Trout hears his playoff clock ticking

Mike Trout is beginning a new season with the same old question.

How long will the Los Angeles Angels’ three-time AL MVP have to wait for his first playoff victory?

“It’s definitely weighed on me,” Trout said Monday before the Angels’ first full workout of spring training in Tempe, Ariz. “I hear it every year. The only way to change that is to get to the playoffs, no matter how that is.”

Trout has been waiting for his answer to that query for nearly a full decade since his major league debut in July 2011. After the Angels’ latest failure last fall, Trout knows he won’t win a post-season game before he turns 30 this summer.

The big-budget Angels are tied with Detroit for the third-longest playoff drought in the majors at six seasons, trailing only Seattle and Philadelphia. Not even the expanded 2020 postseason helped Los Angeles, which finished 26-34 for its fifth straight losing campaign — the franchise’s worst stretch since the 1970s.

Yet the eight-time all-star remains indefatigably optimistic about the Angels’ chances, even after owner Arte Moreno triggered yet another off-season overhaul by firing general manager Billy Eppler, Trout’s good friend.

“I’m trying to get to the playoffs,” Trout said. “We all are. If that’s not the mindset, you shouldn’t be here. We’ve got one goal. That’s to get to the playoffs and win a World Series here. It’s still the same goal. Obviously, a lot of new faces this year. We kind of cleaned house a little bit.

“I’m looking for a fresh start, and you know, I’m getting older for sure, but I’m still young. I still feel great.”

The Angels’ biggest problems are all on the mound, so they remain out of Trout’s hands no matter how brilliantly the $426-million (U.S.) centrefielder plays.

Although Los Angeles didn’t address its endemic pitching woes with any splashy signings, Trout and manager Joe Maddon are hoping the Halos can

build on their strong finish to last season over a full year of play in a division that appears to be less daunting than last season.

JAE C. HONG THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO Mike Trout says despite all the changes the team still has one goal in mind: to get to the playoffs and win the World Series.