No sooner had the confetti finished falling along the parade route for the 2022 Astros and their dominant run to glory, when the attention turned to 2023. Most of the lineup was projected to return, and those that were lost didn’t figure to impact the squad all that much. Most had the Astros as favorites to do what no team had done in 23 years: repeat as champions. Unfortunately, the Astros managed to be the 24th straight WS champion to NOT repeat, courtesy of the Rangers in an emotionally fraught ALCS.
In one respect, it might be a bit harsh to say that 2023 was a “failure”.