How the war in Ukraine is impacting Russian players in the NHL and beyond
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Russian-born players in the NHL have dealt with uncertainty, concern for the safety and well-being of loved ones back home, and harassment by fans, while being expected by some to speak out against their home country.
The league has also faced complex issues, including precarious cross-border travel and managing international relationships.
Simply put by one NHL GM: “It’s the elephant in the room right now.”
Added another GM: “This is a complicated situation that, quite frankly, a lot of us aren’t qualified to speak on. And so out of respect for those players, we’ve kept the conversation out of the public sphere.”
Here are some of the dynamics going on behind the scenes in the NHL as the war continues.
Life for players in the NHL
Last season, many Russian players declined to speak to the media altogether after the invasion. If Russian players did speak, it was nearly always under the agreement with journalists that there would be “no Russia questions.”
Forty Russian-born players made opening night rosters in the NHL. (There are currently no Ukrainian-born players in the league.)
As locker rooms have reopened to the media this season, those players are more accessible. One Russian player told ESPN that he was in an “impossible situation.”
“The media wants us to talk just so they can get us to say things to fit their story,” the player said. “But they don’t actually understand the situation, or what it’s like for our families, or what’s actually going on. If I say I am proud of where I am from and I love being Russian, I am painted as a bad guy — even if I do not support the war. So what am I supposed to do, lie?”
That’s why, the player said, it’s easiest not to say anything at all. He also noted that the topic of war hasn’t been brought up by his teammates in the locker room or on road trips as “we just focus on our jobs, and that is hockey.”
“People want [our players] to speak up in a certain way, but you’re not going to tell someone how to think politically — just like how you avoid conversations about religion or politics at Thanksgiving,” one GM with multiple Russian players on his roster told ESPN. “It’s conflicting for the athletes, and a weird dynamic.”
For Russian players, the biggest concern has been their own security, as well as the security of their families. According to several sources, some teams — especially teams with strong resources — are doing things behind the scenes to help support Russian players. That includes helping obtain visas for family members and even helping them relocate.
The war hasn’t affected contracts for current NHL players, but it has affected their overall earnings. The equipment manufacturer CCM, for example, stopped using Russian players in all global marketing campaigns. According to several NHL marketing agents, there are very few brands looking to do new business with Russian-born players as they wait out the climate. There are, however, expected to be marketing activations around Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin this season as he closes in on Gordie Howe on the all-time scoring chart.
Ovechkin has been a topic of conversation throughout the war, given his previous vocal support for Vladimir Putin — and the fact that he still appears with Putin in his Instagram profile picture. But those closest to Ovechkin have maintained that the dynamics for one of Russia’s most well-known athletes are complex, and there are still concerns over his family back home, which is one of the reasons he hasn’t changed his photo.
Travel for Russian players
According to sources, no NHL teams prevented their Russian-born players from traveling home this summer, despite the unpredictability of travel restrictions. “How are you going to tell a guy not to visit his family, the place he grew up?” one general manager said. “But I think a lot of us were holding our breath, just making sure there were no hiccups.”
The process for reapplying for visas was much more complicated — and slower — than in years past.
The U.S. consulate in Moscow has suspended visa services, so many Russian-born players flew to other countries to get their paperwork approved, which caused a few headaches. But as one agent said, “That was on the U.S. government — they are the ones that made it more difficult.”
When the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators opened their season in Prague as part of the NHL Global Series, the Czech foreign ministry initially told the league that Russian players would not be welcome because of the war in Ukraine.
The Sharks, from GM Mike Grier to captain Logan Couture, drew a hard stance publicly: If the Russians couldn’t go, the entire team would not go.
The Czech government eventually dropped its attempted ban. The Predators’ Yakov Trenin and the Sharks’ Alexander Barabanov and Evgeny Svechnikov all played in Prague. According to people close to the players, they did not experience any hostility and were even stopped for photographs and autographs by fans during the trip.
At the league level
The NHL condemned the Russian government shortly after February’s invasion and ended all business relations in Russia — including its Russian-language website, media and sponsorship deals. The league office was also quick to separate the acts of the Russian government with the league’s Russian players. The NHL said it would support its players, including adding extra security, which has continued this season.
The NHL and NHLPA have been working with the IIHF on hosting a World Cup of Hockey in February 2024. The IIHF has banned Russia from international events, but the NHL and NHLPA are hopeful that they could find a solution — such as having Russian athletes compete under a neutral name or flag. But deputy commissioner Bill Daly said other participating countries don’t view that as satisfactory and are advocating for no Russian player participation at all.
