It’s finally done. Mike Trout has signed a contract extension that will almost certainly wrap up his career. The Angels created a new deal for Trout that gives him a pay raise over the next two years and extends him for 10 years beyond that for a total of $426.5 million. The average annual value of the deal is just under $36 million dollars a year. By many accounts it’s a steal considering Trout could be worth $80 million a year over the next four years. One writer was bold enough to say that he should be worth a billion dollars over 12 years (but he’s not getting it because of cultural norms). The Angels might be overpaying on the last few years of the deal, but at his current rate of production, they’ll be paying off earlier years of excess value.
Here’s the contract valuation for Mike Trout’s 12-year, $430 million extension with the Angels. If he’s worth more than 44.5 WAR from 2021 to 2032, this contract is a win for Los Angeles. You have to believe that he will easily reach that total. pic.twitter.com/wM1QDVI44R
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) March 19, 2019
If Trout is worth at least 45 wins over the next 12 years the contract is a steal for the Angels. That should be a slam dunk as some projection systems expect him to be worth 80 WAR over that time. Our own conservative estimates expect him to be worth 61 wins in that same time. Trout is giving the Angels a 25-50% break on his expected value.
On Sunday the Angels hosted a public press conference to formally announce the deal. The event allowed Trout to clarify that he wanted to stay an Angel and after seeing the work Billy Eppler had put in to improve the team over the coming years he felt encouraged and excited to sign a deal. He also stated that seeing the difficulty Manny Machado and Bryce Harper had in finalizing free agent deals motivated him to sign in this off-season.
Mike Trout: “I kind of saw what Bryce and Manny went through and it drew a red flag for me. I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple months in the offseason. They put it perspective in my mind. I obviously want to be an Angel for life. That was a big key.”
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) March 24, 2019
Trout got emotional in front of his family, his teammates and his fans as he expressed gratitude for his historic contract.
@MikeTrout pic.twitter.com/viDzTlYr1E
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) March 24, 2019
In a terrific interview with Scott Van Pelt Trout summarized all of the reasons he chose to sign this contract a remain an Angel for life. Those reasons included a great relationship with General Manager Billy Eppler, the comfort of staying in a place he likes, the bright future of the Angels farm system, the messy free agent process, and allowing his wife to live near the beach.
As an Angels fan and a Mike Trout fan we are thrilled to see him become a legacy player by playing out his career with one team. Congrats Mike on signing a fantastic contract.