
Fantasy baseball: Soto first OF pick in last mock before Opening Day
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7 months agoon
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ESPN Fantasy
Mar 11, 2025, 07:01 AM ET
Opening Day is quickly approaching and the Tokyo Series is just one week away. If you haven’t yet held your league’s draft, the clock is ticking. Fear not, though, as the ESPN fantasy baseball crew is ready to show you the results of its final fantasy baseball mock draft of the season, using ESPN standard head-to-head points league scoring and roster settings.
Default rosters include 16 starters: seven pitchers of any kind along with a C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, three outfielders and a utility player (can be any position, and is also the only slot to allow a DH-only player). There are also three bench spots.
Hitters score one point for every base reached via hits (total bases), as well as each walk, run, RBI and stolen base, and lose one point when they strike out. Pitchers earn a point for every out they record (three per inning) and an extra point for a strikeout, as well as two points for a win or a hold. Saves are worth five points each. Pitchers lose two points per run allowed, one point per baserunner (hit or walk) and two points for a loss.
This draft was held on Monday, March 10 and included fantasy writers Eric Karabell, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Todd Zola and Derek Carty, MLB writer David Schoenfield, and fantasy editors fantasy editors Pierre Becquey, Joe Kaiser, AJ Mass, James Best and Sachin Chandan.
If you’d like to conduct your own mock drafts, check out the Mock Draft Lobby, select one of several league types and sizes available, and you’ll be mock-drafting in minutes. Ready for the real thing? Create or join a fantasy baseball league for free.
(Note: At the time this draft took place, while it was known that Gerrit Cole was likely to miss a significant portion of the 2025 season, it had not yet been announced that he was indeed going to sit out the entire year due to Tommy John surgery.)
Round 1
1. Shohei Ohtani DH1 (SP) — Best
2. Juan Soto OF1 — Karabell
3. Bobby Witt Jr. SS1 — Carty
4. Aaron Judge OF2 — Kaiser
5. Jose Ramirez 3B1 — Zola
6. Paul Skenes SP1 — Schoenfield
7. Tarik Skubal SP2 — Mass
8. Mookie Betts SS2 (OF) — Chandan
9. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B1 — Becquey
10. Kyle Tucker OF3 — Cockcroft
Round 2
11. Zack Wheeler SP3 — Cockcroft
12. Gunnar Henderson SS3 — Becquey
13. Logan Gilbert SP4 — Chandan
14. Francisco Lindor SS4 — Mass
15. Yordan Alvarez OF4 — Schoenfield
16. Corbin Carroll OF5 — Zola
17. Ketel Marte 2B1 — Kaiser
18. Fernando Tatis Jr. OF6 — Carty
19. Dylan Cease SP5 — Karabell
20. Freddie Freeman 1B2 — Best
Round 3
21. Corbin Burnes SP6 — Best
22. Rafael Devers 3B2 — Karabell
23. Garrett Crochet SP7 — Carty
24. Anthony Santander OF7 — Kaiser
25. William Contreras C1 — Zola
26. Bryce Harper 1B3 — Schoenfield
27. Cole Ragans SP8 — Mass
28. Adley Rutschman C2 — Chandan
29. Jackson Chourio OF8 — Becquey
30. Emmanuel Clase RP1 — Cockcroft
Round 4
31. Manny Machado 3B3 — Cockcroft
32. Alex Bregman 3B4 — Becquey
33. Chris Sale SP9 — Chandan
34. Jackson Merrill OF9 — Mass
35. Devin Williams RP2 — Schoenfield
36. Blake Snell SP10 — Zola
37. Framber Valdez SP11 — Kaiser
38. Edwin Diaz RP3 — Carty
39. Marcus Semien 2B2 — Karabell
40. Elly De La Cruz SS5 — Best
Round 5
41. Steven Kwan OF10 — Best
42. Corey Seager SS6 — Karabell
43. Ronald Acuna Jr. OF11 — Carty
44. Matt Olson 1B4 — Kaiser
45. Pablo Lopez SP12 — Zola
46. Mason Miller RP4 — Schoenfield
47. Josh Hader RP5 — Mass
48. Aaron Nola SP13 — Chandan
49. Jose Altuve 2B3 — Becquey
50. Trea Turner SS7 — Cockcroft
Round 6
51. Michael King SP14 — Cockcroft
52. Max Fried SP15 — Becquey
53. Pete Alonso 1B5 — Chandan
54. Ryan Walker RP6 — Mass
55. Julio Rodriguez OF12 — Schoenfield
56. Marcell Ozuna DH2 — Zola
57. Austin Riley 3B5 — Kaiser
58. Luis Arraez 1B6 (2B) — Carty
59. Jarren Duran OF13 — Karabell
60. Kyle Schwarber DH3 — Best
Round 7
61. Ozzie Albies 2B4 — Best
62. Logan Webb SP16 — Karabell
63. Freddy Peralta SP17 — Carty
64. Luis Castillo SP18 — Kaiser
65. Bailey Ober SP19 — Zola
66. Yoshinobu Yamamoto SP20 — Schoenfield
67. Vinnie Pasquantino 1B7 — Mass
68. Joe Ryan SP21 — Chandan
