TORONTO – Here’s a fun fact about this 2025 World Series as the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers assemble in advance of Game 1 on Oct. 24:
The bloated, biggest-money Dodgers and Blue Jays, who have similarly boundless resources yet apparently go about their upper middle class lives the right way, have the same number of homegrown players drafted, signed or developed on their active rosters.
Yeah, it’s kind of hard to believe, what with the narrative that L.A. has bought its way into prosperity as it aims to become the first team to repeat as World Series champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.
Make no mistake, the Dodgers’ big-market status and nearly unparalleled resources – leading to a total salary and tax outlay of nearly $600 million, according to Spotrac – is a significant factor in their success.
Yet it is more harmonic convergence, a marriage of resources, smarts and desire, and a number of major league franchises could significantly replicate many elements of the operation. That, however, is easier said than done, which is why the New York Mets are teeing up their Titleists and not ordering poutine for the table this weekend.
Just where did these Dodgers come from, and how did they land here? A brief look at each player’s origin story and the failure of other franchises to acquire many of their stars when they had the chance:
The homegrown
C Will Smith (4.5 WAR in 2025): Drafted 32nd overall – or, after 29 teams had a shot at him – in 2016, Smith was the club’s most valuable player not named Mookie or Shohei this season.
OF Andy Pages (3.8): Signed for a $300,000 bonus out of Cuba in 2018, he hit 27 home runs while contributing occasionally excellent moments on defense.
LHP Clayton Kershaw (1.6): Born and raised. The seventh overall pick in 2007 is still around, even if he’s Roster Dad and long man in the bullpen as he eases toward a Metroplex sunset.
LHP Jack Dreyer (1.3): The former Iowa Hawkeye signed as a free agent in 2021, unselected in the 612 picks in the draft that year as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. This is why you employ competent scouts.
RHP Emmet Sheehan (1.0): Drafted in the sixth round in 2021, he bounced back from Tommy John surgery after his 2023 debut to post a 2.81 ERA and work his way into leverage relief spots this postseason.
LHP Justin Wrobleski (0.0 WAR): An 11th-round pick in 2021, “Wrobo” worked his way into the leverage mix at times this season but has yet to pitch in the postseason.
RHP Ben Casparius: (-0.3 WAR): Don’t let that negative WAR fool you: Casparius appeared in 46 games in almost every role, including three starts and six finishes, wearing it at times for a staff hobbled by injury. A fifth-round pick in 2021, Casparius was the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the 2024 NLCS and the starting pitcher in Game 4 of the World Series.
The scrap heap
3B Max Muncy (3.6 WAR): It’s been a minute, but we haven’t forgotten one of the Dodgers’ legends of the fall for the past eight seasons was signed after Oakland released him in 2017. He’s produced between 2.9 and 5.3 WAR campaigns ever since, and in an injury-addled 2025 season, the Dodgers were 60-40 when he was in the lineup, and 33-29 without him.
LHP Anthony Banda (0.9 WAR): Technically acquired from Cleveland for cash considerations in May 2024, Banda cycled through 11 organizations before the Dodgers got the most out of him, which they tend to do. He’s appeared in 109 games over two seasons and, in 10⅔ innings over two playoff runs, has given up just one earned run.
OF Justin Dean (0.0 WAR): A defensive replacement who received two plate appearances this season, Dean was signed as a minor league free agent after seven seasons in Atlanta’s organization.
Trades
INF Miguel Rojas (2.1 WAR): We’ve begun the Itinerant Dodger For Life part of the program, as Rojas debuted with them in 2014 before a trade to Miami and a return trip in 2023 in a deal for infielder Jacob Amaya. Miggy Ro has been an invaluable piece ever since, as he greatly aided Mookie Betts’ transition to shortstop and filled in at three infield positions.
RHP Tyler Glasnow (1.9 WAR): He exists at the intersection of the Dodgers’ organizational smarts and cash flow, acquired from Tampa Bay for big league-ready pieces Ryan Pepiot and Jonny De Luca and signed to a $115 million extension. Was once a Pittsburgh Pirate, but as so often happens, did not realize his potential until he got out of there.
LHP Alex Vesia (1.1 WAR): Acquired from Miami for reliever Dylan Floro, the 6-foot-1 veteran’s deceptive delivery and late-inning fortitude make him their top lefty out of the bullpen.
OF/INF Tommy Edman (1.1 WAR): In a sense, you could toss him in the scrap heap file, since Edman was injured and had not played a game in 2024 when the Dodgers acquired him in a three-team, eight-player deal that also netted reliever Michael Kopech and cost them faded prospect Miguel Vargas and minor leaguers Alexander Albertus and Jeral Perez. Then, he turned into Superman and won the World Series and signed a reasonable five-year, $59.5 million extension because winning is fun.
OF Alex Call (0.4 WAR): A classic trade deadline pick-up, Call contributes excellent defense and speed to the Dodgers’ late-inning mix or an occasional start against a lefty.
INF/OF Kiké Hernández (0.1 WAR): Has a spot reserved on the end of the roster like Sinatra always had a table waiting at Nicky Blair’s. Simply one of the greatest postseason players in modern history, he technically returned to the Dodgers in a July 2023 trade with Boston for prospects Justin Hagenman and Nick Robertson, then re-upped twice since.
