Mike Trout Sidesteps Trade Speculation as Angels Continue MLB’s Worst Stretch of the Season
Mike Trout is doing what Mike Trout always does. He is ignoring the trade rumors. The Angels are 17-34, the worst record in baseball, and Trout has reached his 12th straight season without October baseball. Reporters in Anaheim wanted to know if any of this changes his outlook. He gave them the same answer he has been giving for years.
“I haven’t even thought about that yet. I’m not gonna talk about the trade stuff,” Trout said. When pressed about fans who would love to see him play in the postseason somewhere else, he said, “Oh, sure. I’ve been hearing that the last 10, 12 years.”
Trout has heard it all. The frustration. The pleas. The trade scenarios on talk radio. He has heard them long enough to develop a strategy. He ignores them. He stays in Anaheim. He plays. He gets hurt. He plays again. He goes home for the playoffs.
Why the loyalty? Two reasons.
The first is the contract. Trout has a full no-trade clause and is owed just under $149 million through 2030. The Angels cannot move him without his approval and he has shown no interest in waiving anything. The second is personal. Trout has talked publicly about wanting to win in Los Angeles rather than chasing rings somewhere else. He believes in the city. He believes in the franchise.
That makes him a unicorn in modern baseball. Most stars are pushing for trades by year four of a losing run. Trout is in year 12.
The Angels are giving him absolutely no help. Anaheim has won six of its past 30 games and just one of its past 10. The pitching staff is patched together. The lineup is thin behind Trout and a few other names. Arte Moreno has not invested in upgrades the way other teams have. The roster looks like it is built to lose 95 games and the standings say it is going to.
This is also where Trout’s bat condition matters. He is on pace for one of the more disappointing healthy seasons of his career. The power is still real. The patience is still real. The contact is wobblier than it was at his peak. He is hitting under his career line. He is striking out more. The bumps add up.
The market for Trout is functionally dead. ESPN’s Jon Heyman put the odds of a trade at “5%.” The Angels would have to eat money, accept lesser prospects, and break their fan base in the process. Trout would have to approve the deal. There is no indication he is interested.
So what happens next? Trout continues to be the most valuable player in baseball history who has functionally never played in October. He hits more bombs. He misses more games with random injuries. He retires as one of the greatest hitters in history with a single playoff series win to his name. That is the trajectory unless something dramatic changes.
The fans want a change. Trout does not. The Angels cannot force one. The result is a 17-34 team with a generational star refusing to walk out the door and a front office that cannot get him to the door anyway.
Mike Trout keeps showing up. The Angels keep losing. The cycle continues.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
