Okay, so the other day, I got this idea stuck in my head: what would it really take to trade Mike Trout? We hear the chatter every now and then, especially when the Angels are struggling, which, let’s be honest, is pretty often these days. Seemed like a fun little mental exercise, maybe even fire up the old baseball sim game later.
First thing I did was just sit down and think about the big roadblocks. Forget the simulation for a minute, just pure logic. You got the contract, right? Massive money owed for a long time. Then there’s the fact that Trout would have to agree to it – full no-trade clause. And he seems to genuinely like it in Anaheim, or at least he says he does. Plus, what team could even take on that kind of deal?
Digging into the Mess
So I started jotting down potential teams. You need a team that thinks they’re one superstar away, has a deep farm system, and has owners willing to spend stupid money. That list gets short real quick.
- Maybe the Dodgers? Nah, they already got everyone.
- Yankees? Always possible, but the fit feels weird, and they’d have to gut their prospects.
- Mets? Uncle Stevie could afford it, but would he? After their recent spending spree fizzled?
Then you get to the return package. This is where it gets truly wild. The Angels wouldn’t just give him away, even with the contract. They’d want a haul. Multiple top prospects, maybe a young controllable Major Leaguer or two. Trying to balance that against the team taking on Trout’s salary… it’s a headache. Honestly, it felt like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube blindfolded.
And you gotta remember Trout’s injury history lately. That’s a huge factor any team would worry about when giving up the farm and paying hundreds of millions.
After spinning my wheels for a while, trying different team combos on paper, I kinda just threw my hands up. It’s almost impossible. Not just hard, but borderline fantasy. The money, the no-trade, the return needed, the injury risk… too many hurdles. Any trade that works on paper feels completely unrealistic in the real world. You’d need the Angels to basically eat a ton of money, and Trout to suddenly want out, and a team willing to mortgage its future.
It reminds me of trying to pull off crazy trades back in my old fantasy baseball leagues. You’d spend hours crafting the “perfect” deal, send it over, and just get laughed at. This feels like that, but times a million. You think you’ve got it all figured out, but the other side (or in this case, reality) just sees it totally differently. It’s easy to play armchair GM, but making it actually happen? Whole different ballgame.
Honestly, thinking about this just made me kinda sad for the Angels and Trout. Such an incredible player, stuck on a team that just can’t seem to get it right around him. Year after year.
So, What’s the Point?
Well, my little “practice session” basically confirmed what most folks already suspect. A Mike Trout trade is fun water cooler talk, maybe something you can force through in a video game with the settings tweaked, but in reality? Don’t hold your breath. There are just too many walls to break down. Looks like Trout’s gonna be an Angel for the long haul, for better or worse.
