How New Angels Ownership Could Reshape Mike Trout’s Future

Mike Trout appeared in his 1,768th career regular season with the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 1 and first after the announcement Arte Moreno was selling the team to Stan Kroneke.

Kroenke owns the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. Under his ownership, those teams have combined for five championships and if you throw in his soccer ownership of the Colorado Rapids in the MLS and Arsenal of the English Premier League, the total is seven league championships.

In other words, way more than anything Trout has won with the Angels. Once a semi-regular participant in October baseball in the early years of Moreno’s ownership in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010, the Angels have appeared once in the postseason with Trout, and it was a three-game sweep by the Kansas City Royals in 2014.

Those Angels were a 98-win team, and these Angels are in a three-way race with the A’s and Rockies for the worst record in the major leagues.

What is Trout’s future under new ownership?

Trout is finishing the eighth year of a $426.5 million deal he signed in March 2019 after his first season as Shohei Ohtani’s teammate.

The duo won 80 games in 2018, the Angels have not won more than 77 games in any full season ever since and got nothing in return for Ohtani other than a compensatory draft pick used on reliever Ryan Johnson. They lost 99 last season and have an outside chance at the first-100 loss season since the team entered the majors in 1961.

Trout’s contract has a full no-trade clause, which would be expected for any franchise player and by all indications there have not been efforts in the past trying to convince him to waive it.

In theory, Trout’s trade value might be the highest in some time if you go by the health factor. He only missed 18 games due to injury this year and even while hitting under .250, he has 20 homers and 50 RBIs, numbers that might also be reflective of what is around him in the lineup, especially after the Angels traded Jo Adell.

Still, the fact Trout has made it through this season without missing significant time is something about which other teams might take notice.

His durability this year is on pace to be even better than last season when he missed 32 games and the last two seasons occurred after he missed a combined 382 games due to injuries from 2021-2024.

Would Trout ask for a trade?

The topic emerges on occasion about Trout asking for a trade and people thinking going home to Philadelphia would be a natural fit. So far, there are not any indications Trout has sought a trade and is willing to see this through, especially as the Angels appear to undergo another rebuild under interim general manager John Mozeliak.

Mozeliak took over June 26 for Perry Minasian, the same day Carlos Mendoza was fired as the manager of the Mets. Since then, he has traded seven players in six trades, including young ace Jose Soriano and Adell, whose catches were an early highlight before the season deteriorated.

Just before the trade barrage, Trout affirmed he was not asking for a trade, and when the frenzy of the deadline neared no team called the Angels about him. The reason was because in a meeting with Mozeliak, the three-time AL MVP and 12-time All-Star said as much when he told reporters the following on Aug. 4:

“Nah, it hasn’t changed anything,” Trout said. “But we’re not where we want to be. Doing what we did, I think helps our future. And we’ll see where it goes.”