69. Christian Walker 1B8 — Becquey
70. Yainer Diaz C3 — Cockcroft
Round 8
71. Ryan Helsley RP7 — Cockcroft
72. Shota Imanaga SP22 — Becquey
73. Wyatt Langford OF14 — Chandan
74. Brent Rooker DH4 — Mass
75. Gerrit Cole SP23 — Schoenfield
76. Josh Naylor 1B9 — Zola
77. Andres Munoz RP8 — Kaiser
78. Raisel Iglesias RP9 — Carty
79. Robert Suarez RP10 — Karabell
80. Nolan Arenado 3B6 — Best
Round 9
81. Brendan Donovan OF15 (2B) — Best
82. Felix Bautista RP11 — Karabell
83. Tyler Glasnow SP24 — Carty
84. Bryce Miller SP25 — Kaiser
85. Jhoan Duran RP12 — Zola
86. Will Smith C4 — Schoenfield
87. Brandon Pfaadt SP26 — Mass
88. Alec Bohm 3B7 — Chandan
89. Salvador Perez C5 (1B) — Becquey
90. Michael Harris II OF16 — Cockcroft
Round 10
91. Tanner Bibee SP27 — Cockcroft
92. Sonny Gray SP28 — Becquey
93. Zac Gallen SP29 — Chandan
94. Jared Jones SP30 — Mass
95. Hunter Greene SP31 — Schoenfield
96. Tanner Scott RP13 — Zola
97. Cal Raleigh C6 — Kaiser
98. Jacob deGrom SP32 — Carty
99. George Kirby SP33 — Karabell
100. Ian Happ OF17 — Best
Round 11
101. Justin Steele SP34 — Best
102. Hunter Brown SP35 — Karabell
103. Yandy Diaz 1B10 — Carty
104. CJ Abrams SS8 — Kaiser
105. Willy Adames SS9 — Zola
106. Oneil Cruz SS10 (OF) — Schoenfield
107. Nico Hoerner 2B5 — Mass
108. Cody Bellinger OF18 (1B) — Chandan
109. Kevin Gausman SP36 — Becquey
110. Bryan Reynolds OF19 — Cockcroft
Round 12
111. Spencer Schwellenbach SP37 — Cockcroft
112. Cristopher Sanchez SP38 — Becquey
113. Carlos Rodon SP39 — Chandan
114. Sandy Alcantara SP40 — Mass
115. Junior Caminero 3B8 — Schoenfield
116. Alec Burleson OF20 — Zola
117. Jack Flaherty SP41 — Kaiser
118. Matt Chapman 3B9 — Carty
119. Alexis Diaz RP14 — Karabell
120. Jeff Hoffman RP15 — Best
Round 13
121. Yusei Kikuchi SP42 — Best
122. Christian Yelich OF21 — Karabell
123. Zach Eflin SP43 — Carty
124. Isaac Paredes 3B10 — Kaiser
125. Kodai Senga SP44 — Zola
126. Riley Greene OF22 — Schoenfield
127. James Wood OF23 — Mass
128. Randy Arozarena OF24 — Chandan
129. Spencer Steer OF25 (1B) — Becquey
130. Gleyber Torres 2B6 — Cockcroft
Round 14
131. Roki Sasaki SP45 — Cockcroft
132. Jurickson Profar OF26 — Becquey
133. David Bednar RP16 — Chandan
134. Trevor Megill RP17 — Mass
135. Spencer Strider SP46 — Schoenfield
136. Mike Trout OF27 — Zola
137. Mitch Keller SP47 — Kaiser
138. Willson Contreras C7 — Carty
139. Carlos Santana 1B11 — Karabell
140. Mitch Garver C8 — Best
Round 15
141. Bo Bichette SS11 — Best
142. Nick Pivetta SP48 — Karabell
143. Jazz Chisholm Jr. OF28 (3B) — Carty
144. Lawrence Butler OF29 — Kaiser
145. Jordan Westburg 3B11 (2B) — Zola
146. Jung Hoo Lee OF30 — Schoenfield
147. Shea Langeliers C9 — Mass
148. Adolis Garcia OF31 — Chandan
149. Seiya Suzuki OF32 — Becquey
150. Triston Casas 1B12 — Cockcroft
Round 16
151. Brandon Nimmo OF33 — Cockcroft
152. Xander Bogaerts 2B7 (SS) — Becquey
153. Tanner Houck SP49 — Chandan
154. Brenton Doyle OF34 — Mass
155. Bryan Woo SP50 — Schoenfield
156. Griffin Jax RP18 — Zola
157. Taj Bradley SP51 — Kaiser
158. Taylor Ward OF35 — Carty
159. Seth Lugo SP52 — Karabell
160. Keibert Ruiz C10 — Best
Round 17
161. Bowden Francis RP19 (SP) — Best
162. JJ Bleday OF36 — Karabell
163. Teoscar Hernandez OF37 — Carty
164. Ronel Blanco SP53 — Kaiser
165. Kirby Yates RP20 — Zola
166. Jackson Holliday 2B8 — Schoenfield
167. A.J. Puk RP21 — Mass
168. Jake Cronenworth 1B13 (2B) — Chandan
169. Ryan Pressly RP22 — Becquey
170. Carlos Correa SS12 — Cockcroft
Round 18
171. Justin Martinez RP23 — Cockcroft
172. Jose Berrios SP54 — Becquey
173. Masyn Winn SS13 — Chandan
174. Matthew Shaw 3B12 (2B/SS) — Mass
175. Luke Weaver RP24 — Schoenfield
176. Tomoyuki Sugano SP55 — Zola
177. Nick Castellanos OF38 — Kaiser
178. Pete Fairbanks RP25 — Carty
179. Cade Smith RP26 — Karabell
180. Bryson Stott 2B9 — Best
Round 19
181. Chris Bassitt SP56 — Best
182. Austin Wells C11 — Karabell
183. Maikel Garcia 3B13 (2B) — Carty
184. Jeremy Pena SS14 — Kaiser
185. Nathaniel Lowe 1B14 — Zola
186. Matt McLain SS15 (2B) — Schoenfield
187. Jake Burger 1B15 (3B) — Mass
188. Tommy Edman OF39 (SS) — Chandan
189. Lucas Erceg RP27 — Becquey
190. Brandon Woodruff SP57 — Cockcroft
Team rosters are presented in first-round pick order. Primary position is used. If a player qualifies at more than one position, all positions are included in parentheses. Pick is displayed as “Round.Pick”.
