The Toronto Blue Jays have a chance to clinch the World Series on Friday as the remainder of the MLB season shifts to Toronto for Games 6 and 7.
The Jays played one of their most complete games of the season in Game 5, led by rookie starter Trey Yesavage, to take a 3-2 lead and earn a pair of opportunities at home to win the franchise’s first World Series in 32 years.
With the end of the season in sight, TSN.ca looks at the players with the five best odds to win the 2025 Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player Award based on the current odds at FanDuel.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (-195)
The Blue Jays’ first baseman is the current favourite to take home World Series MVP as he continues to slug his way to one of the best postseason performances of all time.
The 26-year-old is slashing .415/506/.831 through 16 postseason games with eight home runs, 15 RBI, and 17 runs scored. His eight homers are the second most in a single playoff run, trailing only Randy Arozarena’s 10 from the 2020 postseason.
Guerrero’s 1.337 OPS is second all-time among players with a minimum of 15 games played, trailing only Barry Bonds’ mark of 1.559 in 2002. With a solo homer and two walks in Game 5 last night, Guerrero passed Alex Rodriguez’s mark of 1.308 set in the 2009 World Series.
He and Bonds are the only two players in MLB postseason history to have more home runs than strikeouts. Guerrero currently sits at eight homers and five strikeouts through 16 games. While Bonds finished 2022 with eight homers and six strikeouts in 17 contests.
The Blue Jays’ franchise player has produced at least one hit in each game of the World Series and has smacked a pair of key home runs in Games 4 and 5 to help put the Blue Jays on the brink of winning.
Shohei Ohtani (+250)
The two-way superstar trails only Guerrero and holds the second-best odds to win World Series MVP.
Through five games of the World Series, Ohtani is slashing .316/.500/.895 with three home runs and five RBI. Two of his three home runs came in Game 3’s 18-inning marathon, including the game-tying homer off Serantony Dominguez in the bottom of the seventh. He reached base a total of eight times in Game 3, going 4-for-4 at the dish with two homers, two doubles and four intentional walks. He is the only player in history to hit that mark, passing the previous record of six, held by Kerry Carpenter, Kenny Lofton, and Stan Hack.
The 31-year-old has matched Guerrero with eight postseason home runs to go along with 14 RBI and 12 runs scored.
He started Game 4 against the Blue Jays and went 6.0 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits while striking out six in the 6-2 loss.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (+1300)
The Dodgers’ ace has been spectacular in the postseason and has seemingly saved his best stuff for the biggest moments.
Yamamoto tossed a complete game, four-hitter in a 5-1 win in Game 2. He struck out eight and did not allow a hit past the fourth inning. It was the second-straight complete game for the 27-year-old, after he tossed nine innings of three-hit ball in the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.
It was the first time a pitcher has thrown consecutive postseason complete games since Curt Schilling in the 2001 NLDS and NLCS.
He will take the mound in Game 6 on Friday, looking to pull off one more historic performance to force a Game 7.
Alejandro Kirk (+2200)
Kirk hasn’t posted gaudy offensive numbers like Guerrero or Ohtani but he has come through with timely hits that have contributed to the Blue Jays’ 3-2 series lead.
Through five games, the catcher has slashed .333/.458/.667 with two homers and six RBI. Overall this postseason, Kirk has smacked five home runs and 13 RBI over 16 games.
His work behind the plate has also helped Blue Jays’ pitching staff quiet the bats of the defending World Series champs.
Addison Barger (+2700)
Barger came through with one of the most memorable moments of this World Series when he crushed a grand slam off of Anthony Banda in Game 1 to give the Blue Jays a 9-2 lead.
While he hasn’t hit another homer in the series, He’s continued to produce at the plate, collecting six hits in Games 3-5 with one RBI and a pair of runs scored.
The Rest
The odds drop off significantly from there with Game 5 hero Yesavage well behind Barger at +6500. Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who hit the walk-off winner in the 18th inning of Game 3, is behind him at +17,500. Los Angeles catcher Will Smith is behind Freeman at +30,000, with all other players at +40,000.