“Especially since the NHL didn’t go to the last two Olympics, playing in this tournament is deeply personal for Russian players,” agent Dan Milstein, who represents a majority of the Russian players in the NHL, told ESPN. “I will be working closely with everyone involved to find a solution here. We will fight until the end. This is a very important issue for the players, and not including them is absolutely unfair.”
The KHL issue
One concern for the NHL is its relationship with the Kontinental Hockey League, a league that includes teams from several countries, but the large majority of them are based in Russia. The KHL, which is widely considered the second-best hockey league in the world, has been on good terms with the NHL. The NHL had been considering sending a team to Russia for exhibition games, or reintroducing a KHL/NHL crossover event. Those discussions are on indefinite hold, with the league ending all business relations with Russia.
The KHL and NHL had a “memorandum of understanding” that required each league to respect each other’s player contracts. No KHL team has violated that memorandum, but many NHL executives wondered whether that might change. “I want to see what happens this current season,” Daly told ESPN in August. “I don’t really know one way or the other yet.”
One NHL executive presented this scenario: “If a player isn’t happy with his playing time, or down to the AHL, who’s to say he doesn’t just bolt home and sign a contract over there? That’s a real possibility now.”
Ivan Fedotov
One player in particular who was caught up in the geopolitical maelstrom: Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov, who was expected to compete for Philadelphia’s backup goaltending position this season. Fedotov played last season for the KHL’s CSKA Moscow, which is considered an extension of the Russian Army. Fedotov signed a contract with the Flyers in May, and two months later, while skating at a rink in St. Petersburg, he was arrested by a SWAT team and sent to a military base in Severomorsk. All men ages 18-27 in Russia must serve in the military unless they have an official exemption, which is usually university studies. Fedotov was detained on grounds of military evasion.
“This type of snatching and sending young men to arctic bases has been used as retaliation against opposition figures in Russia,” Washington Post Russia correspondent Mary Ilyushina explained to ESPN. “In this case, it may not have to do with opposition but rather abandoning a Russia club for an American one.”
Fedotov hired a military lawyer, who reported that Fedotov was hospitalized after receiving “some kind of injections.” Fedotov has since been transferred to another base. His legal team dropped his appeal for the charges of evasion, and according to sources, he is hopeful that after serving a year in the military he will be released and allowed to come to the United States to begin his NHL career.
This is a case the league is following closely, as it could be the first example of the NHL and KHL memorandum being violated. Considering CSKA Moscow’s relationship with the military, it’s possible Fedotov could be required to play for CSKA Moscow.
One general manager said he’s not as concerned for well-established veterans, but more so for the prospects and younger players in the league. “They seem more susceptible to getting caught up with military service, et cetera,” the GM said. “And of course there is now the real concern — one that we used to have for years, but had gone away of late — about getting those guys over here and signing contracts. “
The draft and Russian prospects
Many in the scouting community predicted that Russians would be shut out of the first round of the 2022 NHL draft for the first time since 2005. However, three Russian players were selected in the first round in July: Pavel Mintyukov (Anaheim Ducks, No. 10), Ivan Miroshnichenko (Washington Capitals, No. 20) and Danila Yurov (Minnesota Wild, No. 24). It’s much easier for NHL teams to draft players already playing in North America, like Minyukov and Yurov, who were in the Ontario Hockey League.
Miroshnichenko is more of a risk. He was once projected as a lottery pick, but dropped because he was still in Russia playing in the second division last season and because he will miss the 2022-23 season after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Capitals viewed his draft selection as a gamble, but the upside was too much to pass up.
Matvei Michkov is considered a top-three pick in the 2023 draft, and his stock will be interesting to monitor as he plays this season for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL. Several NHL teams have pulled scouts from Russia, but it’s hard to gauge how many organizations have a Russian presence as some teams may have consultants on payroll. Either way, Michkov will go the entire season with very few people from NHL organizations having eyes on him. Scouts say it helps that Michkov has played in well-attended tournaments over the past two years, such as the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup and the 2021 world juniors in Texas.
Michkov is under contract with the KHL through the 2025-26 season. “At those tournaments he looked like a world-class talent, someone worthy of going top-two, -three of the draft,” one veteran amateur scout said. “But I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s a precipitous drop simply because of the circumstance.”