Team Best
C1 Mitch Garver [Pick: 14.10]
C2 Keibert Ruiz [Pick: 16.10]
1B1 Freddie Freeman [Pick: 2.10]
3B1 Nolan Arenado [Pick: 8.10]
2B1 Ozzie Albies [Pick: 7.1]
2B2 Bryson Stott [Pick: 18.10]
SS1 Elly De La Cruz [Pick: 4.10]
SS2 Bo Bichette [Pick: 15.1]
OF1 Steven Kwan [Pick: 5.1]
OF2 Brendan Donovan (2B) [Pick: 9.1]
OF3 Ian Happ [Pick: 10.10]
DH1 Shohei Ohtani (SP) [Pick: 1.1]
DH2 Kyle Schwarber [Pick: 6.10]
SP1 Corbin Burnes [Pick: 3.1]
SP2 Justin Steele [Pick: 11.1]
SP3 Yusei Kikuchi [Pick: 13.1]
SP4 Chris Bassitt [Pick: 19.1]
RP1 Jeff Hoffman [Pick: 12.10]
RP2 Bowden Francis (SP) [Pick: 17.1]
Team Karabell
C1 Austin Wells [Pick: 19.2]
1B1 Carlos Santana [Pick: 14.9]
3B1 Rafael Devers [Pick: 3.2]
2B1 Marcus Semien [Pick: 4.9]
SS1 Corey Seager [Pick: 5.2]
OF1 Juan Soto [Pick: 1.2]
OF2 Jarren Duran [Pick: 6.9]
OF3 Christian Yelich [Pick: 13.2]
OF4 JJ Bleday [Pick: 17.2]
SP1 Dylan Cease [Pick: 2.9]
SP2 Logan Webb [Pick: 7.2]
SP3 George Kirby [Pick: 10.9]
SP4 Hunter Brown [Pick: 11.2]
SP5 Nick Pivetta [Pick: 15.2]
SP6 Seth Lugo [Pick: 16.9]
RP1 Robert Suarez [Pick: 8.9]
RP2 Felix Bautista [Pick: 9.2]
RP3 Alexis Diaz [Pick: 12.9]
RP4 Cade Smith [Pick: 18.9]
Team Carty
C1 Willson Contreras [Pick: 14.8]
1B1 Luis Arraez (2B) [Pick: 6.8]
1B2 Yandy Diaz [Pick: 11.3]
3B1 Matt Chapman [Pick: 12.8]
3B2 Maikel Garcia (2B) [Pick: 19.3]
SS1 Bobby Witt Jr. [Pick: 1.3]
OF1 Fernando Tatis Jr. [Pick: 2.8]
OF2 Ronald Acuna Jr. [Pick: 5.3]
OF3 Jazz Chisholm Jr. (3B) [Pick: 15.3]
OF4 Taylor Ward [Pick: 16.8]
OF5 Teoscar Hernandez [Pick: 17.3]
SP1 Garrett Crochet [Pick: 3.3]
SP2 Freddy Peralta [Pick: 7.3]
SP3 Tyler Glasnow [Pick: 9.3]
SP4 Jacob deGrom [Pick: 10.8]
SP5 Zach Eflin [Pick: 13.3]
RP1 Edwin Diaz [Pick: 4.8]
RP2 Raisel Iglesias [Pick: 8.8]
RP3 Pete Fairbanks [Pick: 18.8]
Team Kaiser
C1 Cal Raleigh [Pick: 10.7]
1B1 Matt Olson [Pick: 5.4]
3B1 Austin Riley [Pick: 6.7]
3B2 Isaac Paredes [Pick: 13.4]
2B1 Ketel Marte [Pick: 2.7]
SS1 CJ Abrams [Pick: 11.4]
SS2 Jeremy Pena [Pick: 19.4]
OF1 Aaron Judge [Pick: 1.4]
OF2 Anthony Santander [Pick: 3.4]
OF3 Lawrence Butler [Pick: 15.4]
OF4 Nick Castellanos [Pick: 18.7]
SP1 Framber Valdez [Pick: 4.7]
SP2 Luis Castillo [Pick: 7.4]
SP3 Bryce Miller [Pick: 9.4]
SP4 Jack Flaherty [Pick: 12.7]
SP5 Mitch Keller [Pick: 14.7]
SP6 Taj Bradley [Pick: 16.7]
SP7 Ronel Blanco [Pick: 17.4]
RP1 Andres Munoz [Pick: 8.7]
Team Zola
C1 William Contreras [Pick: 3.5]
1B1 Josh Naylor [Pick: 8.6]
1B2 Nathaniel Lowe [Pick: 19.5]
3B1 Jose Ramirez [Pick: 1.5]
3B2 Jordan Westburg [Pick: 15.5]
SS1 Willy Adames [Pick: 11.5]
OF1 Corbin Carroll [Pick: 2.6]
OF2 Alec Burleson [Pick: 12.6]
OF3 Mike Trout [Pick: 14.6]
DH1 Marcell Ozuna [Pick: 6.6]
SP1 Blake Snell [Pick: 4.6]
SP2 Pablo Lopez [Pick: 5.5]
SP3 Bailey Ober [Pick: 7.5]
SP4 Kodai Senga [Pick: 13.5]
SP5 Tomoyuki Sugano [Pick: 18.6]
RP1 Jhoan Duran [Pick: 9.5]
RP2 Tanner Scott [Pick: 10.6]
RP3 Griffin Jax [Pick: 16.6]
RP4 Kirby Yates [Pick: 17.5]
Team Schoenfield
C1 Will Smith [Pick: 9.6]
1B1 Bryce Harper [Pick: 3.6]
3B1 Junior Caminero [Pick: 12.5]
2B1 Jackson Holliday [Pick: 17.6]
SS1 Oneil Cruz (OF) [Pick: 11.6]
SS2 Matt McLain (2B) [Pick: 19.6]
OF1 Yordan Alvarez [Pick: 2.5]
OF2 Julio Rodriguez [Pick: 6.5]
OF3 Riley Greene [Pick: 13.6]
OF4 Jung Hoo Lee [Pick: 15.6]
SP1 Paul Skenes [Pick: 1.6]
SP2 Yoshinobu Yamamoto [Pick: 7.6]
SP3 Gerrit Cole [Pick: 8.5]
SP4 Hunter Greene [Pick: 10.5]
SP5 Spencer Strider [Pick: 14.5]
SP6 Bryan Woo [Pick: 16.5]
RP1 Devin Williams [Pick: 4.5]
RP2 Mason Miller [Pick: 5.6]
RP3 Luke Weaver [Pick: 18.5]
Team Mass
C1 Shea Langeliers [Pick: 15.7]
1B1 Vinnie Pasquantino [Pick: 7.7]
1B2 Jake Burger (3B) [Pick: 19.7]
3B1 Matthew Shaw (2B/SS) [Pick: 18.4]
2B1 Nico Hoerner [Pick: 11.7]
SS1 Francisco Lindor [Pick: 2.4]
OF1 Jackson Merrill [Pick: 4.4]
OF2 James Wood [Pick: 13.7]
OF3 Brenton Doyle [Pick: 16.4]
DH1 Brent Rooker [Pick: 8.4]
SP1 Tarik Skubal [Pick: 1.7]
SP2 Cole Ragans [Pick: 3.7]
SP3 Brandon Pfaadt [Pick: 9.7]
SP4 Jared Jones [Pick: 10.4]
SP5 Sandy Alcantara [Pick: 12.4]
RP1 Josh Hader [Pick: 5.7]
RP2 Ryan Walker [Pick: 6.4]
RP3 Trevor Megill [Pick: 14.4]
RP4 A.J. Puk [Pick: 17.7]
Team Chandan
C1 Adley Rutschman [Pick: 3.8]
1B1 Pete Alonso [Pick: 6.3]
1B2 Jake Cronenworth (2B) [Pick: 17.8]
3B1 Alec Bohm [Pick: 9.8]
SS1 Mookie Betts (OF) [Pick: 1.8]
SS2 Masyn Winn [Pick: 18.3]
OF1 Wyatt Langford [Pick: 8.3]
OF2 Cody Bellinger (1B) [Pick: 11.8]
OF3 Randy Arozarena [Pick: 13.8]
OF4 Adolis Garcia [Pick: 15.8]
OF5 Tommy Edman (SS) [Pick: 19.8]
SP1 Logan Gilbert [Pick: 2.3]
SP2 Chris Sale [Pick: 4.3]
SP3 Aaron Nola [Pick: 5.8]
SP4 Joe Ryan [Pick: 7.8]
SP5 Zac Gallen [Pick: 10.3]
SP6 Carlos Rodon [Pick: 12.3]
SP7 Tanner Houck [Pick: 16.3]
RP1 David Bednar [Pick: 14.3]
Team Becquey
C1 Salvador Perez (1B) [Pick: 9.9]
1B1 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. [Pick: 1.9]
1B2 Christian Walker [Pick: 7.9]
3B1 Alex Bregman [Pick: 4.2]
