Toronto Blue Jays have won ‘right to lose’: U.S. media make their World Series predictions

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani runs on his solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Wally Skalij)

The Toronto Blue Jays are heading to their first World Series since the early ‘90s as the underdog, but it’s not totally unfamiliar territory for the baseball club.

Toronto finished the 2024 regular season as one of the worst teams in the MLB. With low expectations for 2025, they entered October with the third-best record in baseball, beating the New York Yankees in the ALDS, and coming back to oust the Seattle Mariners in seven games.

Despite that success, the Jays are still the dark horse for the Fall Classic in the shadow of their powerhouse opponent, the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and will open the series as +184 underdogs.

Here’s what some U.S. media are saying ahead of the 2025 World Series:

‘Dodgers in 7’

Five of CBS Sports’ MLB writers made their predictions before Game 1 gets underway on Friday in Toronto, and all but one picked the Dodgers to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy.

“I picked the Dodgers to win the World Series before the start of the playoffs…I think this Dodgers team, when close to healthy, is the best in baseball. Anything can happen in a seven-game series —and I do hope we end the year with seven great contests—but I’m going to stick with my original pick. Pick: Dodgers in 7,” wrote R. J. Anderson.

While Mike Axisa was the only CBS writer to disagree with his colleagues and cast his vote for the Jays, he agreed with Anderson that this series, like the ALCS, will go the distance.

“I think these two teams are fairly evenly matched even though it feels like there’s an air of invincibility with the Dodgers right now. I guess I just have an easier time seeing their lineup going cold with runners in scoring position for 7-10 days than I do Toronto’s,” he wrote.

If the matchup does go to a Game 7, it will be the first World Series to do so since 2019.

‘Ohtani and the Dodgers are a buzzsaw’

Fox Sports’ MLB writers Rowan Kavner and Deesha Thosar were more agreeable with their predictions, both taking the Dodgers to win in five games.

“It’s been a fantastic run for the Blue Jays, who were not at all the favorites to win the American League pennant. But Ohtani and the Dodgers are a buzzsaw,” wrote Thosar.

“The only way Toronto wins this series is if it knocks a starter out early and takes advantage against a vulnerable Dodgers bullpen, but I don’t see that happening more than once or twice against this juggernaut rotation. Now healthy, that group has been virtually unhittable for months,” Kavner added.

If the Dodgers win, they’ll be the first to take back-to-back World Series since the New York Yankees three-peat in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Bayless congratulates Jays on ‘right to lose’

Skip Bayless was quick, and blunt, with his message to the Jays following their come-from-behind Game 7 win on Monday.

“Congrats to the Toronto Blue Jays for winning the right to lose the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers,” the columnist, who’s known for his hot takes, wrote.

The tweet has been viewed nearly half-a-million times, with many of the responses disagreeing with the prediction.

ESPN says Blue Jays vs. Dodgers World Series could be top 10 since 2000

ESPN’s David Schoenfield ranked the best World Series matchups since the turn of the millennium to see how the 2025 Fall Classic stacks up.

He wrote that he thinks the Blue Jays vs. the Dodgers is worthy of cracking the top 10 at number nine.

“Last year in the World Series, we had Ohtani versus Aaron Judge. This year, we have Ohtani versus Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is perhaps on his way to an all-time postseason after hitting .442 with six home runs through the first two rounds,” Schoenfield wrote.

Where do you put Bo?

Bo Bichette was noticeably out of the ALDS and ALCS lineups due to a knee sprain late in the regular season.

However, following Monday night’s victory, Bichette said he’d be “ready” to play in the World Series. But where do you put the shortstop, who had 181 hits (tied for the second-most in baseball) despite missing the last week weeks of the regular season.

“If you have a bum knee, can you trust that? I say, ‘No, not this time,’” former major leaguer and MLB Network analyst Cliff Floyd said Tuesday.

“Bo, you can just see, he’s a competitor, he doesn’t want to watch this anymore, he wants to be a part of this action…,” co-host and 2015 World Series Champion Eric Hosmer added, noting Andres Gimenez standout performance at shortstop as Bichette’s fill-in.

“This has to be a collaboration between Bo and the Blue Jays. You don’t know if this is an opportunity you will ever get again,” he said.