Culture
The Dujardin scandal has rocked equestrian sport. Does it have a future at the Olympics?
“Remove equestrian events from the Olympic Games.”
The statement from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a United States-based animal rights group, did not pull any punches.
“Horses don’t volunteer — they can only submit to violence and coercion. It’s time for the Olympics to move into the modern era.”
This was after a video emerged, two days before the 2024 Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony, of Great Britain’s three-time dressage gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin “excessively” whipping a horse during a coaching session four years ago.
Charlotte Dujardin, Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian, has been provisionally suspended & will not compete at Paris 2024.
This video has emerged of the dressage star which she said showed her ‘making an error of judgement’. pic.twitter.com/PQ9rPQTD04
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) July 24, 2024
Dujardin announced her withdrawal from all competitions — including the Paris Games — while under investigation by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), who later confirmed she had been provisionally banned for six months.
The sport has since come under intense scrutiny and the question being asked is: do equestrian sports have a place at the modern Olympic Games?
While animal rights activists believe there should be a blanket ban on all horse sports, others in the Olympic industry believe their place as a sport at the Games is not under “immediate threat” and would be surprised if they were dropped. They did, however, describe the Dujardin scandal as a “wake-up call” and underlined how the equestrian world should not be complacent.
What has the reaction been within the sport?
The video of Dujardin was a huge shock to her long-time team-mate and mentor Carl Hester, whose Gloucestershire yard is where Dujardin trains.
“It’s difficult, of course it is,” said the Olympian, who signed a statement from the board members of the International Dressage Riders Club last week that “universally condemned” Dujardin’s actions.
Hester, who said the incident did not take place at his yard, is competing in the dressage competition in Paris. “I have known her for 17 years. She’s a mum, she has a small child. She has paid very heavily in a way that you wouldn’t believe.
“That video is fairly obvious and nobody is going to support that. You can’t (support it). But over 17 years, I have not seen that, that is not her.”
Hester and Dujardin with their Olympic medals after the Tokyo Games (Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images)
In her statement, Dujardin apologised in what she described as an “error of judgment” and said she was “deeply ashamed and should have set a better example”.
“She obviously accepts what she did, which she had to do and I am glad she has done that, for her,” added Hester. “This is four years ago, people do make mistakes — what do we do, never forgive people for all the things that have happened?
“It’s going to be a long road for her and a lesson for everybody in the horse world. We have to put horses first and show that.”
The shockwaves rippled throughout the equestrian world, according to Tom McEwen, who won gold for Team GB in the team eventing alongside Laura Collett and Ros Canter this week.
“I didn’t like the look of it and I didn’t like to see her persisting with the use of the whip,” Mary King, who won three Olympic medals in eventing with Team GB, tells The Athletic. “The length of time she did it was wrong.” King also added the timing of the video’s release to stop Dujardin competing at the Olympics was “horrible”.
“We all know it needs to change if this is out there,” said Hester. “We are going to have to do that but as we have seen from the last few days of sport here (in Paris), we’ve seen the care, the grooms who work incredibly hard, how they love and look after the horses and I hope that starts to show how that works.”
Is this an isolated incident or a wider problem?
PETA’s vice president, Kathy Guillermo, was “horrified” but “not surprised” by the video, explaining the group frequently receives whistleblower videos from grassroots to professional riders in each discipline: dressage, showjumping and eventing. “It’s become so commonplace that I’m surprised when somebody isn’t abusing a horse,” she says. “That sounds harsh, but it is more common than not.”
According to Guillermo, the volume of evidence PETA receives shows dressage is the most “problematic” of equestrian events. “Dressage is not natural to a horse. It started out to be the training of a horse to use their balance and physical attributes in a normal way, and it grew into something very distorted.”
King refutes that dressage has overstepped the mark. “A rider can only produce a horse to what they are capable of doing,” she says.
But the issue goes beyond dressage. PETA also wrote to the FEI calling for the elimination of Brazilian event rider Carlos Parro after photographs showed him allegedly performing “hyperflexion of the horse’s neck so severe that it appears deformed”, a practice known as rollkur that violates FEI rules. The FEI issued a warning for causing “unnecessary discomfort to a horse” but allowed Parro to compete.
One of the photos of Parro that PETA submitted to FEI (PETA)
Austria showjumper Max Kuehner is also facing a charge in Germany for committing an offence in May 2023 against the Animal Welfare Act for “poling” or “rapping”, a technique whereby the horse’s legs are hit with a pole as they go over the jump to make it think it hit the fence, so the animal will pick his legs up higher the next time. The Munich court will not provide more information on the matter until September 2024 and the FEI told The Athletic it will await the procedure’s outcome.
In April 2024, the European Equestrian Federation surveyed more than 9,000 people, the majority of whom were European national-level riders, and revealed that 90 per cent of participants, from grassroots to international level, had witnessed instances of poor horse welfare at home, and more than half of those instances had occurred in the past six months. The survey also reported comments focused on dressage and the sentiment that judging rules and standards are affecting training methods.
Yet the FEI president Ingmar De Vos told the BBC: “You need to put it (Dujardin’s case) into context. We have many riders, athletes and horses and it’s a very low percentage. But every case is a case too much. We need to constantly educate our athletes because what was allowed 30 years ago is not allowed today. We want people to speak up because we as the FEI, the guardian of our sport and horses, need to work with our community to make our sport better.”
The chief executive of global equine charity World Horse Welfare, Roly Owers, does not believe the issue is “systemic” but it does go beyond the incident with Dujardin.
“There is a real challenge,” he says. “This case needs to be treated as another real wake-up call. If horse sport is to have a future, it has to show at all times, both on the competition field and at home, that the horse is the key stakeholder. Their welfare is the number one priority and sadly, that wasn’t the case here (referring to the Dujardin video).
“There’s a huge difference between considering a whip as almost an extension of the arm, where you’re using it as an aid, either tickling or tapping, allowing the horse time to respond, and using the whip as a weapon to strike where the horse will not only not understand, but as you saw in that video, will get frightened as well.”