2B1 Jose Altuve [Pick: 5.9]
2B2 Xander Bogaerts (SS) [Pick: 16.2]
SS1 Gunnar Henderson [Pick: 2.2]
OF1 Jackson Chourio [Pick: 3.9]
OF2 Spencer Steer (1B) [Pick: 13.9]
OF3 Jurickson Profar [Pick: 14.2]
OF4 Seiya Suzuki [Pick: 15.9]
SP1 Max Fried [Pick: 6.2]
SP2 Shota Imanaga [Pick: 8.2]
SP3 Sonny Gray [Pick: 10.2]
SP4 Kevin Gausman [Pick: 11.9]
SP5 Cristopher Sanchez [Pick: 12.2]
SP6 Jose Berrios [Pick: 18.2]
RP1 Ryan Pressly [Pick: 17.9]
RP2 Lucas Erceg [Pick: 19.9]
Team Cockcroft
C1 Yainer Diaz [Pick: 7.10]
1B1 Triston Casas [Pick: 15.10]
3B1 Manny Machado [Pick: 4.1]
2B1 Gleyber Torres [Pick: 13.10]
SS1 Trea Turner [Pick: 5.10]
SS2 Carlos Correa [Pick: 17.10]
OF1 Kyle Tucker [Pick: 1.10]
OF2 Michael Harris II [Pick: 9.10]
OF3 Bryan Reynolds [Pick: 11.10]
OF4 Brandon Nimmo [Pick: 16.1]
SP1 Zack Wheeler [Pick: 2.1]
SP2 Michael King [Pick: 6.1]
SP3 Tanner Bibee [Pick: 10.1]
SP4 Spencer Schwellenbach [Pick: 12.1]
SP5 Roki Sasaki [Pick: 14.1]
SP6 Brandon Woodruff [Pick: 19.10]
RP1 Emmanuel Clase [Pick: 3.10]
RP2 Ryan Helsley [Pick: 8.1]
RP3 Justin Martinez [Pick: 18.1]
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Sports
What if Ohtani WAS on that plane to Toronto? Inside an alternate World Series universe
Published
18 mins agoon
October 23, 2025By
admin
-
Bradford Doolittle
CloseBradford Doolittle
ESPN Staff Writer
- MLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com
- Been with ESPN since 2013
-
David Schoenfield
CloseDavid Schoenfield
ESPN Senior Writer
- Covers MLB for ESPN.com
- Former deputy editor of Page 2
- Been with ESPN.com since 1995
Oct 23, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
When the 2025 World Series starts Friday night in Toronto, Shohei Ohtani will step to the plate for the first at-bat of the Fall Classic wearing the Los Angeles Dodgers uniform we’ve all become accustomed to seeing him in over the past two MLB seasons.
But there is another world, one not as far-fetched as you might think, where Ohtani could instead be toeing the rubber for Game 1 — and coming up to bat in the bottom of the first inning — for the Toronto Blue Jays instead.
Similarly, Roki Sasaki has changed Los Angeles’ postseason by emerging as the flamethrowing closer the Dodgers desperately needed to solidify a shaky bullpen this month. But in another world, also not that far removed, Sasaki could be playing the part of rookie sensation for the Blue Jays instead of facing them with games on the line.
How close were Ohtani and Sasaki to picking the Blue Jays over the Dodgers as their much-hyped free agent decisions played out? How did the two tense decision days — one that turned the entire internet into international flight trackers — go down? How good would the Blue Jays have been the past two seasons with Ohtani on their roster? And what would the Dodgers have done to counter if they had lost out on baseball’s two-way superstar?
Let’s dig in.
Jump to:
Ohtani timeline | Sasaki timeline | Jays with Ohtani | Dodgers’ Plan B?
Timeline of the Ohtani, Blue Jays deal that never happened
The jokes are now everywhere: Hey, Shohei Ohtani is finally getting on a plane to Toronto. The Dodgers actually played in Toronto in April 2024, but we get it: There was that frenzied Friday in December 2023 when everybody thought Ohtani was on a plane headed to Toronto to sign with the Blue Jays.
What happened that day, Friday, Dec. 8? First, a user on a social media site posted that Thursday evening that a private jet — tail number N616RH — was scheduled to fly from Southern California to Toronto on Friday morning. Somebody else discovered the same jet had been in Oakland when Ohtani had met with the San Francisco Giants. A baseball writer pointed out that Ohtani’s decision to sign with the Angels six years before had come on … Dec. 8.
It was all adding up. The Dodgers Nation fan site published a report saying Ohtani had chosen the Blue Jays. Then MLB Network reported that Ohtani was traveling to Toronto. With N616RH in the air, fans began assembling at the private terminal at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
But it wasn’t Ohtani on the plane. It was “Shark Tank” judge Robert Herjavec. On Saturday, Ohtani posted his decision on Instagram: “I have decided to choose the Dodgers as my next team.” The rest is history.
Timeline of the Sasaki, Blue Jays deal that also never happened
Upon announcing he would be coming to the majors from Japan early in the 2024-25 offseason, Roki Sasaki immediately became the most coveted free agent available, thanks to his immense talent and the team-friendly conditions of his contract.
After meeting with several teams, Sasaki’s camp revealed that the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Giants had all been told they were out of the running — leaving three suitors as finalists: the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers and, surprisingly, the Blue Jays.
