From the tunnel to the field, MLB players are setting a new game-day standard with bold designer chains.&nbsp;

When the lights were brightest in the tense final innings of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, the world&rsquo;s eyes didn&rsquo;t fall on generational superstar Shohei Ohtani. They weren&rsquo;t on the Dream Team duo of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, either. No, the breakout star of the biggest, baddest World Series of our lifetime was role player and locker room staple Miguel Rojas, whose ninth-inning home run tied the game for the Dodgers. When Rojas rounded the bases, fans in Toronto&rsquo;s Rogers Centre felt their world turning upside down. Across the continent, Dodgers fans in Los Angeles tasted hope for the first time in the game that their team might pull off a back-to-back win. Amidst the pandemonium, one unexpected detail stood out: Rojas&rsquo;s blue Van Cleef &amp; Arpels Alhambra necklace.
It was the specificity of Rojas&rsquo;s piece that took the world by storm. Baseball players have long had a quiet swaggy streak on the field, jewelry being something of a rite of passage for major leaguers. Ken Griffey Jr., one of the most stylish and magnetic players in the history of the sport, often stepped up to the plate in a gold chain, while Deion Sanders&mdash;he of look good, feel good, play good fame&mdash;could often be spotted wearing a few, including pendants sporting the number 21, which he wore on his uniforms in football and baseball.

Today, jewelry is practically part of the uniform. Superstars like the Atlanta Braves&rsquo; Ronald Acu&ntilde;a Jr. and Fernando Tat&iacute;s Jr. of the San Diego Padres wear gold, silver, and diamond-studded chains like they&rsquo;re trying to remind you they&rsquo;re hundred-million-dollar players. Yankee Aaron Judge made headlines with a $20K diamond gavel pendant during the 2025 season, gifted to him by teammate Giancarlo Stanton. Rookies and minor leaguers might splurge on a (smaller) chain when they make it to the big leagues and upgrade when they get their made-man contract. Players who aren&rsquo;t quite as concerned with fashion or bravado also get in on the fun&mdash;Clayton Kershaw, the legendary Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, was always a T-shirt-and-jeans guy; he eventually started wearing a silver chain with a cross pendant when he took the mound. Starting in 2024, the MLB even made the trophy for the annual Home Run Derby a gigantic custom chain and pendant&mdash;as much of a cosign from the organization itself on the chain&rsquo;s place in baseball as anything. It&rsquo;s not limited to flashy Cuban links, either&mdash;Dodgers superstars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Kik&eacute; Hernandez both rocked blue sapphire tennis necklaces during the World Series.
Baseball is, in many ways, a conservative sport. This has been expressed in player dress codes, with very limited wiggle room for self-expression on the field. Other sports like basketball may have standard uniform rules but won&rsquo;t restrict surrounding sneakers or equipment, allowing LeBron James and a two-way rookie player alike to step out on the court each night with a riotous sneaker colorway that doesn&rsquo;t match their uniform. NFL players can go crazy with their cleats and gloves. Baseball players don&rsquo;t enjoy the same freedom, with restrictions on batting helmets, bats, cleats, and everything in between.

Chains, then, bear the weight of a player&rsquo;s self-expression. They have an undeniable aesthetic appeal beyond glitz and glam&mdash;watch one slow-motion highlight of a player rounding the bases after a home run, gold chains bouncing off his chest, and you&rsquo;ll get it. What made Rojas&rsquo;s moment so much more notable wasn&rsquo;t the mere presence of a chain, but rather the presence of such a specific one. Compared to his VCA piece, most players&rsquo; jewelry feels almost anonymous. The Alhambra, on the other hand, is instantly recognizable as the hero piece of an esteemed jewelry brand. It&rsquo;s also notable in the history of who&rsquo;s traditionally worn it. The Alhambra collection may have taken hold of a certain affluent, streetwear-savvy guy these days (it doesn&rsquo;t feel entirely dissimilar from a Supreme box-logo tee in that regard), but it&rsquo;s still delicate, elegant, and historically worn more often by women than men. Alhambra pieces were the favorites of Old Hollywood icons like Elizabeth Taylor, royalty like Kate Middleton, and the woman at the center of that Venn diagram: Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco. Seeing a big-dog utility player like Rojas wear a piece with that kind of history in the biggest moment of his career feels significant in a way a chain&mdash;no matter how large&mdash;wouldn&rsquo;t.
During the 2026 season, don&rsquo;t expect too many other MLB players to bite Rojas&rsquo;s style&mdash;even if the Alhambra has been spotted on other players like Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Rojas has made it his signature in a way other locker rooms are likely to respect. Still, keep an eye out for more recognizable pieces worn around the ballpark in the months ahead; the safe bet is Chrome Hearts, a flex that won&rsquo;t require a player to wonder if they&rsquo;re copying Princess Diana when they fasten it. After Rojas marked his moment in such a big way, you can bet the competition will be looking to follow suit.

Baseball’s New Dress Code: Diamonds

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