From his six-month stint in the equestrian world as former interim chair of British Equestrian, Ed Warner noted certain attitudes in the sport needed modernisation, including horse welfare.
“Most owners, riders, coaches are clearly completely devoted to the welfare of their horses,” says Warner, writer of Sport Inc and a former UK Athletics chair. “As in many sports, there are some bad apples, rotten apples, or just people with outdated views at the margin that let the sport down. I found it to be a rather closed world. It would do no harm shining a brighter spotlight onto it for the good of the sport.”
King maintains that mistreatment of horses is not commonplace and they are treated like “kings and queens” to help them perform at their best. Benefiting from nutritionists and physiotherapists, top-level horses “live a life of luxury,” she says.
“This cruelty isn’t involved in what we do. The better they are cared for, the better they’re going to go to competition. We all absolutely adore our horses. We’re training them to trust us.
“There are times when, like bringing up children, they need to know black and white, what’s right and wrong, for them to progress happily and confidently.”
King on Imperial Cavalier at the 2012 London Olympics (John Macdougall/AFP/GettyImages)
King adds total trust between human and animal is essential to a successful partnership — and that takes time. “They’re much bigger and stronger than we are,” she says. “If they don’t want to do something, they won’t. There’s not much we can do about it.”
But PETA’s Guillermo, who used to compete in equestrian events as a teenager and played polo, disagrees. “That’s a nice fantasy, the idea that because somebody knows a horse, that horse is working hard for them. It is equally true a horse will work hard when coerced into doing so, when treated violently to do so, as we have seen with Dujardin.”
The status of equestrianism as an Olympic sport
PETA is steadfast in its approach to banning horse sports from the Olympics and Paralympics (the latter only includes dressage).
“I don’t think they’re going to last much longer,” says Guillermo. “Too much of the truth is coming out. The history of the use of horses in the Olympic Games is rife with scandal. It’s just that most of it didn’t make the headlines.
“There have been drugging issues, issues with injuries, horses whose tongues have been tied down into their mouths to keep the tongues from coming above the bit.
“The Olympics are going to modernise and realise that this kind of abuse scandal is not worth it and that it really has no place in the modern world.”
At the 2028 Olympics, obstacle course racing will replace showjumping as one of the disciplines of the modern pentathlon after a German coach was seen striking a horse at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. However, comparing that part of modern pentathlon to the designated dressage, eventing or showjumping events is like comparing apples and oranges — in the multi-event version, it is a lottery which horse is assigned to which rider and there is no opportunity for a partnership to be formed.
Saint Boy, the horse struck by a coach in Tokyo. Rider Annika Schleu faced criticism for her repeated whip use (Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Such a precedent is concerning for those involved in equestrianism, which first featured at the Games in 1900 and has been included in every edition since 1912, but Owers believes the sport shows the “ultimate benefit of the horse-human relationship working in harmony”, which he says should be cherished and presented on the world stage.
Its historical place at the Olympics, too, should not be disregarded. “It would be wrong to downgrade the importance of heritage in the roster of Olympic sports,” says Warner, now chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby, who also notes equestrian events’ relatively strong popularity with the global television audience.
“They’re not the most popular sports, but they are far from the least popular either,” he says.
There is a royal element at play too. Members of the Dutch, Spanish, Jordanian and British royal families have been FEI presidents over the years, including Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Anne. The Princess Royal competed at the 1976 Olympics in team eventing and presented the medals to the eventers on Monday. Her daughter, Zara Phillips, won Olympic silver in the same event at London 2012.
But as well as the pressing issue of horse welfare, King, along with others, raises the concern of the high financial costs of hosting equestrian events at an Olympics, given horses need to be flown around the world, not to mention the facilities required.
What factors are considered when dropping or reintroducing sports?
Beyond the traditional Olympic sports, such as cycling, swimming, athletics, gymnastics and rowing, every event is fighting to keep its spot, according to Warner.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been challenged over recent years by the decrease in the number of cities willing to host the Olympic Games, given the ever-increasing number of athletes and participating sports.
It constantly reviews the sports programme and looks for a mix of the traditional and the new to remain relevant to today’s youth. In Paris, there has been the addition of breaking and the return of skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing from Tokyo. The 2028 Games will feature flag football and squash for the first time, as well as the return of baseball, softball, cricket and lacrosse.
At the end of each Games, the IOC looks at a Rubik’s Cube of factors for all sports: ticket sales, broadcast views, the sport’s success between games, the world championship of a non-Olympic sport, the appeal to a young and global audience. As you can imagine, it gets highly political.
Many sports have come under pressure for different reasons. Modern pentathlon was on the cusp of being dropped from the 2028 Olympic programme, and the inclusion of boxing is yet to be confirmed because of governance issues.
Will equestrian events be at the 2028 Olympics?
The IOC works one Games in advance so the sports programme for the 2028 Olympics has already been locked in, including equestrian events. But it has the power to remove any event if it wishes and will review formats and quotas after Paris.
Simon Clegg, former CEO of the British Olympic Association (BOA) and a former Team GB chef de mission, warns against a “knee-jerk reaction” to the incident with Dujardin, and would be very surprised if the IOC dropped an individual discipline, such as dressage, or an entire sport. Instead, he encourages the FEI to investigate the case properly and let due process take its course. It will be up to the IOC if it wants to follow through on horse welfare issues.
Warner does not believe equestrian events are under any “immediate threat” but thinks those involved in the sport cannot get complacent.
“The IOC is acutely conscious of its reputation and how any mistreatment of horses will look to the wider public that doesn’t understand horse sport and just watches it every four years when the Olympics comes around,” he says.
The key for Warner is for the sport not to lose perspective of how it might appear from the outside and ensure the highest standards of horse welfare are delivered.
