LOS ANGELES – With apologies to the cost-efficient Guardians and that brave, courageous, lovable Queens team, this is the World Series we’ve all been waiting for.

MLB executives won’t say it out loud, but the big matchup between Yankees and Dodgers – yes, especially the Ohtani Dodgers, let’s be real! – is the World Series that works best for them.

The fans love it too, as ticket prices are already in the thousands. They want to see the stars, regardless of the cost.

This matchup has a lot of history, even though it was 43 years ago.

There was the Reggie game.

There was Don Larsen who wrote perfection.

There was Jackie who stole house.

Tradition is fun, especially for us old folks. But this meeting is mainly about the current megastars that populate these celebrated rosters.

“You’re talking about the biggest stars in the game, and they’re going to play on the biggest stage,” Max Muncy said in the aftermath of the Dodgers’ NLCS victory over the overachieving Mets. “As a fan, how special is this, man? This is incredible.”

The $300 million-plus Yankees and Dodgers are the two largest payrolls (ignoring the Mets for their nearly $90 million in “dead money”). They have the three highest paid pitchers (Gerrit Cole, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, although Ohtani is very unlikely to pitch – more on that later). They have the two highest paid hitters (Aaron Judge and Ohtani). And of course there is the future highest-paid player (Juan Soto).

The Yankees have three $300 million players and a fourth targeting $700 million (that’s the latest whisper number, and it’s also a legitimate $700 million ask). The Dodgers have three $300 million men, including the very first $700 million. man. That’s Ohtani, the international superstar who makes money for everyone. Rumor has it that the Dodgers are actually making a big profit on his record-setting contract, and who doesn’t believe that?

Even in a league with Soto (who reportedly called the Yankees victory before hitting the home run that guaranteed it), Judge, whose regular-season stats dwarfed everyone else’s, plus Giancarlo Stanton, an unstoppable October force, Ohtani is the man who ensures this is a global event.

On a Dodgers team with extreme adaptability, he is the champion of versatility, a talent so great that he will win his third MVP in a year in which he was limited to hitting (sorry, Frankie, you were great too). This is probably better for a Hollywood fantasy script, but wouldn’t it be something Ohtani could pitch in relief?

“That’s not going to happen,” is the unofficial word from a Dodgers official.

Okay, so that’s enough for California to dream.

Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

This series is perfect enough as it is.

Soto enters free agency with a virtual guarantee of beating Ohtani for actual contract value (Ohtani’s costs $437.4 million through the players’ union files) and an outside chance to hit that $700 million mark as well, after he Yankees to their first World Series in 15 years with a batting for the ages. And this isn’t common knowledge, but Soto even called a friend that afternoon and said he was going to end the series that night. It’s not exactly Babe Ruth getting his shot on the field, but like Ohtani, Soto combines otherworldly skills with exceptional competitiveness.

If anyone is beating the Dodgers for power, it’s the Yankees, especially now that the beloved slugger they all call G (the G is apparently for guaranteed homers in October) is actually outranking Soto. It’s still a miracle the Guardians pitched to Stanton, but it’s clear now: the Yankees have more than “two good hitters” as Luis Severino once told them (“two and a half,” Severino admitted with a smile on Sunday ).

It’s the pitching where the Yankees really have an advantage. They have a rotation that is close to what they envisioned, while the Dodgers are putting it all together. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who like the Yankees’ Aaron Boone has a stellar track record and countless critics, has done a brilliant job getting them here.

The Dodger rotation is honestly a mess, which gave the Mets hope that they could continue their miracle. A veritable All-Star team of pitchers is out, including starters Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin; Recovering relievers Alex Vesia and Brusdar Graterol may be a good fit for this Series. What remains of their rotation is the $325 million Yoshinobu Yamamoto (who hasn’t been the same since returning from a shoulder problem), Jack Flaherty (whom the Yankees traded away at the trade deadline due to lower back issues) and a shell of Walker Buehler. , who has one win in half a season since returning from Tommy John.

The Dodgers have the edge in lineup depth now that Muncy is getting on base all the time, Kiké Hernandez is in his favorite month and NLCS MVP Tommy Edman has turned himself into a worthy cleaner. And their lit bullpen with the brilliant trio of Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Blake Treinen is even better than the Yankees’ fine pen.

Even with all their aches and pains, the Dodgers are deeper. But there’s no logical reason why oddsmakers have made them the favorite. It’s a tough call, but either way, it’ll be fun. We can hardly wait.