Mike Trout has been as good of a soldier as he can be with the Los Angeles Angels. But might there come a point where either player or team decides a split is best?
Trout is locked in already as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s a generational talent, but has played in just one postseason series in his career, which was back in 2014 when he and the Angels got swept in the ALDS by the Kansas City Royals.
This will be Trout’s age-30 season, and if things don’t start trending upward, it would be feasible for either Trout to say he wants to be moved to a contender or the Angels to decide they want to start over and get a massive haul for Trout – who, it’s worth noting, has a full no-trade clause.
So, could such a scenario come to pass? MLB insider Ken Rosenthal offered his thoughts on that question on “The Athletic Baseball Show” podcast this week.
“Yes, at some point maybe the Angels look at this, but not yet,” Rosenthal said. “What they want to do is win with Mike Trout. That’s the whole modus operandi of the team, with Trout and (Shohei) Ohtani. Trout right now is entering his age-30 season, he’ll be 31 in August, come his age 33, 34, 35 seasons, we might be looking at something different. But Arte Moreno, the owner, signed him to be a lifetime Angel, that was the point here and that’s what they want. …
“Is there a point or might there come a point where Mike Trout is so miserable and so fed up with losing that he’s going to want out? I guess that’s conceivable, not really his personality, but sure, that’s possible. … Ultimately, if things don’t work in the next few years I imagine there will be more talk along these lines, I just don’t know that the Angels will ever do it.”
This might be the best opportunity yet for the Angels to make the postseason. This is as wide-open as the A.L. West has been in years and the expanded postseason should allow Los Angeles a better chance to sneak in, even if it’s via the wild card.
Overall, a trade would be a doomsday scenario for both the Angels and Trout. The next few seasons in Anaheim might ultimately play a role though in the likelihood of Trout being a lifetime Angel.
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