Angels GM: We're not trading Trout
Things are a mess in Anaheim right now.
Absent from the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, the Angels have endured a familiar, dispiriting start to the 2016 campaign, stumbling to a 13-15 record with an aging roster overflowing with bloated contracts. Albert Pujols is hitting .198. Jered Weaver's fastball can't break a pane of glass. Their farm system is a mess, too, and Garrett Richards looks poised for Tommy John surgery.
Still, bleak as it is, general manager Billy Eppler made one thing perfectly clear Friday: Mike Trout isn't going anywhere.
"We have no intent or desire to consider moving Mike Trout - he's not moving," Eppler told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. "He's an impact player, a huge piece in a championship core."
Impact player? Talk about an understatement. In more than a century of Major League Baseball, no player has ever been as good as Trout at the same stage in his career. Trout, already an All-Star four times and MVP once, compiled more WAR through his age-23 season than any player ever, and is off to another sublime start this year, hitting .317/.400/.596 (181 wRC+) with seven homers in his first 28 games.
All-time WAR leaders through age-23
| Name | WAR | wRC+ | HR | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Trout | 38.5 | 167 | 139 | 113 |
| Ted Williams | 36.4 | 185 | 127 | 11 |
| Ty Cobb | 36.2 | 168 | 28 | 254 |
| Mel Ott | 33.2 | 152 | 153 | 37 |
| Mickey Mantle | 29.5 | 156 | 121 | 33 |
Nevertheless, Eppler said, even though Trout - who has five years and about $138 million left on his deal - would command perhaps an unprecedented haul in a trade, the first-year GM isn't ready to start the rebuild.
"This team was up against a lot of adversity last year and fought to the end," Eppler said. "We've got a lot of character, a lot of the same guys on the club. They will not back down from a fight."