Sports
MLB Awards Week predictions, results: Will All-Star Game starters Skubal and Skenes win Cy Young Awards?
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Bradford Doolittle
The hot stove season is already burning, but even amid the roster shuffling for the 2026 season, we have one last bit of 2025 business: handing out the major awards.
The most prestigious are the four major honors determined by BBWAA voting. These awards will have a lasting impact on baseball history books and Hall of Fame résumés.
On Monday, Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz was unanimously selected as the American League Rookie of the Year, and Atlanta Braves rookie catcher Drake Baldwin earned the National League honor.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy and Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt each won their second consecutive Manager of the Year award on Tuesday.
Here is the remaining schedule (awards are announced starting at 7 ET each night on MLB Network):
Wednesday: Cy Young Awards
Thursday: MVP Awards
MLB will also hold its annual awards show in Las Vegas on Thursday, during which it will recognize its All-MLB squads, the Hank Aaron Awards for each league’s best offensive performer, the Comeback Player of the Year Awards, the Mariano Rivera/Trevor Hoffman Awards for the top relievers, and the Edgar Martinez Awards for best designated hitters. The Executive of the Year Award will also be announced.
I’ll be reacting to each night’s awards announcement throughout the week, but in the meantime, here are some opening comments and some brief reaction to the honors that have been awarded.
Below, we list the three finalists in each of the remaining categories, with what you need to know before the results are announced and my picks to take home the hardware. We’ll update each section with news and analysis as the winners are revealed.
Jump to:
MVP: AL | NL
Cy Young: AL | NL
Rookie of the Year: AL | NL
Manager of the Year: AL | NL
American League Cy Young
Finalists:
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
My pick: Skubal
Skubal is well positioned to become the AL’s first repeat Cy Young winner since Pedro Martinez in 2000. He might just be getting started. The dominant lefty didn’t repeat as a pitching Triple Crown winner, but he posted a lower ERA (2.21 to 2.39) and struck out more batters (241 to 228) than he did while winning the Cy Young Award in 2024. For the second straight year, he led the AL in pitching bWAR, FIP and ERA+.
That’s a tough résumé for Crochet to top, but he came pretty close, leading the AL in innings (205⅓) and strikeouts (255) and beating Skubal in wins (18 to 13). Skubal was a little more consistent in terms of average game score (64.2 to 62.6). Skubal really didn’t rout Crochet in any key area, but he beat him just the same in most columns.
Brown is a worthy No. 3, but for him, it’s the same story: He hung with the big two in most areas but didn’t top them. Still, it was another season of improvement for Brown, whose ERA over the past three seasons has gone from 5.09 to 3.49 to 2.43.
Cy Young must-reads:
The extraordinary mystery of the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal
National League Cy Young
Finalists:
Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
My pick: Sanchez
My AXE system wasn’t particularly emphatic about the No. 3 pitcher in the NL Cy Young column, so Yamamoto is as good a pick there as any. We start with him because his dominant postseason run is fresh in our minds. But that doesn’t factor in here. Maybe it should, but it doesn’t. In any event, I’d have gone with Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta as my No. 3.
Regardless of the third finalist, during the regular season, Skenes and Sanchez gradually separated themselves from the pack, especially after Sanchez’s teammate Zack Wheeler was injured. They are the easy top two but picking between them isn’t that easy.
Sanchez has the edge in volume — 202 innings to 187⅔, in part because the Pirates eased up on Skenes toward the end. Indeed, failure to do so would have been malpractice. Despite that, Skenes struck out more batters (216 to 212), posted a better ERA (1.97 to 2.50) and led the league in ERA+, WHIP and FIP. The extra 14⅓ innings allowed Sanchez a narrow win in bWAR (8.0 to 7.7).
In the end, their runs saved against average is a virtual dead heat: 53 for Sanchez against 52 for Skenes. Thus for me it comes down to context. Sanchez put up his season for a division champ, Skenes for a cellar dweller. That is not Skenes’ fault, but we’ve got to separate these pitchers somehow. Sanchez’s season was worth 3.2% championship probability added against Skenes’ 0.5%. That’s the clincher for me.
But I think Skenes will win the vote.
