Who are the highest-paid MLB players in the 2025 World Series?

The 2025 World Series gets underway this evening with NL champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the AL champions, the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.

This will be the Blue Jays’ third appearance at the World Series and their first since 1993, when they beat the Phillies 4–2 to lift the trophy for the second year running.

Tonight’s matchup will feature two of MLB’s biggest markets, the presumptive MVPs of the American League and National League, and two massive player payrolls. Here is what to know about the 2025 World Series in numbers.

The Dodgers have the second highest payroll in the MLB in 2025 at $321,287,291 while the Blue Jays sit fifth on $239,642,532. Once again, the New York Mets had the highest payroll, but despite splashing out $323,099,999 in salaries, the team didn’t even make it to the playoffs.

The combined payroll of the Dodgers and Blue Jays at $560 million is the largest ever for a World Series matchup, surpassing the $500 million last year (Dodgers vs Yankees) and $427 million in 2022 and $426 million in 2018, according to Spotrac data.

Blake Snell heads the top earners

The highest-paid player on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster this season is pitcher Blake Snell, who joined from the Tampa Bay Rays in November last year.

Snell joined the Dodgers as a free agent, which allowed him to command a high salary. He signed a five-year contract worth $182 million plus a $52 million signing bonus, which means that this year. he will earn a total of $64,800,000.

The Blue Jays’ highest salary goes to...

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the Toronto Blue Jays top earner in 2025, taking home $48,550,000. Back in January the five-time All-Star agreed to a $28.5 million salary during arbitration only to sign a new 14-year deal worth $500 million in April.

Ohtani‘s contract situation with the Dodgers

If you are wondering why Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani doesn’t appear in the list, there is a good reason. Ohtani made headlines when he signed a groundbreaking contract that reshaped the landscape of team sports in December 2023. The deal, valued at an astounding $700 million over 10 years, is unique not only for its size but also for its distinctive structuring. Under this agreement, Ohtani will receive a total of $20 million during the first decade, followed by an enormous payout of $680 million in the subsequent 10 years.

Due to this unusual structure, Ohtani’s $70 million salary-cap charge effectively translates to only $2 million in actual salary during his first season and $4 million this year, rising to $6 million in 2026.

This discrepancy highlights the complexities of contract negotiations in professional sports, where salary-cap implications and player compensation can diverge significantly.

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