In the final days leading up to the decision, Sasaki reportedly visited Toronto and the Jays suddenly appeared to be a real player in what had previously seemed to be a race between the two NL West teams vying for his services.
The Blue Jays’ flames were further fanned when reports came out Jan. 17 that the Padres were also out, meaning Sasaki’s decision — much like Ohtani’s an offseason earlier — would come down to Los Angeles and Toronto. The Blue Jays even made a deal with the Cleveland Guardians taking on outfielder Myles Straw, and the $13.8 million remaining on Straw’s contract, to acquire an additional $2 million in international bonus space — presumably to use on Sasaki.
Then that evening — just as Ohtani had done 13 months prior — Sasaki announced via Instagram that he would be joining the Dodgers, and Toronto was left at the doorstep once again.
Simulating the last two seasons with Ohtani in Toronto
There are a lot of choices to make when reimagining baseball history, especially when you’re talking about a transaction at the top of the hierarchy such as when Ohtani chose the Dodgers.
Once that domino fell, it set off a chain reaction that worked its way through most if not all of the majors. You can’t simply put the domino back upright, push it down the opposite direction and see how things follow.
So we’ll make a few choices, run some simulations and see where we are.
Dodgers: The L.A. part of this is more straightforward. Removing Ohtani from their mix the last two seasons would hurt them, because he produces at a level few other players can approach. But it’s not as if the Dodgers would have folded up their checkbook and gone home. They would have reallocated some portion of the funds they allotted for Ohtani to other players (see Dave’s possibilities in the next section).
For the sake of coming up with a revised Dodgers baseline, it’s better to avoid trying to guess how the Dodgers might have spent the money.
So let’s use a standard instead. The Dodgers’ competitive balance tax hit for Ohtani, per Cot’s Contracts, is estimated at $46 million per season. There’s a premium in there because of Ohtani’s stature — it’s actually hard to find a player to spend that much on — so let’s say they would have reallocated $40 million in terms of their luxury tax calculation to other resources. If we stick with the old standard of an average win purchased in free agency being valued at $8 million, we can estimate that the production from Dodgers’ Plan B player(s) would have been worth about five wins per season over the last two campaigns.
Per Baseball Reference, Ohtani produced 9.2 bWAR in 2024 for his work as a DH and 7.7 in 2025 for his pitching and hitting. So we’re going to reduce the Dodgers’ baseline by 4.2 wins in 2024 and 2.7 in 2025. My end-of-season simple power rating for L.A. in 2024 was 95.9, so we’ll take that down to 91.7. In 2025, I had them at 92.9, so we’re down to 90.2. These won’t be the precise numbers used in the simulations, as we’ve got to make sure the distribution of wins across the majors totals up to the 2,430 wins at stake in a big league season, but these numbers are close.
Blue Jays: The Toronto adjustment is a little more complicated in that we actually know what they did after they failed to land Ohtani. What we don’t know is what moves would not have occurred had they signed him, or the contract he ultimately would have gotten from Toronto. Let’s start with the financial part.
Luckily, we had Jeff Passan and Alden Gonzalez on the case, so we know that Ohtani reportedly presented other teams, including the Blue Jays, with the same terms he gave to the Dodgers and that Toronto agreed to them. So we can use that same $46 million as Toronto’s CBT number on the Jays’ balance sheet, though the ramifications for the Jays in that regard are different because of their lower overall payroll.
After Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, the Blue Jays signed three veteran free agent hitters: Isiah Kiner-Falefa (two years, $15 million), Kevin Kiermaier (one year, $10.5 million) and Justin Turner (one year, $13 million). The 2024 payout for those three was a combined $38.5 million, and it would take some additional belt tightening to get to Ohtani’s salary. The Jays’ Opening Day payroll was about $13 million over the first CBT threshold and $7 million below the second. So they could ax this trio, drop Ohtani into the payroll, and still likely stay under the second threshold, if that was a goal.
Kiner-Falefa, Kiermaier and Turner posted a combined 4.5 bWAR between them, and frankly, reconfiguring the Toronto depth chart to absorb their absences isn’t that hard. The difference between their production and Ohtani’s is a hefty 4.7 bWAR, so we’ll add that to Toronto’s 2024 baseline. Alas, the Jays weren’t very good in 2024, so adding that figure to their end-of-season power ranking (70.9) takes them up to only 75.6.
Working Ohtani’s $46 million onto Toronto’s 2025 payroll is more challenging. According to Cot’s, Toronto’s end-of-season CBT payroll was $28 million over the first threshold and $8 million over the second. Certainly, the Blue Jays would not have signed Anthony Santander if they had Ohtani in hand and, perhaps, knowing Ohtani could also pitch for them in 2025, perhaps they would not have sprung for Max Scherzer.
Even so, because Santander’s deal involved so much deferred money, we’re still talking about a tax payroll that’s something like another $17 million higher even after we drop Scherzer and Santander. But, hey, it’s not our money, so let’s do it. For the sake of this exercise, we won’t have Toronto pursue Sasaki after Ohtani becomes a Blue Jay.
There are other possible consequences that, for now, we’ll ignore. First of all, would the Blue Jays have been able to be as aggressive in extending Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a long-term deal if they knew Ohtani had the DH spot locked up for the next decade? Would George Springer‘s bounce-back season been harmed by having to spend more time in the field? Worth thinking about.
But we’ll stick with the straightforward adjustments. Together, Scherzer (0.2 bWAR) and Santander (minus-1.0) were a net drag on the Blue Jays’ bottom line. Replacing them with Ohtani is a huge gain, though we’re cheating a bit by not doing more of a playing time redistribution. Scherzer was limited to 85 innings during the season, but Ohtani logged only 47. But Ohtani rolled up 727 plate appearances, dwarfing Santander’s 221. In other words, Ohtani would have also usurped at-bats from players such as Nathan Lukes, Addison Barger and Davis Schneider, just to start.
We’ll keep it simple and just add Ohtani’s 7.7 2025 bWAR to the Blue Jays’ bottom line. Toronto’s power rating was 90.1 at the end of the season, so we’re at an elite 97.8. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Let’s sim that out and see what happens.
2024: The actual Blue Jays went 74-88 with a run differential that suggested their record was in lockstep with their quality of play. The true talent level of the team was better than that, with or without Ohtani. Toronto won 89 games in 2023 and made the postseason. They’re in the World Series this year. Sometimes decent teams have bad seasons — take heart, Orioles fans! — and that was Toronto in 2024.
