MLB Notebook: Dodgers repeat as World Series champions after instant-classic Game 7 thriller; turbulence continues in Red Sox' front office; offseason notes

The Los Angeles Dodgers are champions again. In a Fall Classic that will be remembered as one of the best in decades, the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in seven unforgettable games to capture the 2025 World Series crown—in the process, winning back-to-back titles.

Los Angeles becomes the first team in 25 years to repeat as World Series champions, cementing the franchise’s current dynasty, winners of three championships since 2020. The last team to win back-to-back World Series titles was the Yankees, who accomplished that feat from 1998 to 2000.

The entire series dripped with drama, intensity, and some of Major League Baseball’s biggest and brightest stars. The Dodgers closed out Game 7 in dramatic fashion with a 5-4 extra-innings victory.

The last two innings of the game were cinema. Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas swatted a game-tying solo homer in the ninth inning before catcher Will Smith hit a solo blast in the top of the 11th, putting a cherry on top of the 2025 season for Los Angeles.

“I never walked to the plate thinking about hitting a home run in that situation,” Rojas said. “I just wanted to stay up the middle and try to hit a fastball. I definitely chased on the first one. I tried to lock it in and be on the fastball after that, let the ball travel a little bit more. … When he hung me the slider, I just put a good swing on it.”

Rojas, who signed a three-year, $15-million deal with the Dodgers ahead of the 2023 season, will become a free agent this winter.

“I’m not a superstar,” said Rojas. "I know my status on this team. So many people can’t really see what I mean to the team behind the scenes, and it’s really hard for me to explain what I do for this organization. Just hitting the homer and cementing what I mean for the team and what I mean for the organization is a huge day for me.”

The Dodgers' clinching win was just the sixth Game 7 to go to extra innings—the first since the Cleveland-Cubs Fall Classic matchup in 2016.

Toronto will feel the sting of losing Game 7 after leading the game 3-0 and blowing the lead in the ninth inning. Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman is placing all the blame on himself for allowing Rojas, who hit seven homers in the regular season, to hit the game-tying solo shot in the ninth.

"It sucks," Hoffman said after the 5-4 loss. "Supposed to end differently. Was just one pitch. I cost everybody here a World Series ring. It feels pretty s---ty."

Hoffman was two outs from earning the save and, in the process, would have sent Blue Jays fans into a frenzy. Two innings later, Shane Bieber hung a 3-2 slider to Smith, and he sent that ball over the wall in left field.

"Hung a slider to a great guy who hits sliders well," Bieber said. "He was looking for it. I didn't execute. This one stings. It's going to sting for a while. This game is not for the faint of heart."

Blue Jays Game 7 starter Max Scherzer had tears flowing down his face following the loss.

"I'm 41 years old, and I never thought I could love baseball this much," Scherzer said while wiping away tears. "My love for the game was so strong because of their love for the game.

"That loss is so tough because you're so close to everybody. This team had that closeness and had that camaraderie. We had that passion not only for the game but also for each other."

Scherzer pitched 4⅓ innings in Game 7, giving up just one run on four hits before leaving to a standing ovation.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was one of the keys to the Dodgers' World Series championship. After pitching six innings in Game 6, he pitched in Game 7, tossing 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, earning him another win and the World Series MVP honors.

“When I started in the bullpen before I went in, to be honest, I was not really sure if I could pitch up there to my best ability,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “But as I started getting warmed up, because I started making a little bit of an adjustment, then I started thinking, 'I can go in and do my job.'”

Yamamoto went 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA in the Fall Classic and became just the 14th pitcher to win three games in a single World Series and the first since Randy Johnson did it for the Diamondbacks in 2001. He is the first pitcher with three road wins in a single World Series and just the fourth pitcher to win both Game 6 and Game 7, joining Johnson (2001), Harry Brecheen (1946), and Ray Kremer (1925), the team announced after the game.

Yamamoto is the second Japanese-born player to win the World Series MVP, joining Hideki Matsui of the 2009 Yankees.

HAPPY RETIREMENT

Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw ended his storied big league career as a World Series champion.

Kershaw, 37, has spent 18 years in the Dodgers organization and ends his career on a high note, winning three World Series championships. When the Dodgers made the final out, Kershaw had no clue his team won the game. The southpaw was warming in the bullpen when Mookie Betts turned the dramatic double play to end Game 7.

“Honestly,” Kershaw said after the game, “I didn’t know. … [Bullpen catcher Josh Bard] looked at me and said, ‘We just won the World Series,’ and I was like, ‘Are you sure?’”

This summer, Kershaw announced he would be retiring after the 2025 season. His next stop will be Cooperstown, playing his 18th season, winning five ERA titles, three Cy Young Awards, and an MVP, and recording more than 3,000 strikeouts.

“It’s hard to put into words, honestly,” Kershaw said. “I’m just so grateful. The way that my career, this season, has ended has been more than I could have ever hoped for. I’m just a little bit speechless, a little bit shocked that we won this one tonight.”

BETTS WINS FOURTH RING

Red Sox fans watched in envy as Betts won his fourth World Series ring. He is the only active player with four World Series titles and is 18th in the Divisional ERA, which began in 1969.

“As he was pitching the ball, I was talking to myself," Betts said on FOX. "'Be nasty, just move, just make a play—just be nasty, be nasty, be nasty.' … The ball found me, and I just kind of played it. I don’t know what happened. All the work, all the work in the backfields, it all came to fruition this season.”

Betts is one of the most accomplished players in the game and adds another ring alongside his MVP Award, seven Silver Sluggers, and six Gold Gloves in right field to his name.

WORLD SERIES HERO PLANS TO PLAY ONE MORE YEAR

Rojas is a free agent this offseason and wants to play at least one more season before hanging up his cleats.

