Another year, another hot start for the player some consider to be the best in baseball. Two weeks into the 2024 season, Mike Trout is hitting over .300, has an OPS over 1.000, and leads the league with six home runs.
This level of play has become expected of Trout, who is well on his way to the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, this is usually accompanied by a losing record from the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels have started the season 6-6, losing three out of their four series’ to this point. The only thing preventing a sub-.500 record is a sweep of the Miami Marlins during their 9-game losing streak to open the season.
The Angels have been one of the worst-run franchises in the Major Leagues over Trout’s tenure. High-level players have come and gone; Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu, Albert Pujols, Shohei Ohtani. No matter who they put on the field, they just have not been able to figure out the pitching staff.
How many seasons have we seen what should be an incredible lineup in Anaheim fall flat? For two and a half of them, it featured three future Hall-of-Famers in Trout, Pujols and Ohtani. The front office gives out insane contracts to players in the field (Pujols past his prime and Anthony Rendon, who revealed his disdain for the sport after receiving $245 million to play it, are good examples) and supplements the lineup with a mediocre rotation.
They’ve been hit with tragedy in the death of Tyler Skaggs, and have tried to revive careers in Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Julio Teheran, etc. Nothing has worked. This year, they have some hope in Reid Detmers, but he is still a question mark at 24 years old.
As bad as the pitching staff has been, Trout is not blameless in the Angels’ struggles. He signed a massive contract himself, making $426.5 million over 12 years, and has not been able to stay on the field. I mentioned earlier that everyone expects greatness from Trout, but over the last five years or so everyone also expects injuries. He has back problems that will persist throughout his life, and cannot seem to stay away from the freak injury. We know he’ll likely be hit by a pitch at some point this season and miss significant time.
It also feels like Trout has become complacent; that winning doesn’t come first to him. I’m not saying he has the mindset of his teammate Rendon, but signing that big contract with a no-trade clause, knowing the problems in the organization, and having the option to go back home to Philly, says to me that being comfortable is what’s most important to him. There is no shame in a man settling in and not wanting to move his family across the country. However, to do so with this organization was the wrong move in terms of his legacy.
His stats in the playoffs (given he’s only played in one series) are abysmal. A .083 average in a 3-0 sweep by the Royals is the only postseason experience he has on record. Every player in history who has a playoff hit has matched Mike Trout. This lack of playoff experience and injury history could keep him off the first ballot come election time.
Mike Trout is the greatest baseball player on Earth when he’s on the field, but his career will forever be tainted by the team around him.
Tough Money Sports 