by Matt Topolski
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Last month, Angeles superstar Mike Trout signed a 12-year deal that will guarantee him more than $430 million over 12 years. The contract was the largest in the history of American sports and it came just a week after the Philadelphia Phillies made former Nat’s star, Bryce Harper an offer he couldn’t refuse, for roughly a $100 million less than Trout’s deal.
Trout’s deal which keeps him in Anaheim, California, through 2030, will net him $35,830,000 per year OR to put it another way, more money than god. So the question is, with all this money being thrown around by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, is Mike Trout worth the loot?
Well let’s put it this way, don’t load the bases before he steps up to the plate. Not only is Mike Trout worth the money, but he’s the best baseball player I’ve seen in my 35 years on this planet and he’s also the MLB’s best chance at making us all forget an era littered with performance enhancing drugs, steroids and congressional hearings. Trout is pure, not just in the way he plays the game but in the way he presents himself on and off the diamond. What’s there not to like about the guy? In 2016, he proposed to his high school sweetheart. He often talks about his greatest influence; his father. And with his latest record breaking contract has committed his entire career to one franchise, something uncommon in the modern sports era.
He can hit and hit better than any one in the modern presumably steroid-free era. In the four game series against the Texas Rangers, Trout had the third best OPS ever for a player, putting him in the company of Ruth and Mantle. In fact, Trout went 6-for-11 in the series with five home runs, nine RBIs, and five runs scored in total. We’re not talking about mid season form in April are we? YES WE ARE. At 27, Trout has yet to reach the peak of his powers, but if we’re getting a glimpse, then we are witnessing the type of transformational athlete that can breathe new life into major league baseball for an entirely new generation of fans. Sounds like the Angels made a damn good investment.
Trout is more than just the post steroid era cure for a league struggling to reach new fans under 50, he’s becoming one of the most must see shows in sports. Welcome back MLB, you can thank Mike Trout.