With Ohtani on board in our what-if world, the Blue Jays won the World Series in just three of 10,000 simulations. Maybe having Ohtani’s historic production on the roster would have boosted the rest of the squad, but we can’t know that for sure. They did make the playoffs about 7% of the time, so it was less hopeless than real life. Still, even with Ohtani, the 2024 Jays would have entered that offseason believing they had work to do.
As for the Dodgers, there is nowhere to go but down since, after all, they won the World Series. In the no-Ohtani world, the Dodgers’ reduced baseline got them into the playoffs in 73% of the sims. That seems low, but dropping them to a 90-win team or so puts them on a crowded tier in the big league landscape. The Dodgers still made the World Series 13% of the time and won the title 7% of the time, behind the now-heavily-favored Yankees (24%), Phillies and Astros (both 8%).
Finally, in our 10,000 resimulations of the 2024 season, the Dodgers played the Blue Jays in the World Series four times. Los Angeles won all four showdowns.
2025: One factor is Ohtani’s innings workload as it might have been for Toronto. We’re leaving his 7.7 bWAR as is, but you have to think the Blue Jays might have been somewhat more aggressive in ramping up his innings count, simply because they lack the ridiculous depth of the Dodgers’ staff. Still, adding his two-way punch to the roster and performance of the 2025 Blue Jays gives Toronto easily the top-rated baseline in our resimulated campaign.
That shows up in the end-of-season probabilities and would render Toronto as a solid favorite if it did end up meeting the Ohtani-less Dodgers in the World Series. Because L.A.’s regular season was, for the Dodgers, a bit lackluster, losing Ohtani doesn’t really move them down a tier as it did in the 2024 reimagining. But it certainly doesn’t help.
We can do a little bit more in direct comparison with the current season. The Blue Jays made the postseason in 92% of the simulations. In the actual postseason, Toronto started off with an 11% shot at winning it all, using this system of power rankings, behind Milwaukee and New York. With Ohtani, they won an MLB-high 15% of the simulations. Meanwhile, the Dodgers made the playoffs 71% of the time, similar to the 2024 resimulation, and won the Series around 6% of the time.
This method isn’t entirely fair to the 2025 Dodgers, whose true talent level is well above what they did in the regular season. That would be better reflected if I had used projections rather than the actual final standings. But the Dodgers did what they did, so don’t blame me. We’re seeing that true talent level in action this October.
As you expect, a Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series cropped up way more often in the 2025 sims — 277 times, altogether. In those matchups, the Blue Jays went 171-106 (61.7%). This is roughly the polar opposite of most of the Dodgers-favored World Series odds that are circulating right now. In my system, the reversal is almost exact: The Dodgers are winning 60.9% of the sims in most post-LCS analysis.
So if you want to know how different a Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series would look had Shohei been on that plane, that’s the bottom line: Exactly the opposite.
Five moves the Dodgers could have made if they didn’t land Ohtani
But what if Ohtani had been on that plane? While Brad’s simulations are best served by not playing the what-if game, we know L.A. would have done something — and knowing the Dodgers, likely something big. What might the Dodgers’ 2024-25 offseason have looked like without Ohtani? Where might that money have gone?
In our alternate universe, we have to remember how the 2023 season ended for the Dodgers: with the Diamondbacks sweeping the Dodgers in the NLDS after the Dodgers started an injured Clayton Kershaw (who got one out and allowed six runs); started Bobby Miller (who got five outs and allowed three runs); and started Lance Lynn (who had led the majors with 44 home runs allowed, got eight outs and allowed four home runs in the third inning).
The focus was on starting pitching, which is why after signing Ohtani the Dodgers traded for Tyler Glasnow and then signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Without Ohtani, however, here are five other moves that would have made sense (all these players were involved in transactions that happened after Dec. 9, 2024):
1. Trade for Dylan Cease
What really happened: The Padres acquired Cease from the Chicago White Sox
One reason the Dodgers signed Ohtani and Yamamoto was they were admittedly getting tired of trading prospects. Until this 2023-24 offseason, they had rarely dipped into the big-money free agency in the Andrew Friedman era (Freddie Freeman and Trevor Bauer had been the only $100 million free agents the Dodgers had signed).
They might have made an exception to trade for Cease. He’s the kind of pitcher the Dodgers love, with a big power arm. More importantly, coming off all the Dodgers’ injuries in 2023, Cease had made 32 starts in 2021, 32 in 2022 and 33 in 2023. Corbin Burnes was also traded after Ohtani had signed, but Cease had two years of control left versus just one for Burnes. Chris Sale also went from the Boston Red Sox to the Atlanta Braves and went on to win the Cy Young Award, but his proneness to injury would have scared off the Dodgers.
2. Sign Blake Snell — a year early
What really happened: Snell signed with the Giants for two years, $62 million
Snell was coming off a Cy Young Award with the Padres in 2023, his second, and was looking for a mega-contract. ESPN predicted six years and $150 million; MLB Trade Rumors predicted seven years and $200 million. The Philadelphia Phillies, Mets, Red Sox and Dodgers were considered the favorites to sign him, with many other teams in the mix.
That big offer never arrived, with teams worried about Snell’s inconsistency. His free agency lingered deep into spring training until he finally signed with the Giants just 10 days before the start of the season. His deal included an opt-out, which he exercised after a scintillating stretch run with the Giants (1.23 ERA over his final 14 starts). This time, the Dodgers decided they wanted him, and they signed him after the 2024 season.
3. Sign Josh Hader
What really happened: Hader signed with the Houston Astros for five years, $95 million
Might the Dodgers have gone after a reliever? The bullpen had been pretty good in 2023, ranking third in the majors in ERA, with Evan Phillips (2.05 ERA, 24 saves) and Brusdar Graterol (1.20 ERA, seven saves) leading the way. But the Dodgers had also relied on castoffs such as Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly and Shelby Miller, so you could argue that an elite closer like Hader was a good fit. Plus, as the Dodgers showed in the 2024-25 offseason after spending $72 million on Tanner Scott, they are willing to spend big money on a closer.
4. Sign Jung Hoo Lee
What really happened: Lee signed with Giants for six years, $113 million
Lee was one of the top outfielders available in free agency, a star in Korea who projected as a leadoff hitter with a high average and good defense in center field. The Dodgers’ outfield in 2023 included David Peralta, who was 35, and James Outman, who had kind of a fluky good rookie season. The Dodgers did end up signing Teoscar Hernandez to a one-year deal, but when Mookie Betts initially moved to shortstop and Outman predictably floundered, they were playing Jason Heyward and had to trade for Tommy Edman. Lee would have been a fit for center field, although he hasn’t been as good as expected with the Giants, who overpaid by some $40 million-$50 million compared with the initial predictions, so maybe the Dodgers dodged a bad signing here.