“If that can be done, and if the FEI is suitably hard on those that transgress, it’ll be fine,” Warner says. “The initial suspension for Dujardin shows meaningful intent. The onus is on the FEI to ensure it doesn’t think that out of sight means out of mind when it comes to finalising the case.”
Where does the sport go from here?
“Any horse abuse case is unacceptable and will always be acted upon by the FEI,” a spokesperson for the international governing body told The Athletic.
“The FEI has a robust legal system to sanction those that violate the rules and seek to abuse their horses. The IOC has full trust in the FEI and also has confidence we will address these cases properly.”
They also have a new action plan for equine welfare strategy, comprising six priority areas that include training, riding and recognising physical and emotional stress.
The challenge equestrianism faces, according to Owers of World Horse Welfare, is showing the public that “equine welfare is the priority above any competitive or commercial influence”.
Owers and Warner believe it is about building a culture where people call out malpractice to bring about change. Just like any other sport, it is unrealistic for a governing body to attend every individual training session and often riders will have their horses on their private yard.
Education — from top riders to grassroots — awareness of issues, competition stewards and active bystanders all play a role. King advocates for quality trainers to be more accessible to young riders to enhance their education.
“Be very clear about what is an acceptable training method and what is not,” Owers says. “That has to come very, very quickly.”
PETA, however, calls for a more objective stewarding approach.
“The FEI needs a person present with deep experience in equine medicine and animal welfare who is not involved in these sports. The coaches and the veterinarians are so wrapped up in this world that what is clearly abuse to others ceases to look like abuse to them. We need an observer who understands horses and abuse who is not part of that world.”
Owers also suggests the implementation of an anonymous reporting framework across all levels from the FEI to riding schools. The survey mentioned earlier found that 60 per cent of respondents did not know who to contact if they wanted to report a horse welfare issue, and grooms at private yards were in a vulnerable position if they raised reports against their employer.
“The regulators have got a role to play, but it starts with the individual rider,” he says. “If we don’t place equine welfare at the centre of horse sport, then it has no place on the international stage.
“But you place it at the centre and we believe it has a wonderful example of the horse-human relationship which has been going on for millennia.
“But it’s got to earn that right.”
(Top photos: Getty Images/Design: Dan Goldfarb)
The Kansas City Royals are good for baseball, and not just because they’re a small market team vying for a postseason spot or because Bobby Witt Jr. is one of the game’s brightest young stars.
No, the Royals are good for baseball because they’re a shining example of what every organization in professional baseball should be doing: trying.
The Royals, you may recall, spent nearly $110 million on free agents this winter. The moves were well-received, but didn’t exactly make national headlines. They didn’t spend a half-billion dollars on two players like the Texas Rangers did before 2022. They didn’t win the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes.
The Royals, who lost 106 games last year, wanted to get better quickly. They recognized that player development and amateur scouting weren’t going to be enough, so they supplemented the roster in free agency, aggressively adding more than a half-dozen players. Now, with a winning season already in hand, they’re on the precipice of clinching a postseason berth, perhaps as early as this week.
Revolutionary? Hardly. Rare? In today’s game, very.
“Sometimes you need that slap upside the head, right?” Royals owner John Sherman, who greenlit the expenditures, asked reporters this spring. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we cannot tolerate something like that again for our fans.”
Every owner can afford an offseason like the Royals had. They were aggressive without being foolish, and added again at the trade deadline and during the past month via the waiver wire. And yet, few have done it.
While MLB has added measures to try to help combat the sport’s tanking epidemic, getting teams to consistently try, front offices to assume risk and owners to open their wallets has been another problem altogether.
J.J. Picollo, the Royals’ executive vice president and general manager, has made his operation stand out from that of other teams. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
Witt’s otherworldly season (he will easily clear 10 fWAR) would make him a shoo-in for American League MVP if not for the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge. It also comes after a spring in which Sherman OK’ed an 11-year, $288.8 million contract extension for the Royals young star, which could be worth as much as $377 million over 14 years when it’s all done. It’s the most lucrative deal in franchise history.
Again, if Kansas City — one of the smallest markets in baseball — can do it, why can’t everyone else?
As other teams downsize departments and chop personnel — last week alone, a half-dozen teams made cuts to scouting and player development, according to league sources, or “restructured” in the nonstop efficiency-speak of front offices — the Royals have added infrastructure. In the two years since executive vice president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo took the reins, Kansas City reimagined all three scouting departments with new leaders, modernized the organization and changed the culture. The Royals have emphasized data, adding six new people to the research and development team, including a new director. They’ve folded that in by hiring people with traditional baseball resumes, but open minds.
Picollo, who was internally promoted when Dayton Moore was fired, hasn’t hesitated to hire outsiders, even those he has no previous relationship with, like manager Matt Quatraro. Quatraro, like Picollo, has been widely credited for steering the turnaround, and for bringing a curious mind and willingness to innovate. These aren’t two hotshot young Ivy League grads leading the charge; both men played minor league baseball and are in their 50s.
Perhaps the new market efficiency is doing things just a little differently, for zigging when others are zagging, even if it’s not always new territory. These Royals, for all their successful efforts to modernize, are also masters of the basics.
Only the San Diego Padres lineup has a lower strikeout rate, and Kansas City also ranks among the league’s best defenses, further elevating a solid pitching staff.
From Day 1 of last offseason, the Royals targeted pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, not because they were the best players available (they weren’t) or because either guy had wipeout stuff (neither pitcher has had a 200-strikeout season to date) but because they fit certain tenets. Lugo was an All-Star this year who could get some Cy Young Award consideration, despite a rare rough outing on Monday, while Wacha has gone 9-1 with a 2.67 ERA and 71-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio since the beginning of July.
At 52-45 at the start of the second half, Picollo and company didn’t wait to see which route the team would take, like so many other clubs who weren’t leading their division did. Instead, they again moved quickly, unafraid to double down after some of their offseason relief options didn’t pan out. Kansas City acquired Hunter Harvey from Washington two weeks ahead of the deadline, and also added Oakland’s Lucas Erceg along with swingman Michael Lorenzen and infielder Paul DeJong.
