Trout on verge of halfbillion dollar payday
LOS ANGELES: Mike Trout is on the verge of becoming baseball’s first halfbillion dollar man.
Trout and the Los Angeles Angels are close to finalising a $US432 million ($NZ632 million), 12year Major League Baseball contract that would shatter the record for the largest deal in North American sports history.
Trout would set a baseball record for career earnings at about $US513 million, surpassing the roughly $US448 million Alex Rodriguez took in with Seattle, Texas and the New York Yankees from 19942017.
‘‘I’m pretty sure I ain’t paying one more dinner for him,’’ fellow Angels star Albert Pujols, who is in the midst of his own $US240 million 10year deal, said.
‘‘It’s well deserved. I don’t think there’s anybody in baseball besides him who deserves that.’’
Trout’s latest deal would top the new $US330 million 12year contract between Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies, and Trout’s $US36 million average annual value would surpass pitcher Zack Greinke’s $US34.4 million from a sixyear deal with Arizona that started in 2016.
The contract also would best Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez’s $US356 million deal with sportsstreaming service DAZN.
Whether Trout’s contract is the largest in the world for a team athlete is difficult to determine.
Forbes estimated Lionel Messi earned $US84 million from Barcelona in 201718 and Cristiano Ronaldo $US61 million from Real Madrid, but precise details of their con tracts are not known.
Los Angeles selected Trout with the 25th overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft, and he signed for a bonus of $US1.21 million.
The outfielder made his major league debut on July 8, 2011 and has been an All Star in each of his seven full big league seasons.
Trout hit .312 with 39 homers, 79 RBIs, 24 steals and 122 walks last year.
He has reached the playoffs just once, when the Angels won the AL West in 2014 and were swept by Kansas City. — AP