Report: The Angels Are OPEN To Trading Mike Trout If He Tells Them He Wants Out

Not a surprising report here, and honestly this crumb bum organization should have done last year. Per Bob Nightengale the Angels are open to trading Mike Trout IF he asks for one. They won't openly go shop him, buttttttt if a team comes to them with a couple top 10 guys and an MLB ready player they will listen. Again, maybe a season too late but after the bullshit they pulled with their "all in" push around the break and not trading Ohtani and then falling face first off a cliff, this is the right move. 

Now what will an aging Mike Trout who hasn't played a lot over the last few years fetch from teams? Who knows? Obviously not as much as they could have got for him in the past, but you can still reload a farm system if needed. Will his remaining money on his deal impact the haul? For sure, unless they eat a good chunk. $248.15 million over the next 7 years. Woof. That is a tremendous amount of cash for a 32-year old who hasn't played more than 140 games since 2016 and is constantly getting hurt now. Just the last 3 seasons alone he has missed 249 games. 

Now obviously they have to go through Trout to see where and when they trade him due to his exclusive no-trade clause. He's going to pick and choose where he goes. The Angels have done anything in their power to win with him. They tried to bring talent around him with MASSIVE contracts, an aging Pujols, an aging Josh Hamilton, an aging C.J. Wilson, Anthony Rendon, an aging Justin Upton, and SHOHEI OHTANI. It just hasn't worked. He'll probably end his Angels career with 1 playoff appearance back in 2014 where he hit .083 in 3 games while getting swept by Kansas City. It hasn't worked, it won't work in LA, just rip the bandaid off and get it over with. 

Like with Ohtani, they should have done it sooner, at least for Trout they will get something back for him assuming they eat money in the deal. But what a disaster the Mike Trout era in Los Angeles is. All the talent, all the stats, 0 regular season or playoff success. Still an incredible player and one of the all-time greats, but you'd have to think he should likely explore other options. 

PS. Perfect move by Bobby to slip this in right in the middle of the first NFL Sunday. Never change Bob.