When first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino went down, Picollo added three players on waivers to fill the void: Yuli Gurriel, Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman. The cost was cash. The payoff was immediate. The Royals had targeted Pham and Grossman at the deadline but weren’t able to secure either. The group could have helped several clubs ahead of Kansas City in the waiver order. No one else jumped.
Not every move the Royals made has worked out. But, like their lineup, the Royals front office has a pretty low whiff rate. And as they attempt to chase down the Baltimore Orioles for the top wild-card spot, Kansas City’s model has proven to be a good one.
It’s good for the city, which hasn’t had a playoff team since the 2015 World Series champions. It’s even better for baseball.
(Top photo of Bobby Witt Jr. celebrating a win with teammates: Jay Biggerstaff / Imagn Images)
By Grant Brisbee, Andy McCullough and Stephen J. Nesbitt
Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.
There are two weeks left in the Major League Baseball regular season. Each team has four series remaining between them and whatever is on their October calendar: playoffs or pool time.
But November looks the same for all of ’em.
That’s awards season, baby!
We’ve paired this week’s Power Rankings with picking each team’s top individual award candidate — MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Jomboy Lip-Reading of the Year, et cetera. This isn’t to suggest each team has someone with a shot to win. Far from it. Some races have basically been called. But it’s still worth tipping a cap to each team’s best bet.
Record: 90-59
Last Power Ranking: 2
Top award candidate: Zack Wheeler, NL Cy Young Award
This might be Wheeler’s best season with the Phillies, which is saying something, considering how excellent he has been since he joined the team heading into 2020. He has accumulated more wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, than any other pitcher during that time frame. He is operating at a high level as the postseason approaches. In his last eight starts, Wheeler has posted a 1.76 ERA while striking out more than a batter per inning. He is the ace of the best team in baseball, the sort of horse Philadelphia intends to ride back to the World Series. — Andy McCullough
Record: 88-61
Last Power Ranking: 1
Top award candidate: Shohei Ohtani, NL MVP
I know this will be a controversial choice because Ohtani doesn’t even play in the field (!!!), but I’m thinking this will be the first time in baseball history that an injured pitcher wins the NL MVP. It would be his third MVP, which means he’d join the three-timers-and-more club:
• Jimmie Foxx
• Joe DiMaggio
• Stan Musial
• Roy Campanella
• Yogi Berra
• Mickey Mantle
• Mike Schmidt
• Alex Rodríguez
• Albert Pujols
• Mike Trout
• Barry Bonds (7)
That’s a ridiculous list, but Ohtani is a ridiculous player. He’ll fit in just fine. — Grant Brisbee
Record: 87-63
Last Power Ranking: 3
Top award candidate: Aaron Judge, AL MVP
Well, duh. He is having the best season of his career, even in the midst of a brief slump. (Judge went 16 games without hitting a home run before blasting a grand slam in a stirring victory over the Red Sox on Friday.) The downswing will prevent Judge from breaking his own American League home run record of 62, but he still may wrangle his second MVP trophy out of the clutches of Kansas City sensation Bobby Witt Jr. Witt is a five-tool dynamo and a delight to watch — but Judge has come close to replicating the production of Barry Bonds at his peak while playing center field. — McCullough
Record: 86-63
Last Power Ranking: 4
Top award candidate: Pat Murphy, NL Manager of the Year
If your predecessor walks for a record contract and your ace is traded away but your team doesn’t miss a beat — another 90-win season, another division title — yeah, you’re winning this award. It’s a pretty easy pick. So, here’s a second award candidate: Jackson Chourio, NL Rookie of the Year. He was so overmatched in April and May that many wondered if he’d head to Triple A.
Before June 1: .210/.254/.327, 5 HR, 61 wRC+, 27 K%, 5.7 BB%
Since June 1: .309/.368/.555, 16 HR, 152 wRC+, 16.4 K%, 7.8 BB%
Turns out, Chourio figures things out just fine on the fly at the major-league level. Another reason to give his manager an award! — Stephen Nesbitt
Record: 86-64
Last Power Ranking: 7
Top award candidate: Emmanuel Clase, AL Reliever of the Year
Let’s start with Clase’s case for Reliever of the Year as of this writing: 0.66 ERA, .659 WHIP, MLB-leading 45 saves in 68 1/3 innings. Got it? Got it.
Now for the bigger argument: Cy Young. No reliever has won the award in 21 years, and all signs point to the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal winning this time. But, man, what Clase’s doing is incredibly rare. I could only find 10 pitchers with a sub-1 ERA and at least 68 innings pitched, most recently 2018 Blake Treinen. Only two have matched Clase’s ERA.
2012 Fernando Rodney: 0.60 ERA, 48 saves in 74 2/3 innings
1990 Dennis Eckersley: 0.61 ERA, 48 saves in 73 1/3 innings
Both finished fifth in Cy Young voting and got down-ballot MVP votes. (Eck won both awards in 1992 when he had a 1.91 ERA and 51 saves.) — Nesbitt
Emmanuel Clase doing Emmanuel Clase things. pic.twitter.com/OEhKj7jQWy
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 17, 2024
Record: 86-65
Last Power Ranking: 6
Top award candidate: Jurickson Profar, NL Comeback Player of the Year
Because it’s a more common tale, this award often goes to the best player who was injured the previous season and then came back to post his usual numbers. Back in 2011, Lance Berkman won it over Ryan Voglesong, who had one of the better comeback stories in modern history. Not that I still think about these things. But it’s the perfect example of how the vote usually goes.