5. Sign Matt Chapman
What really happened: Chapman signed with Giants for three years, $54 million
Max Muncy was coming off a 36-homer season in 2023, but he had hit .196 in 2022 and .212 in 2023. Plus, there is no Ohtani here, so the Dodgers could have signed Chapman and moved Muncy to the DH role or maybe even to second base, where Muncy had played a lot from 2019 to 2022 and was a position that had been a problem for the Dodgers in 2023 (Miguel Vargas started the most games there, with Betts eventually starting by the end of the season).
Sports
Two Blue Jays in the top 3? Ranking the best players in the 2025 World Series
Published
18 mins agoon
October 23, 2025By
admin
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Kiley McDanielOct 22, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- ESPN MLB Insider
- Kiley McDaniel covers MLB prospects, the MLB Draft and more, including trades and free agency.
- Has worked for three MLB teams.
Co-author of Author of ‘Future Value’
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the overwhelming favorites to win the 2025 World Series and become the first repeat champion in a quarter century.
That doesn’t mean they’ve cornered all the talent in this year’s Fall Classic.
In fact, the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays feature two of the top three players heading into the series and nearly half of our top 20.
Let’s dig into the stars — ranking the best of the series participants on how good I think they’ll be in this series and predicting who will take home some superlatives by the time the dust settles.
Top 20 players in the World Series
1. Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH, Dodgers
Ohtani put up a combined 9.4 WAR in the regular season and is a huge favorite to win the National League MVP again. Then, he one-upped himself with one of the greatest athletic performances of all time: six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and three home runs in the clinching game of the NL Championship Series.
2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays
Guerrero had a big regular season — 3.9 WAR despite the sixth-worst ball-in-play luck in the league — but has been white-hot in the playoffs, leading postseason players in most major offensive categories.
3. George Springer, DH, Blue Jays
Springer led the Jays in WAR in the regular season, has been very good this postseason and his iconic ALCS Game 7 homer will live on.
4. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, SP, Dodgers
All four of the Dodgers’ starting pitchers are on a heater, but Yamamoto was the best of the group in the regular season by a lot and one of the top five pitchers in baseball.
5. Blake Snell, SP, Dodgers
Snell missed the first two-thirds of the season with shoulder inflammation but came back looking as good as ever. He might be on the best run of his career right now, with a 0.86 ERA in three playoff starts and the second-best underlying numbers (xFIP and xERA) in the playoffs among starters, behind Detroit’s Tarik Skubal.
6. Mookie Betts, SS, Dodgers
Betts, a clear future Hall of Famer, is 33 years old and has lost the standout power from his peak years but is still an impact player.
7. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Dodgers
One of the most consistently elite hitters of this era, Freeman just keeps performing — and he has a history of coming up large in the playoffs.
8. Alejandro Kirk, C, Blue Jays
Kirk was quietly the second-best all-around catcher in the league this year behind Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, but isn’t a huge star since his value is largely driven by on-base skills and pitch framing.
9. Max Muncy, 3B, Dodgers
Muncy is surprisingly solid as a baserunner and a defensive third baseman, and he has always been a dangerous hitter.
10. Tyler Glasnow, SP, Dodgers
Glasnow’s walks crept up during the regular season and the playoffs, but he has been missing bats as always and is inducing weak contact during his current hot streak.
11. Will Smith, C, Dodgers
Smith hasn’t been very good offensively in the playoffs but had the third-best WAR amongst catchers in the majors this season, behind only Raleigh and Kirk.
12. Ernie Clement, 2B/3B, Blue Jays
Clement posted a quietly solid 3.2 WAR this season, driven mostly by contact and defense, but has gone to another level in the postseason, hitting .429 with almost no ball-in-play luck, due to his 4% strikeout rate. He’s on a heater, but the Dodgers’ staff is the type to possibly end that streak.
13. Daulton Varsho, CF, Blue Jays
Varsho is above average at basically everything on the baseball field but isn’t truly elite at much. He missed time with shoulder and hamstring issues this year but was on track for a career-best 4-ish WAR season.
14. Kevin Gausman, SP, Blue Jays
Gausman posted the 10th-best pitcher WAR in baseball this season but has one of the lowest fastball velocities of pitchers in that range and has been hit around in the playoffs, though his career playoff performances are close to his regular-season quality.
15. Tommy Edman, 2B, Dodgers
Edman is a good defender at almost any position but had the 12th-unluckiest ball-in-play outcomes this regular season. That luck has turned around in the playoffs.
16. Trey Yesavage, SP, Blue Jays
Like Gausman, Yesavage’s splitter is his best secondary pitch, and he doesn’t have standout fastball velocity or breaking ball quality. That said, Yesavage’s splitter has been confounding hitters in his six career big league appearances, half of which have been in the playoffs.
17. Bo Bichette, SS, Blue Jays
It sounds like Bichette will be able to return to the Jays’ lineup for the World Series, but he has been out the past six weeks with a knee injury and it’s hard to know what he’ll look like in the short term.
18. Addison Barger, RF, Blue Jays
Barger is usable defensively at a number of positions and broke out this year to be an above-average hitter, mostly due to his power.
19. Andy Pages, CF, Dodgers
Pages hasn’t been terrible at the plate this postseason, but he was a standout hitter (.272 average, 24 homers) and defender (plus-7 runs in 117 starts in center field) in the regular season, en route to 4.0 WAR.
20. Teoscar Hernandez, RF, Dodgers
Hernandez hit for power in the regular season (25 homers) but didn’t draw many walks or stand out defensively. This postseason, he has been hitting for even more power on a rate basis, so he sneaks on this list.
Superlatives
Fastest pitch of the World Series will be thrown by: Roki Sasaki
Sasaki narrowly wins this matchup with the hardest-thrown pitch among these teams in the playoffs at 100.8 mph, and he’s fresher than Louis Varland (100.7 mph) and can go more max effort than Ohtani (100.3 mph).
Others in the mix: Ohtani
Best breaking pitch will be: Emmet Sheehan‘s slider
Sheehan’s slider was, per pitch thrown, the best pitch on the Dodgers’ staff this season. It doesn’t have a gaudy spin rate or crazy movement, but he throws it hard and hitters can’t seem to track it.
