The Los Angeles Angels missed the MLB playoffs for the ninth consecutive season in 2023.
In the 13 seasons that Mike Trout has played for the Angels, they've made the postseason just once. Even then, the experience was short-lived as the Angels won only one game against the Boston Red Sox in the 2014 best-of-five American League Division Series.
Over that same span, Trout, one of the perennial baseball talents of a generation, has been an All-Star 11 times, won the Silver Slugger Award nine times, won the AL MVP three times, and was named the AL Rookie of the Year Award winner in 2012.
To say that the Angels have wasted Trout's talent is an understatement.
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So when longtime MLB reporter, Bob Nightengale, of USA Today reported in September that the Angels would be open to trading Trout during the offseason, many in the industry were not all that surprised.
Trout was asked if he wanted to be traded when he spoke with reporters at the end of the Angels season. Trout missed almost half the season in 2023 with a broken hand; marking the seventh consecutive season Trout has had to miss significant time with an injury.
“It’s frustrating,” he told reporters ahead of the final game of the regular season. “It’s been hard on me… It kills me not being out there. I’ve got a lot left in my career, and I can’t just sit around here and mope around. I’ve got to have that positive mindset.”
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Trout said he hired a team of people to help him to stay health for the entirety of the season last winter.
“Coming into this season, the biggest thing was trying to stay healthy. That was my goal,” said Trout. “I hired a lot of people [this past offseason] to work on my body. My body felt great. A freak thing happened and I broke my hand.”
Trout was asked about his future, and whether or not he would ask the Angels to be traded this offseason.
“I’ve got seven years left on the contract,” said Trout. “There’s a lot of speculation out there. And like I said, I come in every year, I sit back two to three weeks, enjoy the family, clear my mind and then have conversations with the front office every single offseason. Nothing’s changed.”
Trout still has seven years and $248.15 million remaining on his contract with the Angels, but with fellow superstar and two-time AL MVP Shohei Ohtani a free agent, Trout might ask for the opportunity to play elsewhere as well.
According to BetOnline.ag, the odds that Trout will be on a new time before the start of the 2024 MLB season are now -180 (better than a five-to-nine chance it happens).
If Trout is traded, BetOnline has the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants as the favorites to acquire him. That is followed by the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees.
Trout's hometown team, the Philadelphia Phillies, also have six-to-one odds, the same as the Yankees.
Here's the full odds courtesy of BetOnline.ag:
| Mike Trout Next Team If Not Los Angeles Angels | ||
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 3/1 | |
| San Francisco Giants | 4/1 | |
| New York Mets | 5/1 | |
| San Diego Padres | 5/1 | |
| New York Yankees | 6/1 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 6/1 | |
| Boston Red Sox | 14/1 | |
| Chicago Cubs | 16/1 | |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 16/1 | |
| Seattle Mariners | 18/1 | |
| Atlanta Braves | 20/1 | |
| Houston Astros | 20/1 | |
| Texas Rangers | 20/1 | |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 22/1 | |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 30/1 | |
| Cincinnati Reds | 30/1 | |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 30/1 | |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 30/1 | |
| Baltimore Orioles | 35/1 | |
| Miami Marlins | 35/1 | |
| Minnesota Twins | 35/1 | |
| Chicago White Sox | 60/1 | |
| Cleveland Guardians | 60/1 | |
| Detroit Tigers | 75/1 | |
| Washington Nationals | 75/1 | |
| Colorado Rockies | 100/1 | |
| Kansas City Royals | 100/1 | |
| Oakland Athletics | 100/1 | |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 100/1 |