Profar wasn’t injured much last season. He just stunk it up and got released. This year, he was an All-Star for the first time, and he’s going to be a key part of the Padres’ postseason hopes. It’s refreshing, honestly. This award should go to players who stunk the season before. Profar has the best case in years. — Brisbee
Record: 84-66
Last Power Ranking: 5
Top award candidate: Gunnar Henderson, AL MVP
No, he will not take home the hardware, not in a season graced by Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. But a year after winning the American League Rookie of the Year award, Henderson leveled up in 2024. During a season in which many of his young teammates have dealt with extended slumps or nagging injuries, Henderson boosted his OPS from last year by about 100 points while playing solid defense at shortstop. He has struck out less, walked more and made consistent solid contact. It’s an excellent combination. He just turned 23 this summer. He figures to be a fixture in this discussion for years to come. — McCullough
Record: 83-66
Last Power Ranking: 8
Top award candidate: Mike Hazen, NL Executive of the Year
OK, so Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery haven’t quite worked out yet, but that’s an argument for Hazen winning this. He created a roster that could withstand dud seasons from their two biggest free agents. Randal Grichuk wouldn’t be a bad choice for Comeback Player of the Year. Corbin Carroll might be a good candidate for the award based on the difference between his first and second halves. Every regular in the lineup has an OPS+ of 100 or better, and the Diamondbacks are absolutely lapping the rest of baseball in runs scored, in no small part because of the creative additions to the roster, both during the season and in the previous offseason. The trade for Eugenio Suárez alone should make Hazen a strong contender for the award. — Brisbee
Record: 82-68
Last Power Ranking: 9
Top award candidate: Bobby Witt Jr., AL MVP
If WAR is the answer, this race is still neck-and-neck between Witt and Aaron Judge. By FanGraphs WAR, Judge leads, 10 to 9.7. By Baseball-Reference WAR, Judge is up, 9.7 to 8.9. The odds remain in Judge’s favor after he snapped a 16-game homerless drought with two big flies over the weekend. But Witt is still authoring an incredible season. He’s in line for a batting title, hitting .331 with 31 homers and 28 steals. He also has 17 outs above average at shortstop, tied with Francisco Lindor and Marcus Semien for second among infielders, trailing only Andrés Giménez (18 OAA). We may have jinxed Witt with the hitting-.400-at-home headline. He’s only batting .379 at home now. That’s on us. — Nesbitt
Record: 81-69
Last Power Ranking: 11
Top award candidate: Yordan Alvarez, AL MVP
Quietly one of the best hitters of his generation. Or of any generation, for that matter. Alvarez might put up yet another OPS+ over 170, which would be his third time doing so. The only players to have more of those seasons before turning 28: Ty Cobb, Mike Trout, Frank Thomas, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Johnny Mize, Rogers Hornsby, Babe Ruth and Tris Speaker. Alvarez is on the next tier down, which means he’s only keeping up with guys like Albert Pujols, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. He’s never won an MVP award, and he won’t this year. But he’s deserving of something. So, here, take this acknowledgment in a power rankings. Print it out and stick it to the fridge with a magnet that has a funny saying on it. You’ve earned it. — Brisbee
Record: 81-68
Last Power Ranking: 10
Top award candidate: Chris Sale, NL Cy Young Award
For baseball fans of a certain vintage — the type of people old enough to have hard opinions about the relative merits of Timbaland’s “Shock Value” and “Shock Value II” — it has been charming to see Sale dominating this season like he did in the previous decade. Sale was the best pitcher in the 2010s to never win the Cy Young. He finished in the top six in voting in seven consecutive seasons but never topped the balloting. That figures to change in 2024. Sale entered this week on track to win the Triple Crown with a 17-3 record, a 2.35 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 172 2/3 innings. At 35, after several years disrupted by injury, he has authored a remarkable comeback story — and been the best pitcher in baseball. — McCullough
Record: 81-68
Last Power Ranking: 12
Top award candidate: Francisco Lindor, NL MVP
Lindor’s importance to the Mets was apparent long before his back injury sidelined him for a pair of crushing defeats to the Phillies this past weekend. If he can return to the lineup soon, there will be a fierce MVP debate pitting Lindor, a strong shortstop, against Shohei Ohtani, who has not played the field this season. Ohtani’s heroics at the plate may make him the first designated hitter to win MVP. But Lindor has put together a strong case. He has been more valuable than Ohtani, according to FanGraphs’s version of WAR (while Ohtani has the edge, according to Baseball-Reference). One point in Lindor’s favor — besides the whole “playing a position every day” thing: He has been reliable with runners in scoring position, posting an .847 OPS. — McCullough
GO DEEPER
Is WAR the answer? How one advanced metric has come to dominate MVP voting
Record: 79-70
Last Power Ranking: 13
Top award candidate: Carlos Santana, AL Gold Glove
Can the Comeback Player of the Year award go to a guy with 50 fewer games than the previous year? Asking for a different Carlos (Correa).
Let’s set that aside and stump for Santana to win his first Gold Glove. The 38-year-old has been a solid contributor with the stick this season, with 22 homers and a 113 OPS+, and has continued playing superlative defense at first base. He has 13 outs above average. The only other first baseman in his orbit is Christian Walker, the NL’s two-time defending Gold Glove first baseman, who has 12 OAA. — Nesbitt
Record: 77-73
Last Power Ranking: 14
Top award candidate: Cal Raleigh, AL Gold Glove
The Mariners have an absurdly talented rotation, with five different starters with at least 19 starts and an ERA between 2.38 and 3.62. Those five starters have combined to walk 152 batters as of this writing; Randy Johnson walked 152 batters by himself in 1991.