Cy Young must-reads:
How young aces Skenes, Skubal dominate
American League MVP
Finalists:
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians
My pick: Raleigh
What to know: We’re going to dive deep into the riveting race between Judge and Raleigh later this week. According to my AXE rating, which is an index that expresses the consensus of the leading bottom-line metrics, the winner is Judge (164 to 150) and it’s not particularly close.
Despite the easy statistical case for Judge, I see this as a case in which the narrative and intangible elements overwhelm the metrics. And that’s not to undersell Raleigh’s metrics, which are more than MVP-worthy. But despite another historic season from Judge, I’m going with Raleigh.
Again, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of the numbers later, but the soft factors that swing my thinking are these: Raleigh’s 60-homer season is the stuff of science fiction when viewed through the lens of what’s expected from every-day catchers. It not only shattered the single-season mark for the position, but it broke Mickey Mantle’s record for homers by a switch-hitter. Mickey freaking Mantle. And Raleigh’s a (darn good) catcher!
Raleigh did all of this as the defensive anchor and clubhouse leader on a division champion. There aren’t many seasons when I’d pick someone as MVP over the 2025 version of Aaron Judge, but this is one of them. Sure, I’m a stat guy, so this feels like a departure from that foundation, but sometimes a narrative is just too compelling to ignore.
Finally, poor Jose Ramirez. This is Ramirez’s sixth time landing in the AL’s top five in MVP balloting, and eighth time in the top 10. But he’s not going to win. Ramirez just keeps churning out the same great season every year. It’s just that there has always been someone a little greater each season.
That being said: Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. should have been the third finalist. He’ll be back.
MVP must-reads:
What it’s really like facing Aaron Judge
Can Yankees build a title-winning team around Aaron Judge?
‘It’s something that’s never been done’: Inside Cal Raleigh’s road to HR history
Why the Mariners are built to last after a crushing ALCS loss
National League MVP
Finalists:
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
Juan Soto, New York Mets
My pick: Ohtani
What to know: Together, the three NL MVP finalists logged 63% of their starts at designated hitter. Most of the non-DH starts came from Soto, whose defensive metrics continue to suggest a future of increased DH time. Still, the days of DHs being locked out of the MVP chase are clearly over.
Ohtani was the first exclusive DH to win an MVP last year, though he’d won it before while serving as an every-day DH in addition to pitching. He logged 1.1 bWAR this season for his 47 innings on the mound, which could have proved to be a tiebreaker if he and the other finalists were close. But it’s Ohtani all the way.
As hitters, all three used up a similar number of outs as Ohtani, who had at least a 20-run advantage in runs created over both. Shockingly, it was Soto who had the best baserunning numbers, thanks to his 38-steal breakout and Ohtani deemphasizing that part of his game. But Ohtani provided easily the most defensive value with his pitching, while Soto’s defense was a negative and Schwarber was almost exclusively a DH.
Basically, everything Schwarber and Soto did, Ohtani did better — and he pitched well. Even Schwarber’s league-leading RBI count (132) is trumped by Ohtani’s decided edge in WPA, a category in which he led the league. It’s Ohtani’s award, again, and it will be No. 4 for him. Only Barry Bonds has won more.
Not for nothing, you know which position player posted the highest bWAR total? That would be a nonfinalist: Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo (7.0 bWAR), though he did finish behind Ohtani when the latter’s pitching bWAR is added.
MVP must-reads:
2025 MLB most exciting player bracket: Ohtani, Judge, more
The improbability of Shohei Ohtani’s greatness
Schwarber, All-Star swing-off captures the beauty of baseball
Inside Juan Soto’s wild first Mets season
Juan Soto, the showman, finally showing up for Mets
American League Rookie of the Year
Winner: Nick Kurtz, Athletics (unanimous)
Final tally: Nick Kurtz 210 (30 first-place votes), Jacob Wilson 107, Roman Anthony 72, Noah Cameron 54, Colson Montgomery 23, Carlos Narvaez 21, Jack Leiter 6, Will Warren 5, Luke Keaschall 3, Braydon Fisher 2, Shane Smith 2, Cam Smith 2, Chandler Simpson 1, Luis Morales 1, Jasson Dominguez 1
Doolittle’s pick: Kurtz
Takeaway: Before the season, Kurtz’s name wasn’t near the top of the list for AL Rookie of the Year candidates. He didn’t lack hype — he was viewed by many as the Athletics’ top prospect — but his meteoric rise was unexpected.
