Fried and fellow southpaw Carlos Rodón both made appearances in the Cy Young voting after All-Star campaigns.
The 2025 MLB season is officially over, and now, instead of the regular season, it’s award season. Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers have been handed out, and the voting pool has selected the rookies and managers of the year. But there’s still plenty to come, and the Yankees continue to be involved.
The Cy Young Award is the most prestigious honor for an MLB pitcher to win. Yankees left-hander Max Fried was involved in conversations for it from the inception of the regular season, though an uneven middle month or two seemingly took him out of the running for the top spot. Now, with voting finalized, the winner was indeed the favorite: Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers. He was selected for the second consecutive season and is the first back-to-back winner in the American League since Pedro Martinez in 1999-2000. Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes was the unanimous winner in the National League.
BBWAA writers were allotted five slots on their ballots. Here’s the points breakdown for each AL pitcher who received votes:
Just outside the top three behind Skubal, Garrett Crochet, and Hunter Brown, Fried finished fourth, thanks to six third-place votes. Another Yankees southpaw, Carlos Rodón, finished sixth in voting. Both had been named to the AL All-Star team in July.
Fried finished the season with strong numbers, including a 2.86 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 3.41 xFIP and a 4.8 fWAR in 195.1 innings pitched. The 31-year-old won 19 games on the season, leading all MLB starters in the traditional stat. Fried’s 2.86 ERA was also good for eighth in MLB (as was his fWAR), with Skubal leading the AL at a 2.21 mark. This is his third time finishing in the top five in Cy Young voting, as he twice did so during his days in Atlanta. He was fifth in 2020 and then runner-up to unanimous winner Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins in 2022.
As for Rodón, this is his third time earning Cy votes as well, though his balloting has been more distant, finishing fifth and sixth for the 2021 White Sox and 2022 Giants, respectively. The ALDS unfortunately didn’t reflect it, but for much of the 2025 season, he formed a strong one-two punch with Fried atop the New York rotation. Rodón was second to Fried with 18 wins, proved durable for the second season in a row by tying for the AL lead in starts (33) while notching a 3.09 ERA and pacing the Junior Circuit with a 6.1 H/9. It was hard to make good contact against the 32-year-old, who was fourth in the AL with 203 strikeouts, the second 200-K season of his career.
Despite not winning the award, Fried performed about as well as anyone could have asked given the circumstances — coming into a new environment, team, and clubhouse alongside the fact that the Yankees’ true ace, Gerrit Cole (the 2023 AL Cy Young), would be out for the entire season. A fourth-place showing is nothing to scoff at, and the same can be said for a sixth-place finish by Rodón. Congratulations to the two of them!
“We’ve got to be better, plain and simple. There’s no excuse for where we are right now. We need to hold ourselves accountable and make the necessary changes, because this isn’t acceptable.”
— Alex Tuch, Buffalo Sabres Forward
Buffalo Sabres fans, brace yourselves: change is coming. After yet another brutal defeat — a 5-2 loss to Utah followed by a 6-2 drubbing by the Colorado Avalanche — it’s clear that this team is nowhere near the contender they were supposed to be this season. And for fans who’ve waited 14 years for a playoff spot, the latest string of losses is a hard pill to swallow. With Buffalo’s record now at a dismal
Sabres in Crisis Mode: A Season on the Brink
The loss to the Avalanche capped off a disastrous five-game losing streak, with
The truth is, the Sabres have been in this situation for far too long. The fans are fed up, and even the players are starting to admit what’s been painfully obvious:
The End of the Line for Adams and Ruff?
At this point, there is no denying that accountability must fall on both
As Tuch stated, “There’s no excuse for where we are right now.” The Sabres have been left behind in a rapidly advancing NHL, and with another playoff-less season on the horizon, it’s time for ownership to act.
The Roster Shake-Up: Who’s Safe and Who’s Not?
But it’s not just the front office and coaching staff that needs to change. With this current Sabres team showing no signs of getting it together, nearly
The Sabres need to shed their past — and that means moving out players who aren’t contributing to the rebuild. It’s a painful reality, but every player needs to be held accountable
for this team’s continued failure. It’s no longer about potential or promises — it’s about delivering results, and if you’re not part of the solution, you’ll be part of the problem.
Buffalo’s Road to Redemption: How to Fix the Sabres?
So, what now for Buffalo? The road to redemption starts with tough decisions. Kevyn Adams will need to make bold moves to reshape the roster, bringing in fresh talent to bolster the lineup. The Sabres’ defense needs a complete overhaul, and the goaltending situation is looking more desperate by the day. The team can no longer afford to let mediocrity slip by — it’s time to build a
This won’t be an easy fix, but with the right moves, Buffalo could finally start to dig itself out of this hole. The fans deserve a competitive team, and the Sabres owe it to themselves to deliver.
Can the Sabres Turn It Around?
There’s no sugar-coating it — the Sabres’ current path is not sustainable. Another year of misery for Buffalo fans will simply not do. As the Sabres face the harsh reality of their worst season in recent memory, one thing is clear:
The time for change is now — and for the first time in years, it feels like the Sabres have no choice but to start fresh.