You can’t avoid walks if your catcher isn’t stealing strikes, though, and Raleigh is one of the best at doing it. He leads all AL catchers in defensive metrics according to both FanGraphs and Baseball Savant, and it isn’t especially close. He’ll almost certainly be one of the finalists after the season, and he’s earned it. — Brisbee
Tarik Skubal has impressed this season, with a 16-4 record and a 2.50 ERA. Will he be Detroit’s fifth Cy Young winner? (Duane Burleson / Getty Images)
Record: 77-73
Last Power Ranking: 16
Top award candidate: Tarik Skubal, AL Cy Young Award
A Cy Young has been in Skubal’s sights since he returned from Tommy John rehab before the 2023 All-Star game. He dominated down the stretch last season, with a 2.80 ERA, and has delivered more of the same this season. Skubal is 16-4 while leading the league in ERA (2.50), FIP (2.56) and strikeouts (214) across 180 innings. The 27-year-old lefty has been brilliant all season, and lately, the Tigers have matched his level, surging into the postseason race as the finish line nears. It’s still a long shot but not out of the question, and that’s wild. Skubal would be the Tigers’ fifth Cy Young winner, joining Denny McLain (who did it twice), Willie Hernández, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. — Nesbitt
Record: 76-73
Last Power Ranking: 15
Top award candidate(s): Shota Imanaga and Michael Busch, NL Rookie of the Year
Neither Imanaga nor Busch has a real shot of winning the award, but since they’re equally unlikely, we’ll recognize both. The Cubs acquired Busch from the Dodgers for prospects Zyhir Hope and Jackson Ferris — now ranked Nos. 5 and 12, respectively, in the Dodgers system by Baseball America. The trade may work out wonderfully for both sides. Busch has blasted 20 homers with a .793 OPS (122 OPS+) while playing plus defense at first base for the Cubs. The 31-year-old All-Star Imanaga, signed to an entirely reasonable contract with team options through 2028, has been terrific in his first season stateside, allowing three earned runs or fewer in 24 of 27 starts and posting a 3.03 ERA. — Nesbitt
Record: 75-75
Last Power Ranking: 17
Top award candidate: Tanner Houck, AL Cy Young Award
In an odd year for starting pitchers, Houck should land on a few Cy Young Award ballots, even if he entered the season’s final fortnight with a losing record. No longer do starters get punished as harshly by voters for their win-loss results, and Houck has been a stable presence for Boston all season. He has kept hitters off-balance by leaning heavily on his sweeper and his splitter. In turn, he’s kept opposing lineups from going deep, which is never an easy task in the American League East. — McCullough
Record: 74-75
Last Power Ranking: 18
Top award candidate: Ryan Helsley, NL Reliever of the Year
After missing much of the 2023 season with a forearm strain, Helsley has been both healthy and excellent this year, leading the league with 44 saves — more than doubling his previous high of 19 — and posting a 2.19 ERA. Helsley’s fastball averages 99.6 mph, though this season, his slider is his primary pitch — and for good reason: opposing hitters are batting .164 against it. Helsley has been more hittable in 2024, with a higher WHIP (1.15) and lower strikeout rate (28.7 percent) than he had the previous two seasons as the Cardinals’ closer. But despite the traffic, he’s limited damage by missing barrels. — Nesbitt
Record: 73-77
Last Power Ranking: 19
Top award candidate: Junior Caminero, AL MVP (in 2027)
We write about Caminero relatively often in this space, so forgive us for repeating ourselves, but he’s been a burst of energy in an otherwise bleak season. The Rays underachieved early in the year. The front office tore down the roster at the deadline. Taj Bradley ran out of gas. (Well, at least Ryan Pepiot proved to be a better bet than Tyler Glasnow.) The reasons for long-term optimism center around faith in the team’s baseball operations department and hope in players like Caminero, the 21-year-old infielder who is capable of ferocious contact and ferocious whiffs in equal measure. — McCullough
Record: 73-78
Last Power Ranking: 22
Top award candidate: Elly De La Cruz, NL MVP
While Hunter Greene will receive down-ballot Cy Young votes, we’ll go with the guy who’s been healthy. De La Cruz has leveled up across the board in his first full MLB season. He leads the majors with 64 steals, is slashing .257/.342./.469 (120 OPS+) and has contributed 14 outs above average at shortstop. De La Cruz is crushing fastballs, walking more and chasing less than last season. He has 24 homers, and with his astounding raw power he could turn more barrels into homers in future years. His clear flaw is his strikeout rate, which still sits at 31 percent. If that comes down, watch out, Ohtani. — Nesbitt
Record: 72-78
Last Power Ranking: 20
Top award candidate: Tyler Fitzgerald, NL Rookie of the Year
Fitzgerald won’t pull this off when his competition is Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio, all of whom deserve to win. But in a season that’s not as saturated with future stars, he’d have a chance. A recent back injury scuttled his chances at a 20-20 season, which is impressive for a player who didn’t become a lineup regular until the middle of June.
The Giants have other award-adjacent types, like Patrick Bailey (Gold Glove candidate) and Ryan Walker (Trevor Hoffman Award candidate), but in a normal season, Fitzgerald would be getting a lot more attention for the Rookie of the Year. If the Giants didn’t have him, goodness, they would be lousy. More so. — Brisbee
Record: 72-78
Last Power Ranking: 23
Top award candidate: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., AL Silver Slugger
This is not damning with faint praise. This is progress! After two quieter seasons at the plate, Guerrero returned as a force in 2024. Too bad it wasn’t in service of a postseason chase. At least Guerrero has set himself up for a massive payday. That could come in the form of an extension with the Blue Jays, who are committed to attempting to contend again next season with this year’s core. Or, if Guerrero wants to test the market, it could come in free agency after 2025. He is still so young that he would hit the market while entering his age-27 season. No free-agent first baseman has inked a deal worth $200 million since Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder heading into 2012. Guerrero could change that. — McCullough
Record: 71-79
Last Power Ranking: 21
Top award candidate: Bruce Bochy, AL Manager of the Year
Why not just vote for the most respected manager, regardless of their team’s record? Surely the folks who created this award never thought it would become “Manager of the team that did way better than expected” every stinking year. Where’s the love for the managers who are simply doing their jobs better than others?
So start a revolution. I don’t know if the Rangers would be 61-89 without Bochy, or if they’d be three games up in the wild-card chase without him. All I know is how his players and ex-players talk about him, and it seems like this award would be a fine way to honor him or any of the other widely respected managers around either league. The last time he won a MOY award, he was 40, almost as old as two of his players at the time, Rickey Henderson and Fernando Valenzuela.
