Mike Trout is preparing to begin his 15th season in the majors, having spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Angels. After suffering injuries in four consecutive years and missing all but 29 games last season, Trout feels he has something to prove. The three-time NL MVP is fired up entering 2025, hoping to return to the elite force he had been for so long.
Now healthy and playing for the first time since a season-ending meniscus tear last year, Trout is not lacking confidence. “I know when I’m out there I still feel like I’m the best player on the field,” Trout admitted, via MLB’s official account on X.
This season, the Angels have moved Trout to right field from his customary position in center. LA is hoping the change will help preserve Trout’s body, keeping him healthy for a full season for the first time since he last won league MVP in 2019.
Trout is already working his way back into form. He hit his first home run since returning from knee surgery and seems ready to resume his first-ballot Hall of Fame trajectory. Still, some wonder if the Angels are doing enough to ensure Trout’s health.
Pittsburgh Pirates veteran Andrew McCutchen believes Los Angeles should remove Trout from the field altogether, making the former Defensive Player of the Year a full time designated hitter. Trout, however, is unlikely to go for such a change, viewing his defense as part of what makes him a great baseball player.
Last year was especially hard for Trout. Not only was he unable to play the majority of the season but he had to watch as his Angels missed the playoffs for the 10th straight year. Additionally, his former teammate Shohei Ohtani, who had spent six years with Trout on the Angels, switched teams, won his third MVP Award and found postseason success, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a World Series victory over the New York Yankees.
Ohtani has clearly surpassed Trout as the game’s premier player. And he wasn’t even pitching last season. This year, Trout hopes to get back into the top tier of MLB players, alongside Shohei and Judge. In his mind, he’s already there. Now he just needs to stay healthy and hopefully a return to form will follow.
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Athletics rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz already had an impressive start to his career. Kurtz entered Friday having posted a .288/.360/.622 batting line in 265 plate appearances, hitting 19 homers and 17 doubles. Despite making his major league debut on April 23, Kurtz has been the A's most valuable player, leading the team with 2.6 bWAR. He appeared to be on the cusp of becoming the superstar the A's needed to sell the team to the residents of Las Vegas. That performance set the stage for what may have been the most impressive game for any rookie in major league history. Kurtz became the 20th player in MLB history to have a four-home run game and the first rookie to achieve that feat. Kurtz's performance also put the 2025 season into baseball history. Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez had a four-home run game on April 26, making this the third time that there have been two four-homer games in a season. That had happened in 2002 (outfielders Mike Cameron and Shawn Green) and 2017 (utility man Scooter Gennett and left fielder J.D. Martinez). Kurtz did not stop with those four homers. He was 6-6 in the A's 15-3 victory over the Astros, with a double and eight runs batted in. The favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year award, Kurtz put an emphatic stamp on an already impressive season with his barrage on Friday.
According to some, throw out the idea that the Edmonton Oilers should pursue Max Pacioretty. A veteran forward who has earned over $63 million over the course of his NHL career has yet to sign an NHL contract and was recently mentioned in a post by David Staples as a possible fit. In a recent post, the Journal noted, “All of the top NHL unrestricted free agents have already signed contracts, but there’s one big name player still available that makes good sense for the Edmonton Oilers to pursue.” Responses have been varied, with a few quite vocal about the Oilers not following Staples’ advice. “In what world does this make sense?????” writes a commenter on a recent post for The Hockey Writers. Another commenter wrote, “Pacioretty is a good journeyman player but he is injury prone now, late in his career. Oilers might be lucky to get 40 games out of him. They should look elsewhere instead of taking a chance on Patches.” Tyler Yaremchuk of Oilers Nation chimed in and said, “He scored five goals in 37 games last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Can’t stay healthy, very old, very slow.” Yaremchuk then went on a rant, listing several Oilers forwards who would be better than Pacioretty. What About Pacioretty on a PTO? Is there any reason that a team that is looking to get younger and faster, and move out depth pieces that were older and less productive than expected, would revert back to last summer’s strategy? It seems like an odd choice on the surface. Something would have to happen that would make giving Pacioretty a look risk-free. That means only a PTO. Even at that point, should he agree, it would require him to be willing to sign a two-way contract for the league minimum.
For the first time since the Las Vegas Raiders' shocking release of DT Christian Wilkins on Thursday, head coach Pete Carroll fielded questions about the move. "To make our decision, we watched our way through the whole thing," Carroll told the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vinny Bonsignore. "We're keeping really clear with what we said. I think there was no clear path to his return, and we just had to move on." Wilkins was injured in Week 5 against the Denver Broncos last season, suffering a foot injury that would put him on the IR after five games. It was not what the Raiders had hoped for after then-general manager Tom Telesco signed him to a four-year, $110 million deal in March 2024. Initially, Wilkins did have surgery, but wasn't healthy by the time organized team activities started, and his rehab proved to be a "challenging process" as described by Carroll a few months ago. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Las Vegas reportedly wanted Wilkins to undergo another foot surgery, but he declined, which led to the release of the six-year pro from Clemson. The Raiders are attempting to void $35.2 million in remaining guarantees that Wilkins was owed on his contract. The NFLPA filed a grievance against Las Vegas as a result. Wilkins was brought in to help star pass rusher Maxx Crosby create problems for opposing offenses. The Raiders got a brief look when Wilkins recorded 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, six quarterback hits and two sacks before he got injured in the second quarter. The injury was unfortunate for Las Vegas, which had counted on Wilkins to produce similar results, as he had in his last three seasons with the Dolphins, recording 17 sacks, including nine in 2023. Perhaps Raiders GM John Spytek saw this coming when the silver and black selected Tonka Hemingway and JJ Pegues in the 2025 NFL Draft. While there is still time to find the next player to fill the void left by Wilkins, there is a massive hole in the interior line.
The Miami Dolphins lost another cornerback when Artie Burns suffered a torn ACL on the first day of training camp, and they may have found a potential replacement. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Saturday that the Dolphins have agreed to a deal with former Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jack Jones. The Dolphins were already thin at the cornerback position before Burns was lost for the year. They released Kendall Fuller after the 2024 season and traded former All-Pro Jalen Ramsey to the Pittsburgh Steelers last month. Jones is a talented player, but character concerns have followed him throughout his career. He played in all 17 games for the Raiders last season, making 16 starts. Jones had 69 total tackles and three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Despite his solid play, Jones was cut by Las Vegas in April. The Raiders had claimed Jones off waivers midway through the 2023 season after he was cut by the New England Patriots, likely because of his off-field issues. Then-Patriots head coach Bill Belichick suspended Jones at the end of the 2022 season for a violation of team rules. Several months later, Jones was arrested at Logan Airport in Boston on gun-related charges. Jones, 27, was also criticized over his perceived lack of effort during some games with Las Vegas. But the Dolphins are desperate, and Jones has plenty of upside. The former fourth-round pick out of Arizona State has shown he is worthy of being a starter when his focus is solely on football. Miami is hoping to get that version of Jones.
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