Kurtz, the fourth pick in 2024, played just 12 minor league games and another 13 in last year’s Arizona Fall League before this season. So, it made sense that he began the season in Triple-A, where he posted a 1.000-plus OPS, which he has done every step of the way.
Kurtz debuted in the majors April 23, and 117 games later, his 1.002 rookie-season OPS ranks as the fifth best for a rookie (minimum 480 plate appearances) behind Aaron Judge, Ted Williams, Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun. But none of those greats matched Kurtz’s accomplishment against the Astros on July 25, when he hit four homers, finished with six hits and tied Shawn Green’s big league record for total bases in a game (19).
The ninth Rookie of the Year in Athletics history, Kurtz’s slash line (.290/.383/.619) at 22 is evidence that he’s the complete package at the plate and still might improve. But even if he doesn’t, and this is what he is going forward, he’s one of the best hitters in the majors.
The other two finalists — Anthony and Wilson — were both high on preseason lists for the award and validated that anticipation with fine rookie seasons. Wilson’s .311 average ranked third in the majors. He was one of seven qualifying hitters in the majors to hit at least .300. Anthony lived up to massive hype upon his arrival at Fenway Park, but he suffered an oblique injury Sept. 2, ending his chances of overtaking Kurtz for the award.
Here’s how my AXE leaderboard had it:
1. Nick Kurtz, Athletics (126 AXE, finalist)
2. Jacob Wilson, Athletics (118, finalist)
3. (tie) Roman Anthony, Red Sox (115, finalist)
Noah Cameron, Royals (115)
Colson Montgomery, White Sox (115)
6. Carlos Narvaez, Red Sox (110)
7. Shane Smith, White Sox (109)
ROY must-reads:
Passan Awards: Nick Kurtz wins ‘Individual Performance of the Year’
How a swing tweak has Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony rolling
National League Rookie of the Year
Winner: Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves
Final tally: Drake Baldwin 183 (21 first-place votes), Cade Horton 139 (9), Caleb Durbin 69, Isaac Collins 62, Daylen Lile 17, Agustin Ramirez 10, Chad Patrick 9, Jakob Marsee 8, Jack Dreyer 4, Matt Shaw 4, Jacob Misiorowski 2, Nolan McLean 2, Heriberto Hernandez 1
Doolittle’s pick: Baldwin
Takeaway: The voters favored Baldwin’s full-season production over Horton’s remarkable second half. It was a tough call, but Baldwin established himself as one of the game’s outstanding young catchers. Baldwin hit .274/.341/.469 over 124 games, numbers strong enough to earn him regular DH time on days he wasn’t catching. That’s key, because Atlanta still has veteran Sean Murphy under contract for three more years.
Like his AL counterpart Kurtz, Baldwin was considered his organization’s top prospect by many when the season began, but he was expected to make his big league debut late in 2025 or in 2026. Baldwin got his chance when Murphy suffered a cracked rib in spring training. The Braves had several journeyman backups in camp, but Baldwin was so impressive that he started behind the plate on Opening Day.
Baldwin is the first catcher to win NL Rookie of the Year since Buster Posey in 2010. The only other Braves catcher to win the award was Earl Williams (1971), though Williams divided his time between catching and the infield.
If Horton had a first half that matched his post-All-Star-break performance, he might have been a unanimous pick and even entered the Cy Young debate. In 12 second-half starts, Horton went 8-1 with a 1.03 ERA, allowing just 33 hits while striking out 54 over 61⅓ innings. He allowed one run or fewer in 11 of those outings. Horton’s efforts helped the Chicago Cubs, who were scrambling to make the postseason with a short-handed rotation. This shows up in his probability stats: Horton ranked 12th among all NL pitchers in win probability added and 13th in championship probability added.
Durbin was a vital cog in the Brewers’ run to a franchise-best 97 wins. He was also one of several rookies in Milwaukee who were key contributors to the Brewers’ run to the NLCS. If “Brewers rookie” was an option on the ballot, “Brewers rookie” should have won.
