Wasting the Talents of Mike Trout – The G.P.O.H.G.
Although some divisions have already been decided, contending teams are fighting it out to determine who makes the playoffs. Prior to the final weeks of the season unfolding, it’s the perfect break in the action and the right time to discuss this subject. We are fortunate to be witnessing someone who is clearly the Greatest Player of His Generation (the G.P.O.H.G.).
Mike Trout is that player. No surprise here. Yes, he’s very talented and can do it all. He has all five tools and then some. He’s a great ambassador for the game; and he’s quiet and humble. He lets his game do the talking. He signs autographs before and even during games for little kids. Basically he’s a big kid who grew up in the little town of Millville, New Jersey, and loves to play baseball.
Mike Trout signed the biggest contract in the history of sports, a contract extension for 12 more Years for $430 million. If money were his goal, he could have gone on the open market and had other teams compete for his services. In many peoples’ opinion he could have gotten much more money. I don’t think he wanted the distractions. He just wanted to play baseball.
Unless something drastically unexpected occurs, Trout will be an Angel for the remainder of his career. He’s always seemed comfortable in Anaheim. Since his career began in 2011, he’s flourished both professionally and personally. The comfort and the freedom have allowed him to put up staggering numbers.
Trout is consistently producing in every phase of the game. He works at improving and getting better in order to help his team win. He almost seems too good to be true. Trout is tremendously loyal to his team. Now it’s the Angel’s turn to return that loyalty.
The obvious place to start is pitching. This has to be the primary and secondary focus to improve the team. Relative to other Major League teams’ pitching, the Angels seem to have none. Yes, that also means the bullpen, but let’s worry about that later. This team has been plugging the pitching leaks all season.
There’s good reason to believe that Shohei Ohtani can return to his phenomenal start on the mound following Tommy John surgery. Other than Ohtani, Griffin Canning and Andrew Heaney are the only starters on the staff currently that have shown they have Major League talent. I’m not saying that everyone else should be jettisoned, but they need to earn the right to stay with the big club in spring training. The free agent market needs to be seriously looked at. Why not go after former UCLA starting pitcher Gerrit Cole? The team can find position players in the farm system. Next season is the time for Jo Adell to shine.
This should NOT be rocket science for the front office. I know they’re not shy about making an investment. They’ve already made a fantastic long-term one in Mike Trout. Now the focus in building the Angels MUST be on pitching. Trout is certainly the Best Player of this generation and we’re lucky to see this great player. Baseball’s best player deserves an opportunity to play on the big stage of the playoffs in front of the entire country.
Even though baseball is my favorite sport by a long measure, I‘ve never really had a favorite team that I root for or had an allegiance to. I lived in Chicago in 1969 and their collapse broke my little nine year-old heart. The Cubs classic September meltdown paved the way for “The Miracle Mets” of that year. That’s when my love affair with baseball began.
One of my favorite player of all time is Ernie Banks. He played his entire 19 year Hall of Fame career with Chicago. His great talent earned him the National League’s MVP Award in both 1958 and 1959. He was perhaps baseball’s first great power-hitting shortstop who hit a total of 512 home runs and later switched positions to become a slick fielding first baseman.
Due to his great attitude and sportsmanship, Bank’s will always be remembered with the title of “Mr. Cub.” He will also be remembered as the greatest player to never have played in the postseason.
As a student of the game, I’m sure Mike Trout would love to be mentioned along with the great Ernie Banks. However, I’m sure that as a competitor, Trout doesn’t want an asterisk after his name in The Hall of Fame. He’d much prefer, “World Series Champion.”
