Signing(s): Angels sign Mike Trout: 12 years, 426 million

[DJ Spinoza]

I find it bizarre in the extreme to do any policing about players and salaries. Mike Trout is at least the greatest player alive right now, and will almost definitely go down as among the greatest ever. There's no need to moralize about how much money he makes or whether he's still a normal person who wants to win at a sport he loves (even though all evidence points to the fact that he is an aggressively normal person). If we want to talk about systematic reform and taxing the ever-loving f*** out of billionaire owners who own sports teams almost exclusively because they are easy ways to invest massive amounts of capital, then I'm down, but Mike Trout is worth this much money and more relative to MLB revenue.

 

[robert terwilliger]

i only ever see people side with billionaire owners when it comes to sports labor issues.

 

[Lukin1978]

Crazy that they are also paying Pujols 87 million over the next 3 years.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

With a player like Trout you pay what you have to pay to keep him on your team. They knew that someone was going to give him what he wants, so it wasn't a question of the amount, it was a question of whether you want Mike Trout to be on your team for the next number of years or not. The Angels wisely chose having him..knowing that having Trout is the number one chance for that franchise to be in any way relevant in the near future.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

It's really not that deep. He is one of the best players in the history of the game....people want to see a player that good in the post season because it would be fun to see. It kind of speaks for itself.

Also consider the value he has to the franchise. He keeps that ballpark filled and merchandise sold and probably will help Arte Moreno secure his next stadium deal

 

[rangerssharks414]

The farm is still not top 10 so they hardly "rebuilt" it.

SD, TB, ATL, CHW, TOR, HOU, LAD, MIN, CIN are definitely ahead of them. Maybe COL, PIT and OAK too. But they're definitely in the top half after being in the bottom three or so as of late.

 

[robert terwilliger]

i honestly felt bad for him after harper tampered in that radio interview because he seems like the type of guy who literally couldn't care less about the shitty nature of sports reporting. he just wants to play baseball and talk about the weather in peace.

maybe he'll just buy the weather channel or something.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

We will never go ANYWHERE with this rotation. We ought to be ashamed trotting this out after having Trout for 7 years.

Yeah they should gut the farm system and give up draft picks to make temporary short term gains

 

[robert terwilliger]

fine, i'll do it without pujols.

your edit is the problem, man. moreno doesn't want to tank. he doesn't want eppler to sell off what's of value. he wants to win. he wants to throw money at players.

the problem is that mlb as a whole doesn't really do free agency any more. good players are locked up by their original teams or traded to teams who will lock them up. machado and harper are ****ing unicorns in today's game, reaching free agency at 26.

and that's the angels' problem. they need to get younger but have no way of doing that because moreno wants them to win. you have eppler in your crosshairs but it's the owner you should be going after. if moreno says "make us win with mike trout" that's eppler's job: find a way to win while mike trout is in an angels uniform.

he's done a respectable job of it, honestly. he's brought in anyone with a pulse to get outs and vastly improved the defense behind them, first with maldonado, then with the signing of lucroy. he added cahill and harvey to the rotation and still has a top 5 payroll in mlb. again, that's what moreno wants. whether trout is going to sign longterm is up to him.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

Well deserved.

Nice to see him stay, hopefully they eventually put a decent team around him.

So much for all the "He's definitely signing with the Phillies in 2020!" stuff.

 

[rangerssharks414]

Yeah they should gut the farm system and give up draft picks to make temporary short term gains

Yup. They probably aren't going to win the division, so I wouldn't sell the farm for pitchers.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Yup. They probably aren't going to win the division, so I wouldn't sell the farm for pitchers.

Right and the Astros are too good still. Win now moves just don't make sense you are better off still trying to build a base. 2020 is more promising for a variety of reasons

 

[darko]

so it kicks in during his age 30 season and runs until he's 40

he doesn't seem like the kind of player who will slow down drastically after he reaches a certain age

Not so sure. Both Trout and Harper have tons of mileage already.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

i only ever see people side with billionaire owners when it comes to sports labor issues.

I don't get it either.

Yes the contracts are absurd, but the sports are making a ton of money and it has to go somewhere, would these people rather the owners just keep it all?

 

[darko]

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear enough

It's not about what Trout wants, it's fans saying the Angels had better win with Trout, as if being paid 35+ million a year to live his dream isn't enough

Kinda like how fans were with Ovechkin last year. He's also being paid millions to live his dream, why does anybody care if he wins a championship?

It's like hoping that Bill Gates wins the lottery

Bill Gates donates millions every year. His total contributions are in billions. He's the one guy I'd be perfectly comfortable winning the lottery because that money would be put to a good use and not splashed on cars and holidays.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Good for Trout. Good for LAAAA

 

[JeremyTB]

Trout is a much better player than Harper and deserves much more. fair deal. I remember when there was discussions on who was better between the two but Trout has surpassed him by leaps. Trout is a much better hitter for average, just as much power as Harper, better baserunner, better defensively, and honestly more mature.

 

[MMC]

Yeah they should gut the farm system and give up draft picks to make temporary short term gains

Nowhere did I say anything of that nature. The fact that we’ve had him for 7 years and have never had a solid 1-2 option outside of half a season of Greinke is a huge problem and one of the reasons we haven’t won a playoff game with him. That absolutely needs to be addressed long term, but sure, come up with a strawman.

 

[darko]

Nowhere did I say anything of that nature. The fact that we’ve had him for 7 years and have never had a solid 1-2 option outside of half a season of Greinke is a huge problem and one of the reasons we haven’t won a playoff game with him. That absolutely needs to be addressed long term, but sure, come up with a strawman.

It is getting addressed. There's some quality pitching on the way.

 

[EpochLink]

Crazy that they are also paying Pujols 87 million over the next 3 years.

At the time Pujols signed that deal, he was looking for his last big pay day which he got.
All of his best accomplishments have been a Cardinal, even though his 500 and 600 home runs come with the Angels.

 

[Belieber]

They’ll get way more value from this deal than they did Pujols and Hamilton for a combined 365 million.

 

[MMC]

Yup. They probably aren't going to win the division, so I wouldn't sell the farm for pitchers.

I didn't say anything about selling the farm for pitchers. I said it's embarrassing that after having Trout for 7 years we still have never had a dependable 1-2 starter. Nowhere did I mention selling the farm.

 

[rangerssharks414]

I didn't say anything about selling the farm for pitchers. I said it's embarrassing that after having Trout for 7 years we still have never had a dependable 1-2 starter. Nowhere did I mention selling the farm.

I didn't quote you.

 

[MMC]

I didn't quote you.

You quoted a poster that was saying I said something that I didn't.

 

[rangerssharks414]

You quoted a poster that was saying I said something that I didn't.

My bad.

I still don't think they should trade prospects for a pitcher, even though you didn't reference that. Their rotation does suck, but it's only for one year. The free agent starters for the 2019-20 offseason look promising.