Gavin Montijo ‘26, Sports Editor
As the 2025 MLB season came to an end, marked with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the World Series in a classic series that went the full seven games against the Toronto Blue Jays. Due to the Dodgers’ recent success as back to back champions, questions have arisen about the future of professional baseball. The Dodgers look unstoppable with some of the best baseball players in the world, becoming the ultimate destination for all MLB players. Game seven showed off the new era of baseball as the stacked Dodgers faced the smaller market Blue Jays.
Game seven was crowned as one of the best MLB games ever by fans. 2024 National League MVP and MVP front runner, pitcher and designated hitter, Shohei Ohtani was on the mound versus future Hall of famer and baseball legend Max Scherzer pitching for the Jays. Ohtani struck out three batters through two innings before getting into a mess in the third. George Springer singled to lead off the bottom of the third, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. getting intentionally walked. Shortstop Bo Bichette then hit a three run home run to take the lead 3-0 and knocked Ohtani out of the game as the Dodgers went to the bullpen. In the fourth, Teoscar Hernandez hit a sac fly to put the Dodgers on the board and Tommy Edman made it 2-3 in the sixth with another sac fly. The Jays responded in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double and lead 4-2 going into the eighth. With one out in the top of the eighth, long-time Dodger third baseman Max Muncy hit a solo shot to make it 3-4.
In the ninth, with the Dodgers championship dreams fading, 36-year-old shortstop Miguel Rojas stepped up to the plate. Rojas had not had a hit since Oct. 1 until earlier in the game where he had a single and had not had a home run since Sept. 13. To the shock of the Toronto crowd, the long time veteran hit a game tying solo home run. In the bottom of the ninth, against 2023 Cy Young winner Blake Snell, the Jays loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa was on third and outfielder Daulton Varsho played the infield and hit it to the second baseman and IKF raced home. He was out by half a second and IKF was called out by fans for not being aggressive as he did not take a big lead off of third that could have won them the game. According to IKF, it was the third base coach’s decision due to not wanting to ground into a double play. The next batter grounded out and it would head to extras. The Jays were mere inches away from winning, but could not get a clutch hit or a sac fly to seal the deal with one out and could not get a hit with two outs.
In the eleventh, catcher Will Smith hit a monster home run to take the lead heading into the bottom of the inning. The Jays faced Dodger’s ace and eventual World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP), pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, where they once again loaded the bases with two outs but grounded out to lose the game. The two times where the Jays loaded the bases are moments in their history that will forever be looked back on by fans. It would have been their first championship since 1993 and would have shown that smaller market teams can still hang with the bigger teams like the Dodgers. Yamamoto won World Series MVP by going 5-1 with a 1.45 earned run average across 37 innings throughout the playoffs, he had two complete games and proved himself as a star. Yamamoto threw 526 pitches throughout the playoffs and was the first pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2001 to throw back to back complete games. In game six he threw 96 pitches, then the next night in game seven he threw 34. The average starting pitcher waits around five to six days till their next appearance but Yamamoto pitched two scoreless innings the day after his start to seal the game showing he was deserving of the award.
When looking at the future of baseball, a major issue that the league is facing this off season is another potential lockout after the 2026 season due to the collective bargaining agreement ending on Dec. 1 of that year. The last lockout in 2022 lasted 99 days and cut short the regular season, and this one is expected to be much longer. This time, the issue at hand is that MLB owners want a salary cap while the players do not want a cap due to players getting paid a lot more without one. The Dodgers winning the World Series has furthered this argument by owners, as the rich teams and major markets like New York and L.A. can just buy players like the Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Yamamoto, Smith and many more.
This has become a major problem as smaller market teams simply can not compete as players can just leave and get more money from the big teams. A local case is of Tigers’ starting pitcher Tarik Skubal, who is a free agent after this season and could leave Detroit to get a huge contract. The players are not going to agree to a salary cap, so it will be a showdown between the two that could last months and potentially cancel the season as a whole. The team that has made this discussion possible is the Dodgers, as they have been a top team for the past 13 years, having made the playoffs every year and winning 12 division titles. Many fans have been upset with the Dodgers as every big free agent seems to go to them as they can go to a great location and be with some of the top players and always have a chance at a championship. One anonymous mid market team owner said to ESPN, “How do we compete? We try to do everything right. We draft well. We develop well.” Many owners feel this way as well as a lot of fans. A possible solution could be a salary floor, forcing teams to spend on players to make a capable team. Colorado Rockies owner, Dick Monfort said, “The only way to fix baseball is to do a salary cap and floor.” The Rockies have been at the bottom of the league in recent years and do not spend a lot on players to try to build a capable team. But this argument will most likely not be resolved this winter and instead will be pushed till 2026 where it will be discussed at a greater length. The Dodgers winning the championship has heightened this argument as the fans call out the traditional unfairness of baseball. The introduction of a salary cap has always been talked about by fans, especially of smaller markets as they are tired of seeing big market teams dominate the leagues every year. Due to the back to back World Series the Dodgers won, they are the favorite for next year’s championship and will most likely not lose any big players and instead add even more.
Lyon Life 