Skip to main content

Trout and Time

 

  • Three time MVP award winner

  • Top five finish in the MVP voting from 2012-2020

  • Injured during the 2021 season would miss a majority of the season.

  • On pace for over 500 home runs 

  • Reached over 40 homers twice

  • A War of around 80 according to Baseball Reference which is the highest War of any Angels player in history of the franchise.

These accomplishments can only be describing one player! Number 27 on the Angels has been a staple of the baseball world since he appeared on the scene in 2011. In my opinion, Trout was one the first highly touted draft picks to appear at least in my generation. It takes a special player to be able to finish top five in MVP voting for eight years in a row.


Unfortunately, the Angels haven't found much success since the arrival of Mike Trout. A lot of fans and analysts figured that Trout paired with Otani would be a dream pairing and even though it is, the Angels haven't been able to put it together. 


The Angels have paired Trout with former All-Stars like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Justin Upton, Anthony Rendon, and others. Thus far Otani is the only pairing that has worked out. Two problems that have plagued the Angels have been pithing and injuries. A lot of the injuries have plagued the big signings more than other players like Hamilton, Rendon, CJ Wilson, and others.


The Angels still have the luxury of having two of the greatest players in this generational with Trout and Otani sharing a locker room. I also believe that the Angels have a solid foundation to build upon; they just need some Angels in the outfield. Below are some stats from the team since Trout's debut eleven years ago. 



  • Three winning records since 2011

  • Only one play off appearance since 2011

  • Only two finishes at second place since 2011 

  • Four third place finishes since 2011 


By far the greatest player in Angels history based on numbers and overall War. Mike Trout never being on the national stage is the biggest disservice to baseball since Tony Gwynn spent his career in San Diego. Mike is unquestionably a generational talent and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I would love to see Trout in not just the postseason but a World Series. Seeing Trout and Otani holding up the World Series trophy would be a nice bit of payback for them remaining loyal when most people run to the super teams.


I’ve thought for a while that the Angels would have benefited from a rebuild for the last few years. It does seem like they have tools, but normally struggle to put it all together. Credit to Mike Trout though his twelve year contract doesn’t include an opt out. If Trout does last out the contract with the Angels he will be 39 years old when his contract ends. 


Loyalty is a lost art in sports nowadays as everyone is so wrapped up with winning a championship. Twenty years ago the idea of staying with one team was super common, but things changed and everyone started jumping between teams. I respect Trout for wanting to stay with the Angels and I do hope before his career is over he could hold the World Series trophy at least once.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Reverse Boycott

 Earlier this year the Oakland Athletics seemingly signed the deal to move to Las Vegas officially ending the teams history in the city of Oakland. However, the move will not happen right away as the new stadium will have to get built first. According to an article in USA Today the stadium took a positive forward take a look at the quote below  "Nevada's state assembly passed a bill Wednesday to provide $380 million in public funding for a $1.5 billion stadium on the Strip, paving the way for the A's to relocate from Oakland ― their home since 1968 ― to Las Vegas." The full article can be found here  The Oakland A's have been the league's most puzzling team for years at this point as it seems like the team doesn't even want to try anymore. The current payroll for the A's is last in all of baseball at $60 million seven million behind the next closest team who is the Orioles who have an excuse. The excuse for the Orioles is that they have the second best...
Post a Comment
Read more

One Door Closing Another Opening

In previous decades, it was commonplace for a player in pretty any sport to remain with a team his entire career. It was extremely common in baseball especially when it came to star players like Hank Aaron, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, Chipper Jones, and others. In my opinion, one person that has flown under the radar is Yadier Molina who is a throwback to a bygone era as he has been with the St Louis Cardinals for the last 19 seasons. Last August, Yadi announced that the 2022 season will be his last, commenting "I was thinking about going to Cincinnati and hearing all the boos there, going to Chicago, hearing all the boos there. It’s going to be awesome,” Molina said. “It’s going to be a great time going there and getting the boos.” Yadier has flown under the radar, because he isn't always at the top of the leaderboards or in the running for an MVP. Never been a superstar in terms of the grander scope of baseball, but if you ask the Cardinals players or fans I think the pres...
Post a Comment
Read more

On this in Sports History

  On this day in 1907, legendary pitcher Walter Johnson would begin his MLB career at 19 years old. His career would span twenty-one years and would lead to a future Hall of  Fame induction. Walter would finish his career with the second most wins in baseball history among starting pitchers behind only Denton "Cy" Young. Walter would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936 alongside Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and others as members of the first Hall of Fame Class in Cooperstown.  Moving forward a little bit it was on this day in 1921 when eight White Sox players were acquitted after being accused of throwing the 1919 World Series on purpose. This scandal would do massive damage to reputation of baseball and would become known as the Black Sox scandal. The following day all of these players would be served a lifetime ban from baseball including legendary player "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.  Some other interesting notes from this day in sports history. In 1959, PGA ...
Post a Comment
Read more