[Cardsandcoffee]

Originally Posted by jswest18

It's been said a ton of times but I guess worth rehashing considering what you seem to be saying. Baseball is so much different than the other major pro leagues. There is so much out of one player's control when it comes to overall team success and playoff appearances. I think Acuna and the Braves are a prime example of this. Acuna was the consensus MVP front runner for the NL in 2021 when he tore his ACL right before the all star break. The Braves were 44-44 at the time. They went on to win the World Series that year because they caught fire at the right time and they picked up several smaller pieces to replace RAJ who all played great after joining the team. There are negative 100 GMs, owners or coaches who would choose to have any of those players over RAJ.

There have been zero MLB players who have put a bad team on their shoulders and made them a legitimate playoff team. It's just not possible in baseball considering how little control one player has on the outcome of a game. Now can a great or transcendent player make an otherwise mediocre team a playoff contender or can they put them over the top as a WS contender? Maybe. But even that has its limitations.

I don't think it's a good argument to criticize any MLB player for their lack of WS rings or even their playoff appearances. Now if a player makes it to the playoffs and you want to judge their performance in the playoffs and have that be a part of the valuation of their career then ok. I think that's fair to a limited extent. But even that is flawed.

If you look at the post season each year then you almost always see guys who are platoon players or who are average MLB players get hot and carry the team during a series. See David Freese and the Cardinals or Eddie Rosario and the Braves. Obviously you can point to great players who have had tremendous post season success like Pujols or Reggie Jackson but Willie Mays slashed .248/.343/.325 with 1 HR and 3 SBs in 33 career post season games. He has a WS title to his name and that was his best post season but even that was not anything to brag about. I don't think anyone would look at Willie's career though, regular or postseason, and deny he's one of the 3-5 greatest players of all time if not the greatest.

I know that there is inherently some bump to a player's legacy if he has post season success and even more so if he has a WS ring. Baseball is just different though and so postseason performance, especially WS rings, has never held significant importance when evaluating a players career or greatness. I think that will remain the case with Trout no matter what the future holds for him in terms of the postseason.

This.