Trout, 12/430

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

Bonkers. I'm so glad he's off the board. The Manny/Harper thing was not good entertainment this offseason. 

Bidding will start on Yelich and Mookie soon enough.

[LookinUp]

Well, if any player deserves that contract, it's Trout. Hopefully for the Angels he doesn't break down. 

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, ORIOLE33 said:

I’ll be that guy. I believe this is a bad deal for the Angels. Trout is a great player, but what has he done in the postseason? And is Trout must see TV or is he box office? I’m not taking anything away from his talent, but you didn’t want to miss a Bonds at-bat. I don’t get that vibe with Trout.

Trout has only played in one three game series in the postseason, and he struggled, but it’s such a small sample it’s not worth discussing.    He’s not Mr. Charisma but he’s the best player in the sport and that’s good enough for me.    

By the way, I would have said he’s “by far” the best player in the sport, but Mookie Betts may be getting into the same ballpark as Trout, though not actually his equal.   I guess he’s the next guy to get a $300 mm+ contract.   

[Luke-OH]

20 minutes ago, ORIOLE33 said:

I’ll be that guy. I believe this is a bad deal for the Angels. Trout is a great player, but what has he done in the postseason? And is Trout must see TV or is he box office? I’m not taking anything away from his talent, but you didn’t want to miss a Bonds at-bat. I don’t get that vibe with Trout.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

4 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Bidding will start on Yelich and Mookie soon enough.

They have been superstars for one season.  Let’s see them have similar success in 2019.

What separates Trout from the rest is he puts up monster numbers every year.  

[LookinUp]

21 minutes ago, lovetoaster said:

That's fair. But while he may have never said that he has been the best player in baseball, I do think that ego has been a bit outsized much of the time compared to his production. That's basically where I'm coming from.

I am also willing to admit that I have a little bit of irrational dislike for Harper. Haha.   

With potential for injuries I think the chances are decent that he's not worth it in the end, from a pure $/WAR sense. I'd have given him the same contract though (or bigger) for sure. I know his past performance is unparalleled. He's the rare player who has long term and/or off the field value beyond the statistical analyses. He's a gem, and they'll have him from draft to HOF. Good for the Angels.

[esmd]

Holy !@##%^!!!!!!!!!

Look, he's great and all, but the chances of something happening and his performance dropping off and making that contract the biggest albatross in the history of albatrosses is pretty high.  Smh.....good for him, but you'd think the Angels would've learned their lesson after the Pujols deal.

[Redskins Rick]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Trout has only played in one three game series in the postseason, and he struggled, but it’s such a small sample it’s not worth discussing.    He’s not Mr. Charisma but he’s the best player in the sport and that’s good enough for me.    

By the way, I would have said he’s “by far” the best player in the sport, but Mookie Betts may be getting into the same ballpark as Trout, though not actually his equal.   I guess he’s the next guy to get a $300 mm+ contract.   

I agree by far the best player in the sport, and WAR backs it up.

Like Drungo posted earlier:

Quote

Nine win seasons through 26: Trout 5, Hornsby/Cobb 4, Mantle/Ruth 3.

 

[esmd]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

The PR/intangible value of having the possibly the best player ever as a career-long member of your team is probably pretty darn high. Smart move by the Angels, I'm sure they are insuring it to some degree against injury. 

Problem, is, wouldn't that only come into play if he has a career ending injury and never plays again (like Albert Belle?).  What if he gets hurt, but only to the point where he can play, but just to the point where he's a diminished version of his current output?  Like a Chris Tillman situation, which I realize is not a great comparison since it's SP vs position player.  But man, I can see this one blowing up for the Angels.

[Redskins Rick]

2 minutes ago, esmd said:

Holy !@##%^!!!!!!!!!

Look, he's great and all, but the chances of something happening and his performance dropping off and making that contract the biggest albatross in the history of albatrosses is pretty high.  Smh.....good for him, but you'd think the Angels would've learned their lesson after the Pujols deal.

You do know that Pujols had 3 really good years for the Angels?

4.8 / 4.0 and 4.0

[Just Regular]

Really happy to see Trout keep his laundry, and join OAK in making sure HOU doesn't have it too easy as we step through our rebuild.  Plus Trout-less Angels would probably have been competing with us for long term assets for 2021 on.

I guess this puts Brandon Marsh in Hudson Potts and Colton Welker's footsteps as reasonably promising prospects with suddenly complicated paths on to the field as teams succeed at rostering superstars long term.

[esmd]

1 minute ago, Redskins Rick said:

You do know that Pujols had 3 really good years for the Angels?

4.8 / 4.0 and 4.0

And how long was his contract?  And how many years ago was that?

[Frobby]

Just now, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

They have been superstars for one season.  Let’s see them have similar success in 2019.

What separates Trout from the rest is he puts up monster numbers every year.  

Mookie’s last 3 years: 9.7, 6.4, 10.9 rWAR.

Trout’s last 3 years: 10.5, 6.7, 10.2 rWAR.

Trout missed 39 games on the DL in 2017, and 19 in 2018.    Betts missed 14 games on the DL in 2018.

Slight edge to Trout over the last three years, but Betts has been pretty close.  

[LookinUp]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Mookie’s last 3 years: 9.7, 6.4, 10.9 rWAR.

Trout’s last 3 years: 10.5, 6.7, 10.2 rWAR.

Trout missed 39 games on the DL in 2017, and 19 in 2018.    Betts missed 14 games on the DL in 2018.

Slight edge to Trout over the last three years, but Betts has been pretty close.  

Betts is scary good.

[ShaneDawg85]

29 minutes ago, ORIOLE33 said:

I’ll be that guy. I believe this is a bad deal for the Angels. Trout is a great player, but what has he done in the postseason? And is Trout must see TV or is he box office? I’m not taking anything away from his talent, but you didn’t want to miss a Bonds at-bat. I don’t get that vibe with Trout.

I mean he undoubtedly struggled in the one postseason series he played in, but it was a whopping 3 games.  It's not his fault the Angels haven't made the playoffs, and without him the Angels would be one of the worst teams in the league.  The Angels haven't done nearly enough to try and get the team in position for him to play some postseason games.  If he did, I don't doubt that he'd produce in the postseason.

As for the Bonds comparison, there was a time prior to 2002 that people lobbied the same criticisms towards Bonds.  Whether Trout is as exciting in each at bat as Bonds, that's a matter of opinion, but it's more or less indisputable when factoring all of the intangibles that Trout is the best player in the game right now.