All Bochy has done since is build an unbeatable Hall of Fame career. Seems like managers like that should get more awards, not be tied with Tony Peña, Gabe Kapler, Kirk Gibson and Matt Williams, who combined to manage 17 seasons. That is, 10 fewer seasons than Bochy alone. — Brisbee
Record: 71-78
Last Power Ranking: 24
Top award candidate: Paul Skenes, NL Rookie of the Year
Skenes entered his start Monday with a 2.10 ERA over 120 innings as a starter. Here are the last five rookies to do that.
1986 Mark Eichhorn: 1.72 ERA in 157 innings
1980 Doug Corbett: 1.98 ERA in 136 1/3 inning
1973 Steve Rogers: 1.54 ERA in 134 innings
1968 Stan Bahnsen: 2.05 ERA in 267 1/3 innings
1968 Jerry Koosman: 2.08 ERA in 263 2/3 innings
That’s the whole list going back to the Year of the Pitcher, 1968. Corbett and Rogers pitched entirely in relief. Bahnsen was the only one of the group to win Rookie of the Year. Skenes is in toss-up territory. He was the story of the Midsummer Classic and has dominated hitters. But Mr. Clutch Jackson Merrill has had an everyday impact in getting his team to the playoffs. The Pirates have only had one Rookie of the Year winner: Jason Bay in 2004. — Nesbitt
Record: 68-81
Last Power Ranking: 25
Top award candidate: James Wood, NL Rookie of the Year
It’s tough to be a National League rookie in 2024, a season blessed with the debuts of Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio. That trio has overshadowed Wood — and, with his 6-foot-7 frame, Wood rarely gets overshadowed. He has held his own since the Nationals called him up on July 1. His size will always leave him prone to strikeouts. But he has the potential to be a star for a franchise that could use some. — McCullough
Record: 65-85
Last Power Ranking: 26
Top award candidate: Brent Rooker, AL MVP
The former first-round pick is just a couple years removed from wondering if his career was almost over. In April 2022, Rooker was a throw-in to the deal that sent Taylor Rogers to the Padres. A couple months later, the Padres traded him to the Royals for a backup catcher who never reached the majors with them. Two months after that, the Royals waived Rooker. He had just turned 28, he had a .668 OPS in the majors, and the marketplace was suggesting his value was somewhere between a fringey backup catcher and a waiver claim. That’s right about when some start thinking about law school or opening a sandwich shop.
Instead, Rooker will finish in the top 10 in the AL MVP voting, and it’s hard not to get sentimental about stories like his. Although I’m really in the mood for a sandwich right now, so I’m wondering what his shop would have offered. — Brisbee
Record: 60-90
Last Power Ranking: 27
Top award candidate: Zach Neto, AL MVP (10th place)
The order I write these capsules is determined by the alphabetical order of the team name. That’s how they show up in the document every week, which means I typically have to think about the Angels first. This one feels like an OSHA violation.
This was the category that broke me. You look for a player on their team who can win an award, even a simple Gold Glove. You can’t.
This will be the first season the Angels haven’t had a top-five MVP finisher since 2011, which is wild. So while we can’t pretend that Neto deserves a top-five finish for the AL MVP, he’s got a shot at a single 10th-place vote, at least. He’s currently 23rd in the AL in WAR among position players, according to FanGraphs, but he’s a win-and-a-half away from 10th place. Fudge a little and give him extra credit for being one of the brightest lights in a dark situation. The Angels can get a single 10th-place MVP vote, as a treat, to wean them off the award endorphins that are long gone. — Brisbee
Record: 57-93
Last Power Ranking: 29
Top award candidate: Brenton Doyle, NL Platinum Glove
Any Tom, Dick and Harry can win a Gold Glove. And they have. (Tom Pagnozzi, Corey Dickerson and Harold Reynolds, to be specific.) But it takes a true fielding freak to win a Platinum Glove, and Doyle certainly qualifies. Coors Field has a monstrous, punishing outfield, and the Rockies will always need one of the best defensive center fielders in the game. They have one in Doyle. Now he’s hitting well, too, which seems unfair. There go those Rockies again, catching all the breaks.
This would be the 15th Platinum Glove in the award’s history. If Doyle wins, this would be the breakdown by team:
• Cardinals (6)
• Rockies (6)
• Cubs (1)
• Braves (1)
• Padres (1)
If Nolan Arenado wasn’t traded, the Rockies might have more than three-quarters of the Platinum Glove awards. Wild. — Brisbee
Record: 55-95
Last Power Ranking: 28
Top award candidate: Skip Schumaker, Manager of the Year (in 2025)
Schumaker will become the darling of the free-agent managerial market when the season ends. The move was telegraphed months ago when Miami eliminated his option year for 2025 after Peter Bendix replaced Kim Ng as the head of baseball operations. Schumaker won Manager of the Year after the Marlins snuck into the postseason last season. There was far less good fortune in 2024. Miami was a wreck from Opening Day onward, and the rebuilding figures to take a while. Schumaker is expected to take over in a different dugout next spring — and he’s likely to benefit from Craig Counsell’s financial windfall with the Cubs. — McCullough
Record: 36-115
Last Power Ranking: 30
Top award candidate: Jerry Reinsdorf, Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award
The Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award has been given out to 15 individuals. Cal Ripken Jr. for his Iron Man streak. Tony Gwynn for his batting titles. Mariano Rivera for his saves record. Most recently, Shohei Ohtani for making two-way history. Only one team has received the commissioner’s award: the 2001 Mariners for tying the 1906 Cubs’ wins record of 116.
If winning the most games makes you worthy of the award, losing the most should, too. I humbly nominate Reinsdorf and his 2024 White Sox to be the second club honored. Outdoing the 1962 Mets’ loss record of 120 would be nothing short of historic. — Nesbitt
(Top photo of Mookie Betts: Rich von Biberstein / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Before Sidney Crosby’s first home opener at Pittsburgh’s now-extinct Mellon Arena in October 2005, Mario Lemieux walked past a media scrum encircling Crosby and into the players’ lounge, pouring a cup of black coffee.