“I want to pursue the next step of my career, and I think that’s something I’m going to talk to (president of baseball operations) Andrew Friedman and (general manager) Brandon Gomes about and be really open about what my goals are,” Rojas said. “Hopefully, we can get to a point where I don’t let myself be a free agent. I just want to be here, and hopefully I can do something before free agency hits. Hopefully, it syncs up with what they want me to do.”

“This is my priority,” he said to reporters. “I want to sign here. I already told the guys my desire to be with this organization. I think we deserve another run.”

SAVED THE GAME

Rojas provided a dramatic homer in the ninth and then made a play in the bottom of the ninth to keep the Dodgers' season alive.

With the bases loaded and one out, the Blue Jays sent Daulton Varsho to the plate. The Dodgers’ infield played in, a do-or-die defensive setup.

Varsho hit a chopper to second base, and Rojas ranged over to his right and dropped to one knee to make a barehanded stop. He popped up to his feet and hesitated before throwing to home and ultimately forced out pinch-runner Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, with Smith just barely getting his foot on the plate for out.

“I was just happy we got the lead,” Rojas said. “I knew Yamamoto was going to do his job.”

PAGES IMPROBABLE CATCH

The Blue Jays had a chance to walk it off in the ninth following the play at the plate. Once the Jays loaded the bases, the Dodgers made a substitution, putting Andy Pages in the outfield for his defense and tremendous arm. The play made Dave Roberts look like a genius.

With the game knotted 4-4. Clement crushed a 78-mph curveball deep to left field in a moment that could have won the World Series for Toronto. Kike Hernandez, playing very shallow, looked like he was scrambling to find the fly ball. Pages took charge, slamming into Hernandez up against the wall while somehow making the play for the final out of the inning.

RED SOX SUFFER ANOTHER KEY LOSS

Red Sox director of pitching Justin Willard is the latest member of the front office to leave the organization. Willard has agreed to become the Mets’ pitching coach, after spending two years with the Red Sox.

Boston hired Willard away from the Twins in 2023 and helped overhaul the Sox’ minor league pitching program.

Under Willard, the Sox saw Hunter Dobbins, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, and others reach the majors. Willard replaces Jeremy Hefner in New York, one of several coaches on the major league staff who weren’t retained after the Mets endured a poor second half that left them out of the playoffs.

The Red Sox have not yet announced who will be replacing Willard within the organization.

Boston will likely go with an external hire, according to a league source.

NOTES HEADING INTO MLB FREE AGENCY

- Now that the World Series is over, the offseason will begin in just five days, and the Red Sox will need to figure out what they’ll do with Alex Bregman.

The veteran will opt out of his three-year, $120 million deal he signed just before spring training. The 31-year-old will be seeking a long-term deal, possibly around five years, with a team that projects to be a perennial playoff contender.

Boston has a young core loaded with players that should make regular postseason appearances, but numerous teams around the league will look to add Bregman.

If he bolts, the Sox could move Marcelo Mayer to third base, with Trevor Story likely opting into his deal with Boston. Mayer has failed to remain healthy over the course of his young professional career, and the front office could be hesitant to hand him the keys to third base.

Eugenio Suarez is an option; his power bat would be an added welcome to the Red Sox lineup, but he’s brutal defensively at third base.

The Sox could bring in Max Muncy on a short-term deal similar to when Boston signed Justin Turner a few seasons ago. The Dodgers could be a sneaky team to land Bregman if they don’t sign Kyle Tucker, who they reportedly covet in free agency.

Boston has other free agents to make decisions on this offseason. Rob Refsnyder, Justin Wilson, Steven Matz, and Dustin May can officially sign with any team after 5 p.m. next Thursday.

Refsnyder will be 35 next season and was a lefty masher hitting .302/.399/.560/.959 line, seven homers, nine doubles, and 25 RBIs in 138 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season.

Story can opt out, Lucas Giolito is a candidate to receive the $22 million QO, and Liam Hendriks should also hit the open market. Boston will decline Hendriks’ $12 million mutual option and pay him a $2 million buyout.

- Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is back on the mound throwing a bullpen as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery that was performed in March.

Cole posted a video on his Instagram story on Saturday, tossing a fastball during a recent bullpen session at Yankee Stadium.

New York doesn’t expect Cole to be ready for Opening Day, but the soon-to-be 36-year-old will be an added contributor to their rotation in the middle of the 2026 season.

- Chaim Bloom is officially in charge of the Cardinals and will begin to rebuild St. Louis’ farm system and improve their 26-man roster for next season.

He will need to make a decision on starter Miles Mikolas, who has been with the Cardinals since 2018 and will become a free agent. In addition, he will need to make decisions on whether to trade Nolan Arenado, Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, and Andre Pallante.

Bloom did hire former Pirates front-office staffer Joe Douglas to be their director of pro acquisition and former Astros player development director Jacob Buffa as their new senior director of international scouting.

- The Nationals have hired 33-year-old Blake Butera to fill the managerial vacancy. He will become the game’s youngest manager since Frank Quilici managed the Twins at 33 years, 27 days old in 1972.

The hiring of Butera is the first major move made by new Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni.

“I’ve always believed that you win with people, and from our very first conversation, it was clear that Blake is the right person and the right leader for this role,” said Toboni in a statement. “Blake comes into this position with experience in a variety of roles in player development, including as a successful manager, making him uniquely qualified to get the most out of the players in the clubhouse and help us reach the next level.

"He possesses a strong baseball acumen and has a reputation for building strong relationships with players and staff, making him a great fit for us in Washington, D.C. We’re so excited to welcome him to the Nationals family.”