After a thrilling month of playoff action — so thrilling, in fact, that it stretched into early November — it’s time for our 2025 MLB All-October team.
Though Yoshinobu Yamamoto earned World Series MVP honors for his incredible performance during the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ seven-game triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays, that doesn’t tell the whole story of the month. So to honor the best from every stage of the postseason, let’s hand out hardware to a roster of October stars.
From wild-card-round sensations to World Series standouts, here are the players our ESPN MLB panel of experts voted as the best of the best at every position along with some award hardware for the brightest stars of October.
Why he’s here: Raleigh’s record-setting regular season continued right into October as he belted five home runs and posted a 1.081 OPS before Seattle’s postseason run ended in Game 7 of the ALCS.
Why he’s here: If the Blue Jays would have won one more game during the World Series, the introduction of this story would have been all about Guerrero and his incredible October exploits. The Blue Jays’ superstar hit an incredible .412 with a 1.330 OPS during the postseason, delivering signature moment after signature moment while leading Toronto to where it hadn’t been in three decades.
Why he’s here: In a down year for the position, Hoerner had the highest OPS (.973) of all second baseman during the postseason while playing stellar defense as the Cubs dispatched the Padres and went on to force a Game 5 against the Brewers in the NLDS.
How little production did second basemen provide this October? One voter chose Miguel Rojas as his pick for the position solely based on one all-important Game 7 swing.
Honorable mentions: Jorge Polanco, Seattle Mariners; Miguel Rojas, Los Angeles Dodgers
Why he’s here: Clement was instrumental in the Blue Jays’ run, providing consistent production at the plate and solid defense on the field. His 1.032 postseason OPS topped all third baseman and his 30 hits were not only the most of any player this October but set a major league record for most hits in a single postseason.
Why they’re here: If you didn’t know the name Addison Barger before this, you do now. The 25-year-old, who was called up from the majors in mid-April, had a breakout postseason, slashing .367/.411/.583 with three home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.025 OPS while also making a number of diving catches in right field. But the moment that will ensure Barger’s name is remembered? His pinch-hit grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series — which came after he had slept on a teammate’s pullout couch the night before.
Judge’s postseason performances had long been under scrutiny because of his checkered playoff history compared to his stellar regular-season numbers. But that should all be put to rest after this year, as he accumulated 13 hits in 26 at-bats over seven games and finally met his October moment in the form of a monster three-run, tying home run in a crucial ALDS Game 3 to keep New York’s season alive.
The 21-year-old Chourio came out swinging this October, helping Milwaukee to a hard-won NLDS victory over the Cubs, with a double and two-run single in the first game and a three-run home run — which he hit off a 101.4 mph fastball, the fastest pitch for a postseason home run in the pitch tracking era — to cement another victory in Game 2. Though he didn’t light the world on fire when the top-seeded Brewers were swept in the NLCS, Chourio did hit their lone home run and drove in half of their runs in the series.
Why he’s here: It was something of a mixed October for Ohtani, with his .254/.397/.714 playoff slash line heavily carried by a couple of standout games. But those performances just so happened to be two of the best single-game showings in the history of October baseball: a three-home run game (while pitching a gem on the mound) in L.A.’s NLCS clincher and an all-time World Series Game 3 in which he got on base nine times in the Dodgers’ 18-inning triumph.
SP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers SP: Trey Yesavage, Toronto Blue Jays
Why they’re here: There was simply no better pitcher in the sport than Yamamoto this October, as the Dodgers ace authored one of the best postseasons in recent history. Before he won World Series MVP honors by winning three games in the Fall Classic, Yamamoto was masterful in a complete-game NLCS Game 2 gem against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Yesavage bursted onto the scene this October in a way rarely seen before, becoming the World Series Game 1 starter just six weeks after making his MLB debut. He provided Toronto with two of the best starts of the postseason — Game 2 against the Yankees and Game 5 against the Dodgers.
Why they’re here: Misiorowski played a crucial role on the mound for Milwaukee as a starter coming out of the pen to throw bulk innings of high-leverage relief — with his first eight career postseason pitches clocking in at 102 mph or faster. In 12 innings over three games, he totaled 16 strikeouts while giving up six hits and three runs (two earned) and issuing three walks.
Vest was nearly unhittable in October as Detroit’s primary closer, giving up only two hits — and zero runs, for a 0.00 postseason ERA — and striking out nine over eight innings to help the Tigers beat Cleveland in the wild-card round and stay competitive against Seattle in the ALDS before they ultimately lost in a 15-inning Game 5.
