Trout Stays True

He won’t let the franchise off the hook

Earlier in the week, Mike Trout told reporters that asking for a trade would be the easy way out. Things could change before his contract expires after the 2030 season, he acknowledged, but predicting where a franchise might be even three years from now has become such a caper that we can treat the center fielder’s follow-up statement like any of the other clichés uttered this time of year.

The easy way out? I agree. But perhaps not for the same reason Trout intended.

A trade request, you see, would give the Angels the easy way out.

As long as Trout is in an Angels uniform, they’re expected to play to win. By honoring his contract, he protects his teammates, fans, and even the organization’s baseball operations staff from the owner’s insouciance and greed.

Sure, Trout might want to prove he’s capable of carrying a patchwork roster of rookies, inconsistent performers, and one very well-paid teammate who won’t stop saying the wrong things.

But by redoubling his commitment to the team that drafted, developed, and signed him to a 12-year, $426.5 million extension prior to the 2019 season, he is not letting the franchise take the easy way out. Expectations for this Angels team are low, while hopes and dreams for an Angels team with a healthy Mike Trout are always sky high. Somehow, in each of the last eight years, projections and fantasies meet at reality — firmly below .500.

I’m not sure it’s even about beating the Rangers, or the Astros, or the Mariners. The competition may live within. It’s a good time for the cliché about taking care of our own business and not worrying about what’s going on elsewhere. Trout is holding ownership accountable to the vision the franchise sold the public five years ago when he agreed to that extension. Trout is the buffer between Angels fans and the owner. He’s accepted a position backed up against the centerfield fence; he is the last line of defense.

During my time around Kevin Towers in San Diego and Arizona, he referenced Jack McKeon’s recommendation on how a GM should handle an underperforming player. Unfortunately, KT had multiple opportunities to invoke Trader Jack’s wisdom.

McKeon, who, at the age of 93, is still working in the game, managed five big league clubs and was the GM of the Padres in the ’80s. To paraphrase his advice, McKeon told Towers that if he made a mistake and acquired a bad player, release him! Do not allow the player to remind the fans and owner of your bad decision on a nightly basis. Don’t compound the error!

In the bizarre and upended universe created and fostered by the Angels — an anti-Disneyland of sorts — Trout’s presence on the field serves as a daily reminder of the organization’s consistent missteps.

Every time Mike Trout takes the field, he exposes the toll of erratic and irrational ownership. Remember the decision to hold onto Ohtani at last year’s trade deadline? I wonder if the marketing team considered this promotional item: Shohei Was An Angel For 6 Years And All We Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.

Really, though, they don’t need to distribute that shirt. All of baseball is reminded of it every time Trout comes to bat.

For Trout to remain a proud Angel is to hold the organization accountable. To suggest a trade would shift the narrative. It would create an opportunity for blame to flow his way. A request to be shipped out of town would quickly be spun as a demand. The franchise would become the victim, betrayed by a disloyal player choosing not to honor his word.

Releasing Trout from his contractual obligations would free Arte Moreno from this annual cycle of embarrassment and shame. It would be the easy way out. Mike Trout isn’t about to give it — or take it. Not for himself, not for the franchise.

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