Trout: Angels have 'got to get to the playoffs'

Mike Trout has only reached the playoffs once in his nine big-league seasons, and he's not too pleased about it.

The Los Angeles Angels superstar has opened up about his frustration over missing the playoffs yet again - this time in a format where more than half of each league is getting in - ahead of what will be his sixth consecutive October at home.

"The biggest thing is getting to the playoffs," Trout said Saturday, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. "You guys see it. I see it. It sucks, being out of it. It's time. We got to get to the playoffs."

The Angels have failed to take advantage of Trout's historic prime over the past decade, reaching the playoffs only once with him on the roster in 2014. Trout struggled in that year's ALDS, going 1-for-12 with three walks and a home run, and the Kansas City Royals swept the series.

The Halos thought this campaign would be different, in part because of the one-off expanded format resulting from the shortened 60-game season. Trout's done his part, hitting .281/.390/.603 with 17 homers and 2.6 WAR, but the team disappointed again, leading to the franchise's fifth straight losing season. The club was officially eliminated Friday.

After Sunday's season finale, the Angels will enter an offseason of uncertainty and questions. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons is a free agent and may not return. General manager Billy Eppler, who Trout called a close friend, is also without a contract for 2021.

Trout appears to still be happy in Anaheim. He says he believes in the team, thinks this year's squad would have made it to the playoffs under a normal, 162-game schedule, and plans to help Eppler - or whoever replaces him in the GM's chair - recruit free agents.

But pressure is also mounting on the Halos to build a sustainable winner around Trout before it's too late, and the 29-year-old - who signed a 12-year, $430-million extension with the club last spring - isn't taking this latest losing season lightly.

"I don't like losing," Trout said. "I want to get to the playoffs. I think that every time we come into spring training our main goal is to get to the playoffs and bring a championship to Anaheim. That's just the mindset. You come up short and you're that close, it sucks."