“I’ll do the same thing I did last year”
On May 25, MLB.com and other local media outlets in the United States reported that Major League Baseball superstar and Los Angeles Angels slugger Mike Trout is out for the season.
After officially ending his season, Trout was interviewed by local media on the 26th. “Trout cried at the end of the season,” said Japan’s Sponichi Annex, which was on the scene. “Trout said, ‘I’m getting better, but I want to go back, it’s painful,’” he said. It’s clear that he’s in a lot of pain.
On July 4, Trout fractured the metacarpal bone in his left hand while swinging at a pitch against the San Diego Padres. He underwent surgery and returned to action on August 23 against the Cincinnati Reds after a lengthy layoff. Trout finished the game 1-for-4, but the next day, he was nowhere to be found in the Angels’ starting lineup.
Trout’s departure after just one game was due to a re-aggravation of the fractured fibula he underwent surgery for. Trout was placed back on the 10-day disabled list (IL), where he remained until recently, when he was finally transferred to the 60-day disabled list, where he will finish the season on the DL.
As the “go-to” hitter in the majors, Trout has been a very healthy player since his first season in the big leagues in 2011, playing 110 or more games in eight straight seasons through 2019. With the exception of 2017, when he was limited to 114 games due to a left thumb issue, he was “consistent” enough to play 130+ games. Even in 2020, a shortened season (60 games), he played 53 games.
But health hasn’t been the name of the game for Trout lately. He’s been battling injuries, big and small, every year. In 2021, Trout was limited to 36 games due to a broken wrist, and in 2022, he was limited to 119 games. Considering that a major league season is 162 games, 82 games this year is “half” a season. This is the third year in a row that he hasn’t played a full season.
As for how he’s feeling now, according to the Sporting News, Trout said, “I’m going to be completely healthy by the end of the last session. I’ll have some soreness, but that’s normal for me right now,” he said, adding that he’s eager to return, saying, “I’m going to take two or three weeks off-season to get my mind and body in shape and get ready to play next season.”
Trout signed a 12-year, $426.5 million “jackpot” contract with the Angels prior to the start of the 2019 season. He has seven years left on that deal before it expires. However, Bob Nightingale of USA Today recently raised the possibility of a trade for Trout. If Trout wanted to leave the team, the Angels would be open to it.
Trout hasn’t been able to avoid questions about a trade from reporters. “I’ve already talked to John Carpino (Angels president),” Trout said when asked if he wanted to stay with the team during its long slump. Like I said, we’re going to do the same thing we did last year. I’m going to do the same thing I did last year, like I said,” he said, indicating that he has no intention of leaving the team, which has been a tradition for the past 13 years of preparing for spring in the offseason and putting on an Angels uniform in the spring.
What conversations did he have with the team? “I have a public conversation with Carpino every year. I have seven years left on my contract, and everybody wants to hear about it. But it’s not just this year, it’s every year. There’s nothing special about it. It’s just to take two or three weeks and see what happened globally. It’s a private conversation where I give my opinion.”
While Trout made it sound like he would stay with the Angels, saying he would “do the same thing I did last year,” he didn’t make it clear that he “wants to be traded” or “doesn’t want to be traded,” so things could change at any moment. Furthermore, Trout holds a no-trade clause for the entire organization, so there’s no telling what will happen in the future.온라인바카라
It’s hard to imagine the Angels letting Trout walk, considering he’s the franchise’s signature star. But given his numbers and salary over the past three seasons, it’s not out of the question that the Angels would let him go, especially if Shohei Ohtani leaves via free agency after this season, which would weaken the Angels’ lineup even more, and there’s no reason to keep him.
It’s unclear what the Angels will do with Trout, who has expressed his disappointment at not being able to finish the season in tears. If he is traded without a team-wide no-trade clause, it will likely be after they have decided on a destination for Ohtani.