The Best Yet – 2019 Season Review

Opinion, Video

The 2019 season ends with Mike Trout turning in what he considers his best season to date. It’s hard to argue with his assessment and impossible to argue against his place as the best in the game.

The season began with Mike Trout signing the largest contract in MLB history. $426.5 million over 13 years with an average annual value of $36.5 million, the contract effectively insures Trout will remain an Angel for the rest of his career. He showed that he was absolutely worth every penny by outperforming the contract once again. His value to his team for the year could easily have been worth as much as $60-80 million as compared to other free agent signings.

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Mike Trout's 454 foot home run in honor of Tyler Skaggs

Statcast: Trout’s Monster HR in Honor of Tyler Skaggs

News, Video

On their first game in Anaheim since the death of Tyler Skaggs the entire team honored their friend by wearing #45 and the name Skaggs on their jerseys. The team put on an incredible performance by racking up 13 runs and shutting the Mariners down with a No-Hitter.

Mike Trout did his part by batting in six RBI. In his first at bat he swung at the first pitch; something he rarely does. The homer was measured by Statcast at 454 feet with an exit velocity of 111mph.

After the game Mike got emotional discussing the game and what Tyler meant to him.

Mike Trout’s Emotional Tribute to Tyler Skaggs

News, Video

Tragedy struck the Angels this past week with the unexpected death of Tyler Skaggs on July 1. Trout first took to social media to express his pain and sadness.

Then in a post-game interview he got emotional talking about what a tough 24 hours the team was experiencing.

Mike Trout 2019

Settling In – 2019 and Beyond

Opinion

After signing a career forming contract that will likely leave him in an Angels uniform for the rest of his career, Mike Trout sets out to lead his team into the playoffs. Most pundits and projection systems have the Angels as a slightly improved team from 2018 that is one of the last teams to miss the playoffs. While there is some chance that the Angels out-perform these predictions a lot will ride on players not-named Mike Trout. Most notably the starting pitching staff will have to exhibit greater resilience to injury than it has shown in the last several years. Other players such as Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani will need to return from injury with the power to impact the offense in ways that prevent teams from intentionally walking Trout.

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Trout contract press conference

Mike Trout’s Bargain Baseball Deal

News

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.

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Trout’s Next Contract

Opinion

This offseason has seen the signing of contracts of three of Mike Trout’s contemporaries. Manny Machado signed a ten year deal with the Padres. Nolan Arenado remains with the Rockies for potentially another 8 years. Bryce Harper just completed terms with the Phillies, locking him up for 13 years. In addition Giancarlo Stanton is in the midst of a 13 year contract with the Marlins/Yankees. These four contracts represent the best available information about what kind of extension the Angels might offer Trout and/or what kind of deal he might expect on the open market after the 2020 season. While none of these players offer the same performance value as Trout, in fact he might be as good as any two of them combined, they represent the elite talent at the same age.

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Ride Along with Mike Trout

Video

MLB released a ride-along interview with Mike Trout as he prepares for the season at Spring Training in Arizona. The discuss what it’s like to be a teammate with Shohei Ohtani, the toughest pitcher in the league and the pitch he has the toughest time with. It’s a great watch.