The MLB postseason is in full swing, with sweeps galore in the Wild Card round and possible upsets in play in the divisional round. With the fall games upon us, the main characters of the 2023's extended play are emerging. We're about to find out who can play up to the moment, and who simply isn't ready.
Many of the teams that made moves -- or in some cases, didn't make moves -- are able to contextualize their decisions now that they can see what players do in the playoffs. Do they play up to the moment, or disappear entirely? Was the decision to move on from that player or not sign them at all justified based on how they're performing now on other teams?
A few teams look mighty foolish as they look on to the postsesason. Some, however, seem prescient as ever and ready to move into the future with the resources they need to get back in the playoffs next year. Let's take a look.
New York Mets made all the wrong moves
The New York Mets were definitely one of the lowlight teams of the 2023 MLB season. What happens when you sign only name-brand players and pay a name-brand price? You fail. Miserably.
The Mets, at least, did have the foresight to go ahead and liquidate, not sticking with their not-working strategy very long. But the one move they opted not to make this offseason might be the one that they're now regretting.
Carlos Correa is having himself a postseason so far this year, leading the Twins to a Game 2 victory over his former team, the Houston Astros. Correa had three hits (two doubles) and a walk in Game 2 including three RBI.
The Mets were in agreement with Correa on a contract, but a failed physical scared them away from ultimately putting ink to paper. Correa struggled during the regular season, posting a 94 OPS+ after a 130+ the last two years, so it's unlikely he would have changed the season's fortunes very much, but he may be a player the Mets would like to have for its future based on his playoff performance thus far.
In addition to Correa, Justin Verlander's one appearance in Game 1 of the ALDS was a six inning, zero earned run quality start. He had three walks but six strikeouts. The fact that they couldn't make a one-two with him and Max Scherzer in New York work is unfathomable.
San Francisco Giants perhaps should have signed Carlos Correa after all
Speaking of teams that should have signed Carlos Correa, perhaps the San Francisco Giants were unwise to pass on him after all? The Giants, at one point, appeared to have Aaron Judge on the hook. When that fell through and Judge re-signed with the New York Yankees, they pivoted to Correa who had just broken down negotiations with the Mets at the finish line.
Then, for the same reasons, the Giants decided ultimately not to sign Correa.
Instead of Correa, the Giants had Brandon Crawford at shortstop for most of their games this year, and he was an even worse output than Correa was in the regular season, slashing .194/.273/.314. He only posted 11 doubles and 55 hits, Correa had 29 and 118 in those categories.
San Francisco missed on the postseason for the second year in a row after near misses in free agency and fired its manager, Gabe Kapler.
Clearly, the Giants didn't make the right moves in free agency. Their star hunting didn't work and ultimately bit them, as they had little options to fill out their roster after Judge and Correa both fell through.
Yankees watching Aaron Hicks slug has to make fans puke
Regret might be a strong word here, because it's highly unlikely that keeping Aaron Hicks on the Yankees roster really would have returned much in terms of final results for New York. That said, fans in the Bronx watching Hicks go beast mode in the postseason definitely evokes emotions of disgust. Maybe reflexes of illness, too.
Hicks was a longtime struggling batter in New York whose struggles eventually started to permeate his fielding as well. Eventually, his poor play became untenable and the Yankees became desperate to make whatever moves they could to try to increase the talent density of the squad and get themselves closer to the postseason.
New York waived Hicks, and the division rival Baltimore Orioles signed him. After posting a .524 OPS in New York in 2023, he showed up in Baltimore with an .806 in 65 games.
WHAT?!
A change of scenery was all he needed, evidently. Perhaps the low expectations that came with an overperforming, young Baltimore team reduced the pressure on him to succeed, helping him get around the mental jail he seemed to be in at the plate in New York.
In a Game 2 loss to the Texas Rangers in the ALDS on Sunday, Hicks had 5 RBI on two hits (one home run). The most RBI he had in a playoff game with the Yankees was three. Fans were quick to point out that Hicks only racked up 5 RBI with New York in his 28 games in 2023.
St. Louis Cardinals made the right decision to sell at trade deadline
Well, well, well, maybe the St. Louis Cardinals have a plan after all?
Make no mistake, missing the postseason in Adam Wainwright's farewell season was not the plan for 2023. Right out of the gates, the Cardinals season seemed to go exactly opposite how they hoped to script it.
St. Louis, though often competitive, pivoted decisively and quickly and made it clear they would become trade deadline sellers long before the deadline arrived. While that was a painful realization for fans who are used to cheering its team toward contention year-in and year-out, the postseason is giving proof that it might not have been a bad call.
Jordan Hicks, with the now-eliminated Blue Jays, pitched an inning and gave up a hit and two walks on 25 pitches in his Wild Card outing. He didn't lose that game for Toronto, but he definitely didn't win it.
Jack Flaherty's appearance in Sunday's game for the Orioles was for 46 pitches across two innings, featuring two hits, an earned run, three walks, and just one strikeout.
Jordan Montgomery notched a win in the Wild Card, but in Sunday's game he, too, struggled, giving up four earned runs, striking out just two and walking one in four innings pitched on 88 pitches.
St. Louis gained assets in exchange for these pitchers who clearly aren't yet performing well at the highest level, further reinforcing that St. Louis was right to make a pivot. Cardinals fans can now rest easier knowing their prospect pipeline is stronger and that the team didn't make rash decisions at the deadline just because things looked temporarily dire.
John Mozeliak might draw the ire of fans for a bit, but in totality it's hard to judge his moves too negatively. He needs to make the right moves moving forward to regain trust, but for now, he looks fairly wise.
