Mike Trout says leaving Angels would be 'easy way out,' wants owner to sign 'big guys'
Trout doesn't want to leave the Angels to win a championship, but he hasn't had much luck convincing owner Arte Moreno to spend more money
If you've been waiting for Mike Trout to want out of the Los Angeles Angels because he's tired of not making the playoffs, you'll have to keep waiting.
Trout spoke to the media about his future with the Halos on Monday at the Angels' spring training facility in Arizona, and he was pretty steadfast in his position: He wants to stay and try to win with the only team he has ever known.
"The easy way out is just ask for a trade," Trout said. "There might be a time. Maybe. I really haven't thought about this. But when I signed that contract, I'm loyal. I want to win a championship here. The overall picture of winning a championship or getting to the playoffs here is bigger satisfaction [than] bailing out and just taking an easy way out. So I think that's been my mindset. Maybe down the road if something's changed, but that's been my mindset ever since the trade speculations came up."
There's nothing surprising in that answer. Trout has had multiple opportunities to ask for a trade, but there has never been so much as a whisper about him wanting to leave Anaheim. Even with the Angels making the playoffs just once since his 2011 debut, and even with megastar Shohei Ohtani leaving for L.A.'s National League team, Trout values what he has built with the Angels.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2024 MLB season]
But Trout also wants to win. He said Monday that he has been pushing owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino to spend money and sign some of the free agents still on the market.
"This offseason, I was in contact with both of them (Art and Carpino), just pushing, pushing, pushing. There's still some guys out there that can make this team a lot better.
(...)
"I am going to keep pushing as long as I can. Until the season starts or until those guys sign. It's just in my nature. I'm doing everything I can possible. It's obviously Arte's decision. I'm going to put my two cents in there."
When one of the reporters asked Trout whether Moreno would listen to him and approve the signing of some impact players, Trout was as honest as he could be without telling the actual truth.
"Um, you know, it's uh, yeah, no. You know how Arte is [laugh]."
Trout knows he's fighting an uphill battle when it comes to convincing the owner of the team, whose net worth is close to $5 billion, to drop some money on guys such as Cody Bellinger or Matt Chapman, who would undoubtedly make the team better. Apparently it's even an uphill battle when players want to come to Anaheim to share a lineup with Trout.
"If you look over the past few years, Arte spent money. I saw a graph that we were 11th this offseason in spending money. He's spending money. But the big thing is, people are saying he's not signing big guys. This, that. There are a few guys out there that want to play here, too. I talked to a couple of them that want to be here. It comes down to [Arte's] decision."
Trout is only 32, but he knows he has more years behind him as a pro than in front of him. And because he doesn't want to leave the Angels, he's doing what he can to convince Moreno to build a winning team around him before it's too late. Moreno has had more than a decade of opportunities to do that and simply hasn't, but Trout doesn't seem like the type to stop trying.
