Fantastic or horrific, MLB postseason performance likely doesn't have all that much of an impact on what a free agent is worth.

Let's acknowledge that much right away.

Unless you're a big believer in the importance of the "clutch gene," it's simply a minuscule sample size compared to the past few seasons' worth of data. It's on par with how much production in a bowl game or an NCAA tournament run affects where a college athlete will be drafted, which often probably isn't much.

But if October play does impact how much free agents get offered in November, these are the nine players who have done the most over the past few weeks to either help or hurt their bank accounts.

Players for both the Phillies and the Astros still have up to seven games to change the narrative of their postseasons, with whatever Noah Syndergaard is able to do in the World Series standing out as the biggest variable still in play. However, with 34 games in the books and most teams already eliminated—and a few more days to kill before the World Series begins—let's talk free agents.

Players are listed in no particular order aside from oscillating between "Helped Value" and "Hurt Value."

Hurt Value: Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees

Listen, Aaron Judge is still going to make a lot of money.

We're talking an "all but guaranteed to have one of the five highest average salaries in baseball beginning in 2023" amount of money.

But if he was worth a seven-year, $300 million type of contract heading into the postseason, maybe that drops down to a $290 million deal in the aftermath of yet another disappointing October.

Judge did hit two home runs against the Guardians—a two-run blast in the third inning of Game 3 and a solo shot in the second inning of the do-or-die Game 5—but he triple-slashed .139/.184/.306 and struck out in 15 of 38 plate appearances this postseason.

And he was the polar opposite of clutch.

Against the Astros, he went 0-for-4 with one walk in plate appearances with runners on base. Judge also went 0-for-8 with two strikeouts in plate appearances in the eighth inning or later. And down by one with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 4, he feebly grounded out to the pitcher in what might be the final AB of his Yankees career.

In his past 21 postseason games dating back to October 2019, Judge has batted .151 and whiffed in 34.7 percent of plate appearances.

The ability to hit a boatload of regular-season home runs will make Judge extremely rich, but as of now, he's clearly not the second coming of "Mr. October."

Helped Value: Yuli Gurriel, 1B, Houston Astros

One year removed from winning both a Gold Glove and the AL batting title (.319) with an OPS of .846, Gurriel hit .242 and had a meager .647 OPS during the regular season and was not named a finalist for a Gold Glove.

It sure looked like the 38-year-old first baseman was rapidly approaching the end of the line.

But then October hit, and Gurriel caught fire.

He went 3-for-4 with a home run in Game 1 against the Seattle Mariners, added another three hits in the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3 of the ALDS and then hit another homer in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Yankees.

Overall, he's is leading the Astros with a .367 batting average. And the old man—a term of endearment coming from this 36-year-old who has to ice his knee after slow-pitch softball games—even stole a base against the Mariners, which is something he hadn't attempted to do since August 2.

Of course, it's only seven games. Gurriel had a similar seven-game stretch back in mid-May (12-of-29 with three home runs and a stolen base) and followed that up with an .046 on-base percentage over the course of the subsequent week. Andf he has a similar showing in the World Series, perhaps it's right back to the drawing board.

As things currently stand, though, there may be more suitors and money for his services than we would have suspected two weeks ago if he wants to come back for another season.