Trout in elite company with 2nd MVP before age-25 season
Mike Trout, just five full seasons into his career, has entered into a pantheon of baseball legends.
The Los Angeles Angels superstar took home the second American League MVP of his career Thursday night, easily netting the honors over Mookie Betts and Jose Altuve. Trout's victory made him only the fifth player in baseball history to win two MVPs before his age-25 season (he turned 25 in August).
The other four players on this very exclusive list - Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, and Johnny Bench - are in the Hall of Fame.
| Player | Team | MVP Yrs. (Age**) | Career MVPs | WAR (to age-25 season) | Career WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmie Foxx | Athletics | 1932 (24); 1933 (25) | 3 | 45.2 | 96.4 |
| Stan Musial | Cardinals | 1943 (22); 1946 (25) | 3 | 32.6 | 128.1 |
| Mickey Mantle | Yankees | 1956 (24); 1957 (25) | 3 | 52.2 | 109.7 |
| Johnny Bench | Reds | 1970 (22); 1972 (24) | 2 | 35.4 | 75.0 |
| Mike Trout | Angels | 2014 (22); 2016 (24) | 2 | 48.5 | 48.5 |
**Ages before June 30 of given season
Each of those four players Trout joined Thursday won their two MVPs with historic starts to their careers. Upon further examination, however, it's Trout that is now standing above them all. Going by Baseball-Reference's version of the wins above replacement metric, Mantle's the only one of the group who outperformed what he's done to this point in his career. Ty Cobb, who played before the MVP award's existence, is the lone player to have bettered either Mantle or Trout before turning 25.
| Player | Pos. | Team(s) | Yrs. | OPS | HR | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Cobb* | OF | Tigers | 1905-12 | .927 | 43 | 55.8 |
| Mickey Mantle* | OF | Yankees | 1951-57 | 1.002 | 207 | 52.2 |
| Mike Trout+ | OF | Angels | 2011-16 | .963 | 168 | 48.5 |
| Rogers Hornsby* | 2B | Cardinals | 1915-21 | .897 | 57 | 46.9 |
| Alex Rodriguez | SS | SEA/TEX | 1994-2001 | .949 | 241 | 46.3 |
| Jimmie Foxx* | 1B | Athletics | 1925-33 | 1.073 | 222 | 45.2 |
| Mel Ott* | OF | Giants | 1926-34 | .966 | 211 | 44.1 |
| Ken Griffey Jr.* | OF | Mariners | 1989-95 | .915 | 189 | 40.2 |
| Arky Vaughan* | SS | Pirates | 1932-37 | .915 | 58 | 39.4 |
| Eddie Mathews* | 3B | Braves | 1952-57 | .943 | 222 | 38.9 |
+indicates active player
*indicates Hall of Famer
Trout's total of 48.5 bWAR through his first six seasons (including his stint as a September call-up in 2011) is surpassed only by Ted Williams, whose brilliant beginning to his legendary career was stalled due to World War II. In fact, over his six big-league campaigns (only five of them full years when counting 2011) Trout's put up better numbers than all of Mantle, Foxx, Musial, and Bench. He's even bested the historic start of his veteran Angels teammate, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.
| Player | Pos. | Team(s) | Yrs. | OPS | HR | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Williams*^ | OF | Red Sox | 1939-47 | 1.131 | 197 | 55.0 |
| Mike Trout+ | OF | Angels | 2011-16 | .963 | 168 | 48.5 |
| Albert Pujols+ | 1B-OF | Cardinals | 2001-06 | 1.047 | 250 | 46.0 |
| Jackie Robinson* | 2B-1B | Dodgers | 1947-52 | .895 | 92 | 43.7 |
| Wade Boggs* | 3B | Red Sox | 1982-87 | .923 | 56 | 43.3 |
| Joe DiMaggio* | OF | Yankees | 1936-41 | 1.034 | 198 | 42.6 |
| Barry Bonds | OF | Pirates | 1986-91 | .852 | 142 | 41.1 |
| Mickey Mantle* | OF | Yankees | 1951-56 | .972 | 173 | 40.9 |
| Willie Mays*^ | OF | Giants | 1951-57 | .980 | 187 | 40.7 |
| Arky Vaughan* | SS | Pirates | 1932-37 | .915 | 58 | 39.4 |
^indicates first six seasons were not consecutive
Perhaps the most amazing fact gleaned about Trout after his historic MVP win is that he'll only be playing his 25-year-old season in 2017. It's quite possible, then, that the once-in-a-generation player - moving quickly toward sitting atop these lists of all-time greats - has barely scratched the surface of his potential.
If you're a big-league pitcher who has to face the Angels, that's a very scary thought.