Holy mackerel!!! With the ink barely dry on the free agent contracts of Manny Machado ($300 million over 10 years with the San Diego Padres) and Bryce Harper ($330 million over 13 years with the Philadelphia Phillies), Mike Trout has bested them both and didn't even have to change teams.
Trout and the Los Angeles Angels have reportedly agreed to a 12-year contract extension worth $430 million which will take the 27-year old superstar through the 2030 season. The new contract supplants the final two years of his six-year contract, $144 million contract which he signed prior to the 2015 season. Trout was due to be a free agent following the 2020 season.
The New Jersey native enters the 2019 season with 1,187 hits for a lifetime batting average of .307 with 240 HR and 648 RBI. Trout earned the AL MVP in 2014 and 2016 and has finished runner up in the AL MVP four times including this year when he was bested by Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts. The only year Trout did not finish in the top three of AL MVP since 2012 was when he finished fourth in 2017.
The only area where Trout has fallen short has been in the post-season. The Angels have only reached the post-season once since Trout made his MLB debut in 2011. The Angels won the AL West in 2014, but Trout went 1 for 12 in the ALDS in which they were swept by the eventual AL champion Kansas City Royals. Undoubtedly, many will think he's made a mistake in remaining in Anaheim, but I have a feeling the Angels will emerge as one of MLB's biggest surprises in 2019. And if the Angels don't do this this year Trout will have the entire 2020's to get a World Series ring.
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