C Ben Rortvedt (-0.1 WAR): Acquired from Tampa Bay for catching prospect Hunter Feduccia, “Benny Biceps” took on a greater role when Will Smith suffered a hand fracture in September. Unspectacular but reliable.
Free agent
RHP Blake Treinen (-0.6 WAR): Originally signed in 2020 for $10 million, Treinen has re-upped three times since, including his two-year, $22 million deal that runs through next year. Had a rough and injury-marred season, yet Treinen can still deliver in big moments, recording perhaps the biggest out of their postseason in Game 2 of the NLCS.
Spurned superstars
Now, we’re on to the big-ticket items. Yet all four of these guys became Dodgers only after they festered on the market or their team saw fit to deal them. They all ended up in L.A., where they seem pretty happy.
SS/OF Mookie Betts (4.8 WAR): Perhaps you heard, but this guy once played for the Boston Red Sox, who at times can act like the JV team for Liverpool FC. As with many Boston superstars before and after him, Mookie and the club couldn’t find common ground on an extension and a trade to the Dodgers was consummated. It didn’t hurt that the Dodgers also hoovered up most of David Price’s remaining contract in exchange for the underwhelming Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong and Jeter Downs. It took just one spring training for Betts to accept a 12-year, $365 million extension, nearly a third of it deferred. In short: A relative bargain for a Hall of Famer and modern icon.
1B Freddie Freeman (3.5 WAR): Freeman walked out of Minute Maid Park in Houston a World Series champion in November 2021, fairly certain he’d cemented his status as an Atlanta Brave for life. Then, the lockout happened and Atlanta traded for Matt Olson and gave him a $168 million contract. And Freddie was stunned. Yet it was the Dodgers who pounced, signing him to a six-year, $162 million deal that included $57 million deferred. The deal is such a bargain for a Hall of Famer still in his prime, it’s easy to forget just two years remain on it. Time flies when you’re producing a .907 OPS and 21.2 WAR over four seasons.
LHP Blake Snell (1.6 WAR): Is the market functioning properly when a guy wins the NL Cy Young Award and then has to take a make-good deal with a second-division club? That was Snell’s plight in 2024, when he lingered on the market into spring training along with three other high-profile Scott Boras clients. The San Francisco Giants, as was their wont at that time, swooped in and gave Snell an opt-out-laden deal, he predictably got hurt after a hurried spring training and then had one of the greatest second halves in major league history. So the Dodgers offered a premium guarantee – $182 million – and Snell accepted their terms, figuring it a good place to work. Now, he’s the Dodgers’ Game 1 World Series starter – one year after anyone could have had him for probably less money than they’re paying him now.
OF Teoscar Hernandez (1.5 WAR): Same free agent class, same story: Teo had nowhere to go after a 27-homer season in 2023 and a drop in OPS that would prove largely aberrational. So, he accepted a one-year, $23.5 million deal in L.A. And boy, did he make good, hitting 33 homers, driving in 99 runs with a more typical .840 OPS and racking up 12 postseason RBIs with a .903 OPS. The vibes were good, so why wouldn’t the Dodgers re-sign him to a reasonable three-year, $66 million deal with significant deferred salary?
The rich get richer
This is where big, bad Dodger money is not the determining factor and L.A. as hardball heaven makes the difference. These players all had equal, if not superior, offers elsewhere yet chose the Dodgers because success begets success and joining a systemically sound operation is generally good for your career – any career.
RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani (7.7): Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Good chance you’ll hear a thing or two about his non-flight to Toronto and alleged agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays in the next day or two, as well. And when it gets down to it, the Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants had identical offers as the Dodgers’ 10-year, $700 million, 97% deferred package.
As Ohtani’s days down the 5 with the Angels wound down in 2023, it was clear his king’s ransom would come and winning, above all, would be prioritized. He chose the franchise that at that point had reached the playoffs 11 consecutive seasons, won three NL pennants and one World Series title.
RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5.0): Sorry if we’re repeating ourselves: The New York Mets offered Yamamoto the same 12-year, $325 million terms he accepted from the Dodgers. The New York Yankees offered him more money per season – 10 years, $300 million. The Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants reached at least $300 million. Remember when the Red Sox won the blind bidding for Daisuke Matsuzaka, made more than a $100 million commitment and then won their second World Series in four years a few months later? Yeah, that was 18 years ago and the Red Sox don’t do that kind of thing anymore and are no longer that kind of destination.
RHP Roki Sasaki (0.3): Funnily enough, what seemed to really give folks Dodger Derangement Syndrome was not the nine-figure deals signed by the superstars, but rather the $6.5 million it took to land Sasaki, whose entry to the major leagues was subject to international signing bonus pools rather than the unfettered free agency Yamamoto enjoyed. His finalists were the Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays and imagine that, a talented pitcher wanting to pitch for good and competitive teams. He chose the Dodgers and that was probably good for his career: Had he struggled early with health and performance as, say, the No. 2 starter somewhere else, the reset he was afforded in L.A. might not have happened. Now, he might just be immortalized if he records the final out of the season as their temporary closer before resuming rotation duties in 2026.
INF/OF Hyeseong Kim (1.6): Every good sports car needs a hood ornament, right? Kim, signed out of South Korea for three years and $12.5 million, brings speed but no defined role to this postseason roster. As the roster turns over in future years, he’s likely the Chris Taylor of the future.