Here’s how my AXE leaderboard had it:
1. Drake Baldwin, Braves (115 AXE, finalist)
2. Caleb Durbin, Brewers (113, finalist)
3. Cade Horton, Cubs (112, finalist)
4. Isaac Collins, Brewers (111)
5. Chad Patrick, Brewers (110)
6. Jakob Marsee, Marlins (109)
7. Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates (108)
American League Manager of the Year
Winner: Stephen Vogt, Cleveland Guardians
Final tally: Vogt 113 (28 first-place votes), John Schneider 91 (10), Dan Wilson 50 (2), Alex Cora 7 (1), A.J. Hinch 6, Joe Espada 3
Doolittle’s pick: Schneider
Takeaway: The AL Manager of the Year race remained murky to me up to and including the day that awards finalists were announced. EARL, an algorithm that seeks to create order out of the chaotic process of rating managers, was all over the place through the season. Hinch, who was favored in many of the betting markets until he turned out to not be a finalist, was submarined by his team’s drastic midseason fall-off (though he should have received credit for side-stepping a complete collapse and earning a playoff spot).
That left last year’s winner, Vogt, whose Guardians made a stirring run to overtake the Tigers in the AL Central, as well as Wilson, skipper of the AL West champion Mariners, and Schneider, who guided the Blue Jays to the East crown. In the end, the voters were picking between the AL’s three division-winning managers.
Worst to first is always a great narrative — and perhaps the best argument in favor for Schneider after the Blue Jays rebounded from 2024’s last-place finish to win Toronto’s first division title in a decade, one that was validated with a postseason run all the way to extra innings of Game 7 of the World Series. Schneider was strong in wins versus Pythagorean-based expectation (94 wins for a win expectation of 88.5) and record in one- and two-run contests (43-30).
But Vogt beat him in both areas, and the same held true in terms of preseason expectations. Toronto beat its preseason over/under consensus by 10 wins, the fourth-best performance in the majors. Third best? Vogt, at 10.5. Vogt becomes the fourth manager to win back-to-back awards, minutes after the Murphy in the NL became the third.
Worst to first: Great story. Coming back from 15½ games back on July 8? Even better.
Here’s how my EARL leaderboard had it:
1. A.J. Hinch, Tigers (108.3 EARL)
2. John Schneider, Blue Jays (107.8, finalist)
3. Joe Espada, Astros (107.0)
4. Stephen Vogt, Guardians (105.2, finalist)
5. Dan Wilson, Mariners (103.5, finalist)
6. Matt Quatraro, Royals (101.8)
7. Mark Kotsay, Athletics (99.6)
Note: EARL is a metric that looks at how a team’s winning percentage varies from expectations generated by projections, run differential and one-run record. While attributing these measures to managerial performance is presumptive, the metric does tend to track well with the annual balloting.
Manager of the Year must-reads:
The magic chemistry of the Blue Jays clubhouse
National League Manager of the Year
Winner: Pat Murphy, Milwaukee Brewers
Final tally: Murphy 141 (27 first-place votes), Terry Francona 49 (2), Rob Thomson 32 (1), Craig Counsell 24, Clayton McCullough 22, Torey Lovullo 1, Mike Shildt 1
Doolittle’s pick: Murphy
Takeaway: The measures that feed EARL anointed Murphy pretty early in the season. Though the Brewers were a division winner in 2024, when Murphy won the award in his first full season as a big league manager, they were pegged for a .500-ish baseline entering the season. Instead, Milwaukee raced to a franchise record, a 17-win surplus against expectation that was the most in the majors. (McCullough’s Marlins were plus-15, hence his presence in the EARL leaderboard below.)
Murphy creates a fun, positive clubhouse atmosphere, keeping things light when it’s warranted, and getting heavy when it’s needed. He treats everyone the same, from the journeyman roster fill-in to franchise cornerstone Christian Yelich, not to mention everyone else in the great ecosystem of baseball that comes across his path on a daily basis. His skill set in building an upbeat culture doesn’t get enough attention — it’s an essential trait for a club that’s always iterating its roster.
One sign of a good manager is the ability to integrate rookies. Well, this season Milwaukee easily led the majors in rookie WAR, even as the Brewers chased another division crown. They played an exciting brand of offensive baseball that featured plenty of action on the basepaths and adherence to situational execution. They deployed one of the game’s top defenses. All of these things are hallmarks of a well-managed squad.
The Brewers remain perhaps baseball’s best-run franchise, a distinction that requires aptitude from the front office to the dugout, where Murphy presides. He becomes the first back-to-back NL Manager of the Year winner since Bobby Cox (2004-05), who did it with the Braves. The only other back-to-back winner was Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash, the AL’s honoree in 2020-21. Murphy, who managed San Diego on an interim basis in 2015, is the first skipper to win in his first two full seasons.