A senior member of the athletics staff at a community college in Oakland, California, was shot on campus Thursday, the second time in two days the city has had a shooting at a local school.
The Oakland Police Department said it was investigating the shooting that occurred just before noon at Laney College, where officers arrived to find a man with gunshot wounds. The victim was taken to a hospital and his condition was unknown.
The man later was identified as John Beam, the current athletic director and former head coach of the Laney football team. Beam and the Laney Eagles were featured in the 2020 season of the Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U.” The docuseries focused on athletes at junior colleges looking to turn around their lives.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said she was “heartbroken” by “the second shooting on an Oakland campus in one week.”
“My thoughts are with Coach John Beam and his loved ones. We are praying for him,” Lee said in a prepared statement. “Coach Beam is a giant in Oakland — a mentor, an educator, and a lifeline for thousands of young people. For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family.”
Lee added: “We are standing together, praying for Coach Beam and his loved ones.”
Thursday’s incident came a day after a student was shot at Oakland’s Skyline High School. The student was in stable condition. Police said they arrested two juveniles and recovered two firearms.
Colorado athletics director Rick George will step down from his role at the end of the academic year and become a special advisor to the chancellor, the school announced Thursday.
George has been the AD in Boulder since 2013, returning to the school where he once served on legendary football coach Bill McCartney’s staff as the recruiting coordinator and assistant athletic director for football operations. This coincided with Colorado’s only national title in 1990.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Athletic Director for the University of Colorado for the last 13 years, but after considerable thought and discussions with my family dating back to last spring, I have decided it is time for new leadership to guide the department,” said George. “I wanted to make this announcement now in order to give Chancellor Schwartz plenty of time to find the right person for Colorado, and I look forward to doing everything I can to ensure a smooth transition.
“I also wanted to time my announcement so that I could support Coach Prime and our football team this season, which I’m looking forward to continuing in my new role.”
During his tenure as athletics director, George oversaw the development of a new athletics building attached to Folsom Field and was named the Athletic Director of the year in 2023-24 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
His time as AD will perhaps be most remembered by his hiring of Deion Sanders as football coach, which generated significant national interest in Colorado football. He also returned Colorado to the Big 12, which represented a significant domino in the collapse of the Pac-12 following UCLA and USC’s departures for the Big Ten.
George also spent time as a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and served on the Division I Council.
“Rick’s contributions to our university in his 13 years as head of our athletic department have been incalculable,” Chancellor Justin Schwartz said. “He is a nationally respected leader who has always kept CU at the forefront of the dynamic and highly competitive landscape of college athletics. I am grateful for his leadership and am elated he has decided to stay on as a Special Advisor and AD Emeritus.”
Prior to becoming AD, George was the Chief Operating Officer for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.
The school did not announce a timeline for hiring a replacement.
The College Football Playoff management committee has formally approved the return of Utah athletic director Mark Harlan to its selection committee and named current committee member and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek its new chair, the CFP announced on Thursday.
The moves come hours after Baylor athletic director and selection committee chair Mack Rhoades took a leave of absence from his job for personal reasons amid a university investigation.
“We are deeply appreciative of Mack Rhoades’ leadership and service as chair of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee this season,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said in a news release. “Mack has informed us of his decision to step down for personal reasons, and our thoughts are with him and his family during this time. We are pleased to announce that Hunter Yurachek will assume the role of Selection Committee Chair, effective immediately. Hunter’s experience, integrity, and commitment to the game make him exceptionally well-suited to lead the committee as it continues its important work throughout the remainder of the season.”
Harlan previously served a one-year term during the 2023 season. The CFP typically requires athletic directors on the selection committee to be active, “sitting” athletic directors. Because Rhoades was the Big 12’s nomination, he was replaced by a Big 12 athletic director. The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua unanimously agreed to the changes.
Harlan is not the only committee member in his second stint with the group, as former Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long – also the CFP’s inaugural chairman – is participating again this season. The 12-person group was already one member short this season after committee member Randall McDaniel also stepped away last month for personal reasons.
Rhoades told ESPN on Thursday that he initiated the leave from his Baylor role but declined to explain why.
Baylor told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg that the university received allegations involving Rhoades on Monday. The allegations do not involve Title IX, student welfare or NCAA rules and do not involve the football program, indicating it is a separate incident from Rhoades’ alleged altercation with a football player during a September game.
Jovan Overshown and Cody Hall will serve as Baylor’s co-interim athletic directors, a school spokesman told Rittenberg. Overshown is the school’s deputy athletic director and chief operating officer, and Hall is Baylor’s executive senior associate athletic director for internal administration and chief financial officer.