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Los Angeles outfielder Mike Trout finally answered a question that has long been on many baseball fans’ minds: Would he ever ask the Angels to trade him to a better team?
Trout is an 11-time MLB All-Star, a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, and yet, despite all of his accolades, he has been to the post-season just once with the Angels – in 2014 when they lost in the American League Division Series 3-0 to the Royals.
In 2019, Mike Trout signed a 12-year, $426 million contract with the Angels, so it’s not like he isn’t obscenely wealthy, but the winning… doesn’t he want to win?
“When I signed that contract, I’m loyal,” Trout said on Monday when asked if he would ever ask the Angels to trade him, The Athletic reported.
“The overall picture of winning a championship or getting to the playoffs here is bigger satisfaction than bailing out and just taking the easy way out. … Maybe down the road, if some things change. But that’s been my mindset ever since the trade speculation came up.”
Interestingly, Trout’s attitude this spring carries a slightly different tone than it did last spring and fall, The Athletic reported.
Last spring, Trout said the team was “getting a lot better, it’s definitely a sign in the right direction.”
In the fall, he said, “If you look at what happened over the year — when we were playing in April our first baseman was taking college at-bats. To see him up there and do that. I can go through the whole.”
On Monday, Trout admitted to the media, “I was in contact with both of them (Moreno and team president John Carpino), just pushing, pushing, pushing. There’s still some (free-agent) guys out there that can make this team a lot better.”
Replacing Shohei Ohtani is an impossibility, but a combination of Cody Bellinger and Blake Snell would make the transition a lot easier in 2024. Other possible free agents that the Angels could still sign include Matt Chapman, Joey Votto, Tim Anderson, C.J. Cron, Amed Rosario, Adam Duvall, J.D. Martinez, Brandon Belt, Eddie Rosario, Kolten Wong, Jordan Montgomery, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Brandon Woodruff.
“I’m going to keep pushing as long as I can,” he continued. “Until the season starts or until those guys sign. It’s just in my nature. I’m doing everything I can possible. It’s obviously Arte’s decision. I’m going to put my two cents in there.”
Trout also couched a very veiled insinuation that asking for a trade, why undesirable for him, isn’t 100 percent out of the question.
“I think the easy way out is to ask for a trade,” Trout said, then added, “Maybe down the road, if some things change.”