Here’s how my EARL leaderboard had it:
1. Pat Murphy, Brewers (113.7 EARL, finalist)
2. Clayton McCullough, Marlins (106.9)
3. Oliver Marmol, Cardinals (106.1)
4. Rob Thomson, Phillies (103.9, finalist)
5. Craig Counsell, Cubs (103.4)
6. Mike Shildt, Padres (103.2)
7. Terry Francona, Reds (101.7 finalist)
Manager of the Year must-reads:
Welcome to ‘Milwaukee Community College’: How the Brewers built a $115 million juggernaut
Why Terry Francona, Bruce Bochy came back to managing in MLB
Other awards
Just a run-through of my picks, leaving aside the Comeback Player category, which is tough to attack analytically:
Executive of the Year: Matt Arnold, Milwaukee Brewers. I have a metric I use to track organizational performance. It looks at things such as the performance of acquired players, organizational records and the value produced by rookies. Arnold’s club topped the charts. Arnold won this award last year, so we’ll find out if there is an Arnold fatigue at work here. If Arnold doesn’t win, I’d lean toward Seattle’s Jerry Dipoto.
All-MLB: My All-MVP first team, courtesy of AXE:
1B: Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves
2B: Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
3B: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians
C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
OF: Juan Soto, New York Mets
OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
OF: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks
DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
LHP: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
RHP: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
RP: Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox
Hank Aaron Award: Aaron Judge (AL, New York Yankees); Shohei Ohtani (NL, Los Angeles Dodgers)
Mariano Rivera Award: Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox
Trevor Hoffman Award: Edwin Diaz, New York Mets
Gold Gloves: The winners have been announced and can be found here. My quibbles: I would have gone with Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk at AL catcher over Detroit’s Dillon Dingler. On the NL side, I’d have liked to find a spot for Washington’s Jacob Young, but the insistence on LF/CF/RF distinctions ruled that out. All in all, another pretty solid job in an awards category that used to be rife with absurdities.
Inspirational thought of the week:
I’m riding slow in my Prius
All-leather, tinted windows, you can’t see us!
Everybody’s trying to park you can feel the tension
I’m in electric mode, can’t even hear the engine
Just then I saw a spot open up
My timing’s perfect! I’m creeping up …
But then this other dude try to steal it
Going the wrong way!
“Hey man I’ve had a long day!”
It’s getting real in the Whole Foods parking lot!
I got my skill and you know it gets sparked a lot
— “It’s Getting Real in the Whole Foods Parking Lot,” DJ Spider
Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located in the massive audio warehouse where Kirk Herbstreit keeps all of the recordings of the “AAAAAWWWWWW”s that people release when they see Peter the dog, we took a look at the calendar hanging on the front of our refrigerator and realized … hang on … we realized that it’s not 2008 like this calendar says … OK … here’s the new one … let’s start over.
We looked at the calendar hanging on the front of our refrigerator and realized there are only three weekends remaining in the 2025 college football season. Or, if you live in the world of #MACtion like we do, only three more weekends plus three more weeks of Tuesday and Wednesday games played between banks of plowed snow.
That means stuff is about to get real. Sure, the hoity-toity top 10 will tell you it’s all about the CFP. But around here, it’s about the BFP, the Bottom 10 Football Playoff. And once we wake up Charlie Weis and get our internet dialed back up, we too shall be shaping up a bracket that shall determine a champion. The real champion. The champion of life. Or, actually, Life. The board game. Where the gold revenge squares give you the option to “sue for damages” with the goal of hitting “retire in style” or “retire to the country to become a philosopher.”
And now it suddenly dawns on us that Brian Kelly and his lawyers must like board games.
With apologies to former Ohio back David Board, former Idaho receiver Tom Gamelin, as well as Georgia State receiver Keron Milton, Air Force lineman Brian Bradley and Steve Harvey, here are the post-Week 11 Bottom 10 rankings.
The Minuetmen are the nation’s only remaining winless team, but the final three weeks of their #MACtion revenge reunion tour would seem to provide two solid chances to taste victory before tasting the Thanksgiving turkey, beginning with a Wednesday night Pillow Fight of the Week of the Year Mega Bowl visit from Bottom 10 Wait Lister Northern Ill-ugh-noise, which airs at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The ESPN Analytics Ouija board says UMass has a 21.8% chance of victory, its best shot for the rest of the season.
