They ain’t messing around.
So will that end before or after the Pujols contract?
Not sure I’ve seen any details on when this deal for Trout will kick in, but for Albert, he’s got 3 years and $87m remaining on his contract with the Angels…and then another $10m personal services contract spread over the 10 years after his MLB career ends.
I’m a bit surprised honestly, given how Alberts contract worked out. Or mostly didn’t as the case may be.
Especially he last two years.
Such an absurd amount of money. Who’s the next player that’ll top it?
I think that major market teams like the Phillies and Angels can look at the length of these deals as an amortization. They’re amortizing the WAR they get from these guys in the first, say, two-thirds of the contract against the back end. They figure that whatever they lose on the back end they’ve more than gained in the early years.
Hah! I was mostly just going for a cheap laugh, but that’s great.
Thing is though, he never did that. His best season in LA (4.8, 2012) was worse than his worst season in StL(5.3, 2012). He was a negative WAR in 2017, and only barely positive in 2018.
His total WAR is 13.3 in LA. Which is less than nearly any combination of two seasons in StL, if you exclude his 2012 and 2002 seasons.
He’s been a bust. Not in terms of being a bad player, but in terms of absolutely not loving to the contract.
Sort of apples to oranges here. Pujols was at the end of his prime years when he signed that 10 year deal, Trout is just entering his prime (which is scary). I’m not saying the last couple years of Trouts deal might be ugly, but they will should get 5-6 more great season from Trout’s deal compared to what they got from Pujols’. Obviously, with injuries and such you never really know though. I could see Trout being more productive in his later years compared to Pujols, but it just takes a bad back or knees to keep that from happening.
Not sure he’ll top it, but Mooke Betts is going to get PAID too. Lindor will get some phat cash too, but Betts will probably come closest to getting Trout money.
Completely agree about Pujols’ contract, but I think it hasn’t stopped the Angels from viewing Trout’s that way. Of course, Trout is six years younger than Albert was when he signed with the Angels.
Oh sure. There is truth there.
But I was specifically responding to Jason regarding Pujols. Not that I wasn’t glad to see him leave the Central! Trout is likely to be a far better deal for the Angels long term, simply because they’ll get more production per $$$.
Is it worth it? Who knows. But more than Albert,
The other thing about the Pujols contract is that he’s long rumored to be a few years older than he actually is, including from some comments he’s made himself. I don’t really think there’s a lot of value in trying to guess at it specifically, but it sure impacts comparing aging curves between athletes. If Trout’s deal is 27->39 comparing it to Pujols at 32-42 vs 36->46 or somewhere in between does kind of frame the discussion a lot differently.
It could also be his age is legit and the various injuries were a big factor or people age different and baseball is hard.
ESPN has also talked about how the Angels signing of a $3b 20 year TV contract has made them flush with cash. Another thing, Trout still has 2 years at $66m on his current deal, so this is only 10 more years at $360m or so.
EDIT: Apparently that TV contract was signed in 2011.
It kind of fits his low-key image. Playing for Anaheim is like hiding in plain sight.
Anaheim is pretty much what Philip K Dick warned us about.
It’s official: Ichiro is hanging them up after this final game (going on right now) in the Tokyo Dome. Tune in and expect onions. This is going to be really emotional.
I’m so glad this didn’t drag on through the season. Wish he could have gotten a hit to end it all but he had a heck of a career.
Mariners on pace for 162 wins!!!
Also, this whole thing where they have to go to Japan to play 2 games that count, then come back and play more spring training games, then start the season again is crap.
Yup, a terrible idea. They did this several years ago and I had hoped they had given it up. Just send two teams over there for spring training games or something, but the real thing and not like this.
In this one specific instance I’m ok with it for Ichiro, even though I will always hold a grudge for him stealing the RotY award from Sabathia.