Why Mike Trout Growing Frustrated (Again) Shows He Should’ve Walked Away From Anaheim

Mike Trout came out the gates on fire this year, but recent struggles for him and his team have him admitting the season has been hard on him. As much as it pains us to watch: Mike Trout should have walked away from the Angels when he had the chance. 

“Spring training, you come in, you got a great team. You had some big free agents with (Anthony) Rendon and some guys that can help this team,” Trout explained. “Then we get shut down and we come back and they expand the playoffs. To see where we’re at now, it’s definitely frustrating because we have a great team.“

Arte Moreno consistently getting the best hitter on the market while completely ignoring his pitching staff will never not be funny to me.

— Kikè Hernandez’s Hitting Coach (@IHateWorkman) August 25, 2020

Mind-boggling how Mike Trout, who spent nine seasons in Anaheim, could believe this Angels team made strides this offseason. The team’s pitching staff couldn’t get outs last year if their lives depended on it, but signing a perennial all-star third baseman gave you confidence? It shouldn’t have. 

The eight-time all-star should have relocated his services to an organization with a track record of building a roster. Hard to turn down a 12-year, $430 million extension, but most rival executives would have paid him the same way. Trout and his agent Craig Landis knew that and they still fell victim to empty promises of getting him into the postseason. 

Mike Trout’s career is tracking the same way Damian Lillard’s has in Portland as he seemingly digs his feet in the sand to save an inept front office. Commendable, but trusting in people to do things they’ve never done is a fool’s game. 

Like trusting in a cheating girlfriend to never do it again. 

Can’t do it alone

Baseball, more than any other sport, forces all-time greats to rely on the abilities of their teammates. This isn’t the NBA where LeBron James and a couple good players can achieve the ultimate goal. Derek Jeter needed every bit of Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, and plenty others to build the legacy we watched unfold. 

Without the luxury of George Steinbrenner and the Yankees front office, Jeter never becomes a generational hero. The stage was set by elite front office work and Mike Trout’s loyalty to Angels owner Arte Moreno and GM Billy Eppler will cost him his legacy. 

The Los Angeles Angels are still bad. https://t.co/WVrpBlmNjB

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) September 1, 2020

The Millville Meteor solidified his name as the game’s best player years ago that amazingly has a higher ceiling if he would pull the plug on the Angels. Seeing Willie Mays-like talent annually sit on the couch for October baseball is unfair to fans around the world. Unfair to Mike Trout as he deposits 13 meaningless homers, so far, for a team no body watches.