Mike Trout wants to stay, win with Angels ... for now
TEMPE, Ariz. – Los Angeles Angels All-Star center fielder Mike Trout walked to his locker, looked around, saw just a handful of reporters, and laughed.
“Ohtani must be gone,” he said. Indeed, Shohei Ohtani and the huge following of media are across town at the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training complex. While Trout sounded resigned to the idea Ohtani would leave, he wasn’t resentful or envious.
Trout said Monday morning he wants to stay with the Angels but opened the door to changing his mind.
“I think the easy way out right now is to ask for a trade,” Trout said. “There might be a time, maybe. I really haven’t thought about this. But when I signed my contract, I’m loyal. I want to win a championship here. …
“I think the overall picture of winning a championship or getting to the playoffs here is a bigger satisfaction than bailing out and just taking the easy way out. So that’s my mindset. Maybe down the road if something changes. But that’s been my mindset since the trade speculation came up.”
Trout, who signed a $360 million extension in 2019, has a complete notrade clause. If he wanted out, the Angels would let teams know, but they never engaged in a trade discussion. Trout, 32, won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2030 season.
There’s no certain criteria, he said, that would necessarily lead him to formally requesting a trade.
“I mean, I can’t predict the future” Trout said. “Like I said, that’s been my mindset. I think the overall build of not getting to the playoffs, and I think finally when that happens, that’s bigger than if I just wanted to get out of here.
“The overall relationship with everybody in this clubhouse, in this organization is great, but if things change, and people feel a different way, then we’ll go from there.”
The Angels’ prospects of reaching the playoffs took a hit when Ohtani left. They were given the chance to match the Dodgers’ 10-year, $700 million contract offer, but owner Arte Moreno did not want to take on $680 million in deferrals. The sense among Angels officials is that if they had matched, Ohtani would have stayed.
“I kind of had a pretty good idea, my gut feeling it was going to be the Dodgers,” Trout said. “I’m just happy for him. Obviously, I wanted him to come back. He got what he deserves.”
Now, Trout is trying to persuade Moreno and president John Carpino to spend the money they didn’t use on Ohtani to improve the club and make them a contender after eight losing seasons.
Two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and Texas Rangers postseason hero Jordan Montgomery are available, along with 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger and Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman.
“There’s some guys out there that can make this team a lot better,” Trout said. “I’m going to be pushing as long as I can, unless the season starts or until those guys sign. It’s just in my nature. I’m going to do everything I can possible. It’s obviously Arte’s decision but I’m going to put my two cents in there.”
Trout says he doesn’t know if Moreno will budge. With no talks in recent weeks between agent Scott Boras and the Angels, he says Moreno can’t be accused of being cheap.
“If you look over the past few years,” Trout said, “Arte’s spent money. … There are a few guys that I’ve talked that want to be here for sure. I’m competitive. The guys out there are great players and great people. It would be foolish to say I don’t want them to come here. This offseason, I was in contact with both of them, just pushing, pushing, pushing.”
Trout shared his ideas with new manager Ron Washington, third base coach Eric Young and first base coach Bo Porter over the winter. They visited Trout’s New Jersey home, spent three hours with him and listened to his thoughts of improving the club.
“We let Mike talk,” Washington told USA TODAY. “We let Mike tell us what he thinks needs to be changed. What he thinks is the reason why things have been stagnant around here. I never infused anything what I wanted, EY or Bo, we just listened to Mike. I just wanted to listen. He’s fired up. He’s ready to go.”
Washington is encouraging Trout to continue lobbying Moreno for help.
“He’s talked to me about it, and he’s talked to the man about it that can make a difference,” he said. “Now, it’s up to someone else to make the call. But my comment to that? Keep going Mike.”
Trout shared the blame as much as anyone else for the Angels’ struggles. He is an 11-time All-Star who finished in the top five in MVP voting his first nine full seasons. He hit .308 and averaged 35 homers, 92 RBI and a .422 on-base percentage from 2013 to 2018.
Yet he has missed 249 games the past three seasons. He hasn’t played more than 140 in a year since 2016. He had a strained calf in 2021 that sidelined him for five months, a back injury that cost him five weeks in ’22 and a broken hand that kept him out half of ’23.
“If I’m on the field, that makes a difference,” Trout said. “It crushes me. I hate talking about it. I always want to be out there with the guys. Even if I’m 60%, I try to go out there and play. It kills me when I have to come in the clubhouse and not see my name in that lineup.”
Trout, Anthony Rendon and Ohtani played together in only 22% of the Angels games the past three seasons.
Washington also traveled to Houston to speak to Rendon, who has missed 338 games since the 2020 season, hitting .235 with a .701 OPS with just 11 homers and 80 RBI.
The injuries have left Rendon frustrated to the point where he actually spoke publicly about retiring, even though he has $105 million left on his contract the next three seasons.
“This is a job. I do this to make a living,” Rendon said. “My faith, my family comes first before this job. So, if those things come before it, I’m leaving.”
Still, it’s grossly unfair, he says, for anyone to believe he’s content collecting $36 million a year while sitting out with injuries. “I don’t want to have surgeries,” said Rendon, who had hip surgery in 2021, wrist surgery in 2022 and a fractured shin in 2023. “You think I like going under the knife and being in pain the majority of my time? I can’t even pick up my kids. I can’t walk. You think I enjoy that?”
Trout, who wants to remain in center field as long as his body will allow, has never expressed intentions of leaving before his contract ends. He just wants what Rendon has already experienced: a World Series title and playing in seven postseason rounds.
Trout’s lone postseason experience came in 2014, when they were swept in three games by the Kansas City Royals.
The drought could last longer. The Angels’ biggest free agent signing has been reliever Robert Stephenson, who received a three-year, $33 million deal.
“Obviously, you lose a great player, and you understand that things happen,” general manager Perry Minasian said, “but the one constant for me the last three years is Mike Trout. You know he’s going to show up in great shape. And you know he’s going to be extremely motivated to not only be as good as he can be, but to make everyone around him better. To me, he’s one of the best players, if not the best player in the game, so it would not shock me at all if he’s not just back in that [MVP] conversation, but leading that conversation. His mind is in a great place, and he’s ready to go.”