More details on Trout
Mike Trout’s agent, in his talks with the Los Angeles Angels, implied that the outfielder wanted a $1 million salary for 2013, according to major-league sources.
Such a figure would have been the largest ever paid to a player with fewer than two years of service. But Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, could have asked for $25 million and it wouldn’t have mattered.
Trout, as a pre-arbitration player, had no leverage. And the Angels, rather than reward Trout for his historic rookie season, simply followed a scale that they use for all of their pre-arb players, sources say.
The team renewed Trout for $510,000 – the top of their scale for one-plus players, but just $20,000 above the major-league minimum. Outfielder Mark Trumbo agreed to the top of the Angels’ scale for two-plus players - $540,000.
One source said that the Angels actually made Trout a higher offer than $510,000, then renewed him as a punitive measure when he would not accept. Another source, however, said the Angels did not negotiate in any fashion, refusing to deviate from their scale.
Whatever happened, the real question is why the Angels weren’t willing to make an exception for Trout. They could have broken their scale for a player who won the AL Rookie of the Year and finished second in the MVP voting. They also could have gone above scale if they awarded bonuses to 0-to-3 players who achieve certain honors, the way other teams do.
Ryan Howard’s $900,000 salary in 2007, coming off a National League MVP award, remains the highest ever awarded to a player with less than two years of service. Buster Posey received $575,000 in ’11 after winning the NL Rookie of the Year award and helping the San Francisco Giants win the World Series.
The entire episode with Trout likely will be forgotten if he and the Angels reach agreement on a long-term contract in the near future. The team has every right to wield the hammer on players before they reach arbitration. After that, the great ones get paid in a big way.
-Ken Rosenthal
-
The one thing that is not mentioned in this article is that they did very little to accomodate Trout. Now will he remember this when he becomes a free-agent? Maybe not but for a franchise that has very deep pockets you would think that they do not want to see Trout as a Red Sox or Yankees player in the near future. When you have an opportunity to make a player of this caliber happy with your organization you do it immediately.
-
This caliber? He hasn't even played a full season in the big leagues. And his final month last season was a huge drop off from the previous 4.
-
I've always had an issue with Free Agency in that it shows a complete lack of loyalty that players show to teams these days. No longer (with rare exceptions) do players remain loyal to managers, teams, or cities.
Everyone agrees they didn't have to pay Trout more, but a more realistic salary for the GOOD players tempered with decreases in the exorbitant salaries of the mediocre sounds reasonable.
Will Trout remember this snub when his contract comes due and the Rangers or Blue Jays come with a hefty check? Of course... and I wouldn't blame him for getting the Hell outta Dodge. -
Look i understand why the angel's did it. Id of given him 1 million and said cool. If he has another great year this year, id sign him long term buying out arbitration and fa years like tampa did with longoria and others. Look at guys like hosmer though. Alot of players have good to great first seasons "fred lynn anyone" and become mediocre after that so i understand why angels did what they did its how the system works, When trout files for super 2 rights and gets it it will be because thats how system works, so it works both ways.
-
If Trout is as good as most think he is, and since moreno paid Albert $250,000,000.00...WHAT is Trout worth?
-
How many people would love to make 510,000 dollars a year to do something they love? His time will come when he makes more then Albert until then shut up and play.
-
I think $1 million would have been fair. Look at what Jeter and Pujols got their second years. Jeter got triple what he got his rookie season. The Cardinals gave Pujols four times his rookie pay. So giving Trout $1 million might seem like a lot but when you look at it that way it isn't that much. He deserves it. The Angels are going to make a lot off of Trout this year. They have eight player promotions going on at home games this season. Five of those are Trout promotions.
-
The smartest move the Angels could do is tie up Trout for ten years now. No matter what this would cost now, it will save them millions in the long run and keep the high revenue TV deal viable for many years to come.
