3 teams regretting moves as playoffs unfold and one team that looks incredibly wise

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.