MLB insider: 'In 10 years, Mike Trout will be the greatest baseball player ever'
Whether or not the Kansas City Chiefs actually signed 24-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes to the largest contract in sports history on Monday could, as Dan Gartland of Sports Illustrated noted, come down to wording and phrasing. It's possible, if not likely, Mahomes never sees every cent attached to that deal.
Financial aspects of the contract did, however, bring questions about Los Angeles Angels superstar slugger Mike Trout to the forefront.
Trout is currently on a 12-year deal that we know will pay him slightly less than $426 million because of pandemic-related salary reductions for at least the 2020 campaign. The 28-year-old, who is already a three-time Most Valuable Player and who probably already has a spot in the Hall of Fame reserved for him, could go down as the greatest player ever. At least that's what ESPN's Buster Olney thinks.
"In 10 years, Mike Trout will be the greatest baseball player ever," Olney said during Tuesday's edition of the ESPN "Get Up" program.
Trout is four MVP awards away from tying Barry Bonds in that category. Of course, plenty of controversy hovers over Bonds' potential Hall of Fame status, let alone his ranking on all-time player lists.
Baseball Reference numbers indicate Trout is way behind Babe Ruth in categories such as Wins Above Replacement and offensive WAR. Trout has little chance of catching Bonds in Win Probability Added or career home runs.
One also cannot blame Trout he plays for a team that likely isn't competing for much in the foreseeable future, that Ruth crushed baseballs when he had no equals or that Bonds ... well, you know.
Perhaps the question is: What would Trout need to accomplish to make him your G.O.A.T. by July 2030?
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