In a performance worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, the Toronto Blue Jays steamrolled the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 in Game 1 of the 2025 World Series. It was a game that proved money can’t buy you wins—unless you’re a team with a $700 million superstar, of course.
Trey Yesavage, a 22-year-old rookie, took to the mound at the illustrious Rogers Stadium on Friday. His first opponent? None other than Dodgers’ ace Shohei Ohtani, who—spoiler alert—earns enough in a week to make Yesavage’s annual salary look like couch change.
In what was only his seventh career start, Yesavage struck out Ohtani with the finesse of a seasoned magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. This marked not just his first strikeout of the esteemed World Series but also the beginning of a family celebration worthy of a reality TV show.
“My aim is to strike out everyone I face,” Yesavage quipped to the press, possibly while crossing his fingers behind his back. “Striking out a three-time MVP like Ohtani on the first at-bat was an ego boost. It felt really cool, like winning the lottery, but without the taxes.”
Post-game, social media exploded with a mind-boggling statistic comparing Ohtani’s jaw-dropping $700 million contract to Yesavage’s minuscule earnings, effectively turning the rookie pitcher into the David in a world of Goliaths.
A Canadian journalist remarkably noted, “This is the craziest stat of the World Series: Trey Yesavage, the Blue Jays pitcher making $57,000, struck out Shohei Ohtani, who makes $47 million—824 times Yesavage’s salary.” They say numbers don’t lie, but they do love to embellish a good story.
Sure, Yesavage only signed a two-year rookie deal worth $4.23 million, which is enough to entice his parents into a mild celebration of the family’s ‘financial successes.’ Meanwhile, Ohtani’s whopping 10-year contract with the Dodgers is like a million-dollar billboard that says, “Money can’t buy happiness, but it does buy a very large mansion.” Let’s be honest: Ohtani’s salary for the season is a mere $2 million—not the eye-watering $47 million that social media led us to believe.
If Yesavage continues this trajectory, we can expect more zeros in his next contract. Perhaps one day he’ll be the one signing for $700 million while Ohtani waits for his deferred payments to kick in—scheduled for 2034, when we’ll all be living in hover homes. Ah, the future!
