Would You Pitch to Mike Trout?
Would You?
Why would any team throw strikes to Mike Trout, as things stand right now with the Los Angeles Angels? When the game is on the line, would any rational manager allow his pitcher to throw a fastball to Mike Trout and let him beat them?
Even if Shohei Ohtani was hitting behind Trout (and Shohei Ohtani is still on the IL list), wouldn’t you rather let Ohtani beat you? Not Trout. The way the Angels’ batting order sets up these days, Trout bats second, Andrelton Simmons (of the .258 batting average and lackluster .650 OPS) bats third, and Albert Pujols (not much better with a .221 batting average and .734 OPS, meaning a career minor leaguer) is the cleanup hitter.
No wonder the Angels have scored the fifth-fewest runs, 99, in the American League so far this season. The team is also below league average in the bottom third of almost all league-wide offensive categories. So, as great as Mike Trout is, why would any team let him beat them? The answer is, they shouldn’t.
So, where does that leave the Angels? In last place in the American League West, currently playing at a .375 winning percentage. A rag-tag squad with the fifth worst record in the American League: 9-15.
How Not to Run a Baseball Team
The Angels have been an example of how not to carefully grow a multimillion-dollar business, going back to Gene Autry’s days. Under Autry, the Angels were big spenders for years, purchasing lots of merchandise but winning few games and fewer championships. Try as he might, and despite George Steinbrenner being a fool in many ways, Autry was the bigger fool. Or was it his baseball people?
The same can be said of Arturo ‘Arte’ Moreno’s ownership. The 10-year contract he signed Albert Pujols to was foolish. The five-year contract offered Josh Hamilton was almost a complete waste of $125 million, and the five-year $50 million contract offered Gary Matthews, Jr. was not far behind. Try and find a decent free agent signing in the last 10 years. C.J. Wilson?
The verdict: too many expensive multi-year deals for players on the wrong side of their careers. Perhaps Mike Scioscia should have had a greater say in personnel matters after their World Series triumph in 2002.
Under Scioscia’s managerial touch, the Angels featured speed, power and contact-hitters to complement their solid team defense and sound pitching. And for a while there, the Angels had Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus, two home-cooked power hitters. Both had solid years they won the World Series in 2002. And don’t forget Garret Anderson of the sweet stroke. Quite a player. Bet Mike Trout would sign up to pay beside all three.
So, Scioscia bunted. His players hit and run. Stole bases. He asked his players to take the extra base whenever possible. And that’s why it was never comfortable to play a Mike Scioscia team. He played old-time winning baseball.
That’s not today’s Angel team. Every time Brad Ausmus, Mike Scioscia’s successor, is on camera, he appears ready to cry. At least now he has a team worthy of tears. Besides Trout and Simmons, it’s a woeful squad.
Albert Pujols, who will make the Hall of Fame five years after he retires, is no longer a productive major league player. The Angels should eat the rest of his contract and release him. Bring up a younger, hungrier player.
Or, how about stealing Dominic Smith from the New York Mets who don’t seem to have a place for him, or an idea how to use him properly, and might be willing to move him for peanuts now that Pete Alonso has emerged.
The Angels Without Mike Trout—Unthinkable? No!
Someone has to envision the Angels without Mike Trout. Someone has to imagine two or three top prospects and perhaps a frontline major leaguer tossed into a deal for Trout. Perhaps Billy Eppler, the Angels General Manager, could even expand the idea of a deal and offer Andrelton Simmons to a contending team that needs to solidify the core of its diamond defense, as well as add a premier offensive performer. The Angels are not winning this year, anyway, so why not explore the kinds of value a rival might offer?
This is not to say the Angels should tank, but .400 baseball with Mike Trout might not be as exciting as .400 baseball with three or four energetic pieces to provide a new competitive spirit. After all, Trout will turn age 28 (August 7), and while he’s still in his prime, soon enough, he will pass into the netherworld of baseball oblivion. The morass of his early 30s.
The other side of trading a Mike Trout is cost-savings. If Los Angeles eats some of the hundreds of million dollars owed Trout, they might expect better quality prospects to be offered in return, because then Trout becomes a bargain. Even reducing another team’s commitment to Trout by 30 or 40 percent could allow the Angels greater flexibility to add top quality pieces to their roster.
So, Would You Pitch to Trout?
The key is to make Angels Stadium of Anaheim an exciting place to play, again, for the home team. A dangerous place for a visiting team to even think of winning a game. Rather than a soft touch. The goal would be to do better against their division rivals, such as the Houston Astros, who rolled over them in 2018 to the tune of 13 wins against 6 defeats.
Of course, if it was easy to effect change, Eppler would have done it already. No doubt he’s trying. He’s added quality prospects into the Angels’ farm system. Jo Adell is an outfielder out of high school in Louisville, who was the Angels’ first-round pick in 2017. Add to him a young right-handed pitcher out of UCLA, Griffin Canning, who was the Angels’ second-round selection in 2017. These two choices, and others made years before, have improved the previously derelict Angel farm system.
Fivethirtyeight.com reports in a March 2019 article entitled, Mike Trout is a $430 Million Bargain, that eight of the top 10 Angels prospects are expected to open in Double-A or higher this spring. So, there’s hope that help is on the way. But, unfortunately, prospects are prospects until they are no longer prospects. Until they become suspects. They may be prospects. They may be suspects.
So, given all these variables, why would you pitch to Mike Trout, especially since Trout’s principal helper, Shohei Ohtani, is still out of the lineup? And all the others are a year or two away from the major leagues, by which time Trout will be 30 or 31 years old. So, no, you don’t want to pitch to Mike Trout. Better to walk him. Every time.