Others in the mix: Yariel Rodriguez‘s slider, Braydon Fisher‘s slider, Brendon Little‘s curveball, Jack Dreyer‘s slider, Glasnow’s curveball, Shane Bieber‘s curveball
Best changeup/splitter will be: Yesavage’s splitter
Yesavage offers a unique combination of movement profile (his slider moves to his arm side), a very high arm slot, and short extension which brings his release even higher. Hitters haven’t seen something like this before. Then add in a killer splitter (which he barely threw at East Carolina, where he was last season) and hitters don’t know what to do.
Others in the mix: Yamamoto’s splitter, Gausman’s splitter, Snell’s changeup
Most whiffs will be thrown by: Snell
Snell has been red-hot in the postseason (I explain why here) and should get two starts, but there are a number of strong candidates for this.
Others in the mix: Yamamoto, Yesavage, Glasnow
Hardest hit ball in play will be hit by: Guerrero
The odds for this are as close to 50/50 as you can get. Guerrero (120.4) and Ohtani (120.0 mph) were second and third in max exit velo during the regular season behind Cincinnati’s Oneil Cruz (122.9). Ohtani has a slight edge in playoff max EV at 117.7 to Vlad’s 116.0. I’ll lean to Vlad because he has been running hotter at the plate and thus will get a few more chances to smoke one at a gaudy number, but Ohtani will be facing a weaker pitching staff, so this is still a coin flip.
Also in the mix: Ohtani
Highest sprint speed will be recorded by: Clement
The other main candidates are part-time players who might get only some chances to open it up on the bases, but I expect Clement to be on base often in the series.
Others in the mix: Hyeseong Kim, Edman, Myles Straw
The batter who will record the most hits: Guerrero
Clement (second in postseason hits with 18) might be held back a bit by the quality of the Dodgers’ pitchers while Guerrero (first in postseason hits with 19) also makes a ton of contact but gets the margin for error of having huge power, too.
Others in the mix: Clement, Nathan Lukes, Betts, Freeman, Springer
Best defender will be: Kirk
If you consider framing to be a part of defensive value (you definitely should) and also factor in positional difficulty (I think you should), then Kirk is the answer. He’ll be impacting roughly half of the pitches in the series and he was the second-best framer in the league behind San Francisco’s Patrick Bailey this regular season.
Others in the mix: Clement, Edman, Betts
Sports
Vols’ Vitello makes MLB history as Giants skipper
Published
18 mins agoon
October 23, 2025By
admin
After days of negotiations, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello has been named the new manager of the San Francisco Giants, the team announced Wednesday, marking the first time a big league team has hired a manager directly from a college program without any experience as a professional coach.
Vitello — who considered staying at Tennessee, where he won the Men’s College World Series in 2024 — replaces Bob Melvin, who was fired Sept. 29 following an 81-81 season, the Giants’ fourth consecutive year without a playoff berth.
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful for this opportunity,” Vitello said in a statement. “I’m excited to lead this group of players and represent the San Francisco Giants. I can’t wait to get started and work to establish a culture that makes Giants faithful proud.”
Vitello, 47, was regarded as one of the best coaches in college baseball, a high-energy recruiting wizard who built talent-laden teams and turned around a program that had toiled in mediocrity for decades. He emerged as the Giants’ main target after former San Francisco catcher Nick Hundley withdrew from consideration.
By making Vitello his first managerial hire, San Francisco president of baseball operations Buster Posey is banking on Vitello’s success at Tennessee translating to the major leagues. Chosen over former Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and two other former big league catchers interviewed by the Giants — Kurt Suzuki and Vance Wilson — Vitello distinguished himself as one of the preeminent coaches in the country during a two-decade career as an assistant and head coach in college, enough so that the Giants were willing to pay the $3 million buyout on his contract, sources said.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Tony to the Giants family,” said Posey in a statement. “Tony is one of the brightest, most innovative, and most respected coaches in college baseball today. Throughout our search, Tony’s leadership, competitiveness, and commitment to developing players stood out. His ability to build strong, cohesive teams and his passion for the game align perfectly with the values of our organization. We look forward to the energy and direction he will bring, along with the memories to be made, as we focus on the future of Giants baseball.”
The closest facsimile to Vitello would be Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who spent 25 years coaching in college before joining the San Diego Padres as a minor league manager. Murphy then spent eight years as Brewers bench coach before taking over as manager in 2024, when he won National League Manager of the Year.
Vitello’s move to the major leagues will come at a far more rapid pace. Outside of a first-place NL West finish in 2021, the Giants have finished third or worse in the division every year since 2017. Beyond the dominance of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants are seen by evaluators as a less-talented team than San Diego and Arizona as well. San Francisco’s core of first baseman Rafael Devers, shortstop Willy Adames and third baseman Matt Chapman is solid — and could be strengthened this winter via free agent spending, according to sources.
Following more than 10 years as an assistant coach at Missouri, TCU and Arkansas, Vitello took over a moribund Tennessee program before the 2018 season and posted a 341-131 record, advancing to the Men’s College World Series in 2021, 2023 and 2024. With a pair of eventual first-round draft picks and four second-rounders, Tennessee beat Texas A&M to win the school’s first baseball national championship last year.
Vitello, whose boisterous personality endeared him at Tennessee and chafed other SEC schools, enters an entirely different realm in MLB. Whereas college jobs are often defined by the success of recruiting classes, major league teams are constructed by baseball-operations departments with the manager relied upon for clubhouse cohesion, in-game decision-making, bullpen usage and daily media interactions.
Tennessee athletic director Danny White issued a statement Wednesday thanking Vitello for elevating the Vols to a “championship program.”
“Congratulations to Tony on this incredible opportunity to lead the San Francisco Giants,” White wrote. “We wish him the best as he embarks on this new chapter in his career and thank him for everything he has done to transform Tennessee baseball into a championship program.”
The reticence of MLB teams to dip into the college ranks for managers is long established and has run counter to the hiring practices of other professional sports leagues. NFL teams have regularly plucked head coaches from the college ranks, and in the NBA, there is no stigma associated with college coaches. Major league organizations have been more open to hiring coaches from college than managers. Pitching coach Wes Johnson left Arkansas to take the same role with the Minnesota Twins in 2019; he left the Twins three years later to accept the pitching coach job at LSU before joining Georgia as its head coach prior to the 2024 season.
In an interview with ESPN in June, Vitello said his reputation as a rabble-rouser did not bother him and that he had no plans to change his approach to coaching, which called for pushing boundaries.
“I think you don’t know where the line is until you cross it. And then you make an adjustment,” Vitello said. “I don’t want our guys, if they give them a coloring book, I don’t want them just coloring inside the lines. You know, come up with something different.”
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