No matter how bad the Los Angeles Angels have been over the years, Mike Trout has repeatedly insisted he was not interested in going elsewhere. Shohei Ohtani left. But Trout still remained steadfast. He was staying in Orange County.
Maybe now, after watching Ohtani win a couple of World Series with the Dodgers, would Trout reconsider? He hasn't been in the postseason since 2014, the first of his three MVP seasons. And the Angels haven't had a winning record since 2015.
If Trout finally relents and decides to go and try to win a World Series, the most logical destination would be to his boyhood home team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Trout is from Vineland, NJ, just a 45-minute drive to Philly. And the Phils are a perennial championship contender. They won't finish first in the NL East this year, but a Wild Card spot is pretty certain.
"If he's going to go anywhere in pursuit of a ring, Philadelphia seems the likeliest destination, by far," writes Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report. And with that, he has put together a potential blockbuster trade that could land Trout with his boyhood team:
Philadelphia Phillies receive:
Los Angeles Angels receive:
- RHP Gage Wood
- CF Justin Crawford
For the Phillies, Trout would answer their center field needs. They're second to last in the majors in home runs and RBIs out of their CF spot in the lineup. And we as baseball fans would get to see Mike Trout in the playoffs, and that would be a very good thing.
The Angels would get a couple of good ones in this proposed deal.
Gage Wood is the Phillies' No. 2 prospect, a right-hander who had a historic 19-strikeout no-hitter in the College World Series last year. MLB Pipeline says, "Wood’s fastball might be good enough to get big league hitters out now." He's 22, and has an ETA of next season.
Crawford was a first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, and has been a Top 5 Phillies prospect for the last three years. Also just 22, he's getting his feet wet with his first taste of the big leagues this season. He hasn't done much yet, but he's a terrific contact hitter, who owns a career minor league average of .316 with a .371 on-base percentage, and has speed to burn. He's swiped over 40 bags in each of the previous three seasons while quickly moving up the Phillies organizational chart.
But Miller adds that perhaps more prospect capital could be involved, depending upon how much of the remaining $160 million owed to Trout on his massive deal the Angels would be willing to retain.
No baseball fan worth their salt wouldn't want to see a deal like this happen.
Photo: © Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
