays prioritized saving money over keeping their own stars. They signed Blake Treinen for a one-year deal in 2019, something any team could have done. He was instrumental in winning in 2024. Alex Vesia was acquired for virtually nothing. So was Kike Hernandez. Tommy Edman came over in a trade any team in baseball could have made. Emmett Sheehan pitched a huge inning in Game 7, he was drafted and developed by the Dodgers organization. Justin Wrobleski, who was also instrumental in Game 7, was also an LA draft pick. Miguel Rojas is a backup shortstop, making $4.5 million. Andy Pages was drafted and developed into a quality outfielder. Will Smith was drafted and developed. Any team in baseball could have signed Roki Sasaki for the money he's making. He chose LA anyway. Will Klein, who pitched four shutout innings in the 18-inning Game 3 marathon, was DFA'd by the Mariners earlier in 2025. Edgardo Henriquez signed as an international free agent in 2018. Jack Dryer signed with the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent. Alex Call came over at the deadline for nothing. Anthony Banda bounced around before being traded by Cleveland to LA for cash considerations. Justin Dean, who had the presence of mind to immediately call for the dead ball in Game 6, was signed as a minor league free agent. Teoscar Hernandez has a lower contract guarantee than Chris Bassitt. 

LA spends a ton of money. They also outperform other organizations on the margins. And those margins paid off in 2025. 

The Blue Jays were a swing away, a few outs away from winning, thanks in large part to players like Andres Gimenez, Ernie Clement and Addison Barger. They had high-priced stars like George Springer, Vlad Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette. Of the entire 12-man pitching staff, literally two were drafted by Toronto, reliever Mason Fluharty and Trey Yesavage. Every other pitcher was either acquired by trade or free agency. Would that mean the Blue Jays bought their title too? Or is that only reserved for the Dodgers?