During this week’s traditional post-weekend #Bottom10Lobbying deluge on social media, I heard from a Nevada grad named @mugtang who wrote: “Nevada would lose by 3 touchdowns to UMass! Rank us #1 in the bottom 10. Or would it be #136?” In related news, after reading his tweet, I went to the store, bought some Tang drink mix and drank it from a mug. With rum in it. Like the astronauts used to do.
The Panthers lost last week at Coastal Carolina 40-27. Next, they host Marshall, which is convenient for fans of the Thundering Herd, who could just follow the Georgia State bus as it left town because it is a natural law that at any given time, half the population of West Virginia is at Myrtle Beach.
The Niners travelled Down East to EC-Yew and lost 48-22. In their defense, they weren’t themselves because they were already testing out what it’s like to play covered in bubble wrap and rubber boat bumpers, preparing for their Week 14 trip to Georgia.
Legend has it that after the angel Moroni showed Joseph Smith the golden plates upon which the Mormon Church was founded, he also warned Smith to make sure to heed the oft-forgotten inscription located on the scratched up backside of the plates: “BEWARE THE COVETED FIFTH SPOT LEST IT BITE YOU IN THE BEHIND IN LUBBOCK.”
Sources tell Bottom 10 JortsCenter that BC and UMass are secretly looking to play a Bottom 10 Toilet Bowl title game on Christmas Eve morning, to be held in the parking lot of the Mass Turnpike Natick Service Plaza, sponsored by Dunkin’, D’Angelo’s sandwiches and Vinny’s Vape and Spray Tan. Go Sox.
Hear me out. A reality show where all the college football coaches who have been fired this season meet at a Buffalo Wild Wings and watch games together. Or better yet, they do it at Mike Gundy’s ranch.
It’s always tough when you didn’t know what you wish you’d known at one time, but it felt better because you thought you knew plenty about a time that was still to come, only to see the time still to come not be what you thought you knew and make that first thing you didn’t know at the time feel like even more of a missed unknown opportunity. See: We didn’t realize how big the Week 3 game between MTSU and Nevada was, and now the game we thought was going to be big — MTSU vs. Sam Houston State on Nov. 22 — isn’t as large as it once was. Why?
Because of what the Beavs just did. Or, actually, what they failed to do. The Other OSU spent the first two months of the season in these rankings before departing thanks to two straight wins, over Lafayette and fellow 2Pac members Warshington State. It was like the scene in “The Dark Knight Rises” when Bruce Wayne climbed out of that underground desert prison he’d been banished to by Bane … only this time when he got to the top, Bane was waiting to step on his fingers. And who is Bane in this Batman Bottom 10 metaphor?
(For full Bane effect, read the next lines with your hand cupped over your mouth while doing the accent of a shouting cockney actor who is constipated, while wearing a Bearkats hoodie.) “Kurious how you konkluded this kontrived eskape would be sukcessful, Kaped Krusader! Now we kome for you, Blue Raiders!”
Waiting List: Livin’ on Tulsa Time, Colora-duh State, UTEPid, Arkansaw Fightin’ Petrinos, South Alabama Redundancies, Northern Ill-ugh-noise, billable hours.
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Jake Trotter
The NCAA has placed Michigan State football on three years of probation for violations that occurred under Mel Tucker’s tenure as coach.
The violations occurred due to the participation of three ineligible players. Now, the Spartans will vacate all 14 wins from the past three seasons, a school spokesperson confirmed. That includes all five wins last season during Jonathan Smith’s first year as coach.
The three players are no longer with the program, the spokesperson said.
Michigan State will also be penalized $30,000 plus 1.5% of the football program’s budget. For the 2024 season, that budget was $58.6 million, according to figures provided by Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
The Spartans will also face restrictions on official and unofficial visits, recruiting communications, recruiting person days, and off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations over the probationary period.
The school released a statement saying it negotiated a resolution with the NCAA to minimize the penalties on the current team.
The NCAA handed Tucker, former Michigan State general manager Saeed Khalif and former assistant coach Brandon Jordan show-cause penalties. Tucker was given a three-year order. The NCAA said Tucker “failed to adequately monitor his program.” Khalif (six years) and Jordan (five years) were given longer penalties for knowingly providing impermissible recruiting inducements, according to the NCAA. The three cannot coach in college until their show-cause orders end.
Michigan State fired Tucker for cause in 2023 after he was accused of sexual harassment.
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