The Los Angeles Angels had a down year in 2016, but Mike Trout continued to show why many have labeled him the best player in baseball. It would seem crazy for the Angels to consider trading the 25-year-old superstar, but one scout believes the richest team in baseball is going to try to convince L.A.’s brass to do just that.
After the New York Yankees traded Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller back in September to add more top prospects to an already impressive farm system, an MLB scout told Sweeny Murti of WFAN that he’s convinced the Bronx Bombers are gearing up to make an offer for Trout.
“You don’t accumulate all those prospects with the intent of keeping them all,” Murti claims the scout told him. “They have value and it makes complete sense to spin off four of five of them for Trout. It’s very much a Yankees kind of move and makes too much sense for them.”
The same scout noted that the Angels have one of the weakest farm systems in baseball, so dealing Trout to the Yankees would be a quick way to restock it. It would also be a quick way to infuriate your entire fan base, which is why a GM from another team told Murti the trade has “a zero percent chance of happening.”
“Nobody wants to trade that guy,” the GM said. “(Angels GM) Billy (Eppler) can’t be the guy who traded Mike Trout. Arte Moreno (the Angels owner) can’t be that guy. It would be like the Bulls trading Michael Jordan in his prime. The only thing that team has going right now is Mike Trout. Without him they’d be a Triple-A team.”
In a disappointing 74-88 season last year, Trout appeared in 159 games for the second straight season and had a .315/.441/.550 slash line with 29 home runs, 116 RBI, 123 runs scored and 30 stolen bases. He is signed in L.A. through 2020, with his salary set to jump from $19 million to more than $33 million in 2019.
The Yankees already had to apologize to the Angels once when they made this comment about Trout, and you know they would absolutely love to make him the next face of their franchise. Even if Trout does eventually end up in pinstripes, it would be a surprise if it happens within the next few years.