Smirking, he opined about soon being “forgotten.” Then, in an unusually earnest moment, Lemieux predicted Crosby would “own all my records one day,” nodded his head and walked out.
Lemieux might have undersold it. Crosby will have an opportunity to break Lemieux’s Penguins records, but also NHL records by Wayne Gretzky (most consecutive seasons averaging at least a point per game) and Steve Yzerman (most consecutive seasons as a team captain).
“(Lemieux) really said that?” Crosby said on Monday afternoon, after speaking with Pittsburgh media following his annual delivery of season tickets to an unsuspecting family in Mars, Pa. “Like, really?
“Uh, there’s still a long way to go.”
Not too long. Crosby needs 99 goals, 30 assists, and 128 points to knock Lemieux from the Penguins’ perch in those regular-season categories. He long ago set the franchise marks for postseason assists (130) and points (201), and needs only six postseason goals to do one better than Lemieux’s 76.
Still, after Crosby signed a new, two-year contract with an $8.7 million average annual value with the Penguins on Monday, he’ll get at least three more cracks at a bargain rate to notch more accomplishments.
GO DEEPER
Crosby’s new Penguins contract is his sweetest assist yet
Whether he drags the Penguins along for the ride — and back into a position of prominence — or becomes the only reason to care about a proud-turned-fledgling franchise could determine if Crosby does what Lemiex did in Pittsburgh: stay until the end of his career.
Crosby has said he wants to play only for the Penguins. He also wants to chase another Stanley Cup championship.
The Penguins have not qualified for the last two playoffs and will again enter a season with one of the NHL’s oldest rosters. Since Kyle Dubas traded for star defenseman Erik Karlsson last August, the Penguins’ front-office boss’s most intriguing acquisitions have been a handful of prospects.
Once a rite of passage for Crosby’s Penguins, a postseason appearance is hardly guaranteed before his new contract expires. Intriguingly, that contract is structured so he can leverage an exit before its final season if Dubas doesn’t quickly return the Penguins to contender status.
Crosby’s contract is designated 35-plus, a notable status per the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its Players Association. The contract includes two signing bonuses — a choice, essentially, by Crosby and agent Pat Brisson to get the bulk of the actual money paid before Crosby plays the final season of the new deal.
Crosby will earn $780,000 and $1.09 million in salary respectively in Years 1 and 2 of the new contract. But he will have been paid $16.31 million in real money before playing a game in Year 2.
Who cares how Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group pays Crosby so long as it pays him, right?
Every other GM in the league will care.
With 93.7 percent of Crosby’s salary paid before Year 2 of the new contract, he would come cheap — again, in terms of actual money — in any potential trade during the 2026 offseason. By paying the supermajority of Crosby’s real money before that second contract season, the Penguins could justifiably demand a more favorable return in any potential trade, especially if, as would be likely, they took on a sizeable chunk of Crosby’s cap hit.
It would be just a one-season hit if Dubas retained even 50 percent ($4.35 million) to maximize the return in a trade that would end — albeit probably only temporarily — one of the NHL’s great love stories.
Crosby didn’t sign this new contract to not see it through. He’s said repeatedly, publicly and privately, that he wants to play only for the Penguins.
He also said he wants to win. He reiterated that point a few hours after the Penguins announced his new contract on Monday.
“I had some conversations with Kyle throughout the process,” Crosby said of the negotiations. “I think that was reassuring — just based on what we discussed as far as there’s still hunger from the organization and ownership to win and a commitment there.
“I think that’s really important. I feel like as players, for all the different guys that have played here over the course of the time that I’ve been here, it’s something that you build as a culture… something’s that’s ingrained. And missing the playoffs for a couple of years, not being in it, is difficult.
“You want to try to find every way possible to get back in there and make sure that we compete for the Stanley Cup. So, I think that was reassuring to hear and that helped. But no, I think it was more just hearing that reassurance.”
After next season, Crosby will be approaching his 39th birthday, and Dubas will have had three full years to set a course. His franchise icon should be able to look at the roster and assess whether it’s a Cup contender. By then, Crosby’s view of the situation in Pittsburgh could depend as much on his opinion of the roster as it could on whether he wants to continue without Evgeni Malkin (likely to retire) and possibly Kris Letang, whose final two contractual seasons are not as trade-prohibitive.
Crosby reiterated Monday how special it’s been to play 18 seasons with Malkin and Letang as teammates. The Penguins’ Big Three isn’t going past 20 seasons, if only because of Malkin’s contract.
If, after next season, one or both of his dear friends have moved on and the Penguins aren’t closer to winning their first playoff series since 2018, who would begrudge Crosby for wanting what could be his final NHL season to be a shot at the Cup somewhere else?
The onus is on Dubas to make Crosby’s decision easy by then. By keeping his cap hit as is, Crosby provided Dubas precious millions to upgrade the Penguins next offseason and the one after it. If the Penguins are on the upswing after 2025-26, who better than Crosby to show their next potentially great team how to win?
That would be a picture-perfect swan song for Crosby — with the Penguins in the playoffs, one last run before No. 87 is done.
Then, he can take however much time away he wants, start a family and return to the franchise in whatever off-ice capacity he chooses. He doesn’t need to become an owner, as Lemieux did, but he might.
Crosby’s heart is with the Penguins. He made that clear on Monday.
“It’s probably difficult to put that … into a sound bite,” he said, speaking from the back porch of a suburban Pittsburgh home where he playfully traded high-fives with children wearing various versions of his No. 87 Penguins jersey. “Support (from) the people, the fans, the organization, just everything over the years — it’s been really special, and we’ve had some incredible experiences and memories.
“I just want to continue that.”
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Jeanine Leech and Brandon Sloter / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
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