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The 2025 MLB trade deadline was wild and one of the busiest in recent memory. Among the teams to make a big splash was the American League West-leading Houston Astros. They traded with the Minnesota Twins to bring Carlos Correa back to Houston.
In return, the Astros shipped left-handed pitcher Matt Mikulski back to the Twins.
Interestingly, this deal made never-before-seen history in Major League Baseball, as The Athletic pointed out.
The star infielder played 79 postseason games as a member of the Astros. That is the most playoff games for one team by any player to leave, and then return. Tino Martinez previously held the record with 77 playoff games, followed by Albert Pujols (74), Kike Hernandez (58), and Jim Thome (55).
Correa will likely be thrilled to return to Houston, the place where he saw so much success on the field.
He won the American League Rookie of the Year back in 2015. Over the next six years, Correa made a couple of All-Star teams, won a Gold Glove, and became a prominent name in the league. Much of that was due to his October prowess, too.
Throughout his postseason career, Correa has hit .282 with 18 home runs, 63 runs batted in, and an .860 OPS. That includes helping the Astros win the 2017 World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Granted, that title has been marred by controversy.
But since moving to Minnesota in 2022, Carlos Correa has struggled to have the same impact.
He found peaks and valleys in the Midwest. His 2022 and 2024 seasons were stellar, posting a WAR of 5.3 and 3.7, respectively, reaching his third All-Star Game last year. But his 2023 and 2025 seasons have been downright ugly.
The Puerto Rico native hit just .230 in 2023, and things have not gone much better this season. Correa is hitting .267 this year with a woeful .704 OPS. He should feel lucky to be out of Minnesota after their wild fire sale at the trade deadline. He goes from a plummeting team looking into the future to the Astros, who is among the league's best.
Will he help Houston reclaim postseason glory? The team has miraculously played excellent baseball despite being crushed by injuries to many of its best players. Yordan Alvarez is moving toward a return, and with Correa back in the lineup, this offense might look scary yet again come October.
