Thanks, LA! Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Every Phillies fan should, right now, at this very moment, stop whatever they’re doing, go to FTD.com, and buy a nice arrangement of flowers for Angels owner Arte Moreno and general manager Jerry Dipoto.
Heck, maybe even throw in some chocolates and a little teddy bear or something.
It’s wonderful to see the Angels are doing all they can to make sure the best player in baseball, Mike Trout, becomes a Phillie when he reaches free agency in 2018.
Yes, that’s right. The man who should have been AL MVP last year, at just 21 years old, will make just $20,000 more than the league minimum this year, earning $510,000 this year.
In 2013, it will take Mike Trout 55 days to earn what A-Rod makes in 1 day for not playing (H/T @sportstaxman)
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 2, 2013
Baseball is an $8 billion industry. Mike Trout, its best player, will make .006% of its revenue this year. That's 6/1,000ths of 1%.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 3, 2013
by paying mike trout 510 grand, angels r paying him about 1/40th what theyre paying vernon wells. fair? not in this world!
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 2, 2013
Normally, star players who win Rookie of the Year get a little bit more of a bump after a terrific first season. For example, Evan Longoria saw his salary raised $50,000, from $500,000 to $550,000, after his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2008. Dustin Pedroia went from $380,000 to $457,000 after his rookie season, Justin Verlander jumped from $980,000 to $1.03 million after his rookie year, Buster Posey went from $575,000 to $615,000, Ryan Braun got a raise from $380,000 to $455,000, Hanley Ramirez went from $327,000 to $402,000 after his Rookie of the Year season, and Ryan Howard got a bump from $316,000 to $365,000 after his Rookie of the Year campaign.
Compare that to the scant $20,000 raise the Angels gave Mike Trout.
Trout, for his part, is taking the high road.
"“I mean, my time will come,” Trout said this weekend. “I just have to keep putting out numbers and concentrating on one thing, and that’s getting to the postseason.”"
Isn’t he just the best, guys?
Trout, a Philly native, has said his favorite team growing up was the Phillies. And by growing up, I mean, like two or three years ago. You know, when he was an official member of the Angels.
"Trout’s father recalled a story from a few years back when in the middle of the night, Jeff heard Mike scream from his room.“Dad, we got Roy Halladay!” Mike yelled. To which his Dad responded: “the Angels got Halladay?”“No, the Phillies did!” Mike replied. “Son, you’re a member of the Angels. What’s with this we?!”"
If he got that excited about the Phils signing Halladay, can you IMAGINE how excited he’s going to be when he finds out HE signed here?
Clearly, this contract offer is a smack in the face of Trout. At least, that’s how Trout’s agent Craig Landis feels about it.
"“During the process, on behalf of Mike, I asked only that the Angels compensate Mike fairly for his historic 2012 season, given his service time,” Landis said in a statement. “This contract falls well short of a ‘fair’ contract and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process. Nonetheless, the renewal of Mike’s contract will put an end (to) this discussion.”"
I immediately like this man and would like to subscribe to his newsletter.
Listen, we all understand about cost control and minimizing the monetary commitment to younger players. And it’s not like the Angels are cheap. They are paying Vernon Wells $24 million, Josh Hamilton $17.4 million, Jered Weaver $16.2 million, and Albert Pujols $16 million this year, with the contracts for Hamilton and Pujols set to explode in the next few years.
And, of course, once Trout hits arbitration in 2015, he’s going to challenge, and almost certainly surpass, the the $8 million settlement Posey reached with the Giants in his first year of arbitration eligibility this year.
Trout’s gonna get his.
That said, couldn’t the Angels have at least doubled Trout’s salary and get him over the $1 million mark for this year, as a goodwill gesture following such a historic season? Would that have been such a painful strain on their pocketbook?
Luckily for Phils fans, this ABUSE of Mike Trout is going to play right into the hands of the Phillies in just five short years.
All we have to do is wait it out, lie in the weeds, and wait for Trout to be free of his captors and join the team he’s always wanted to play for.
So, thank you Mr. Moreno and Mr. Dipoto. We’ll be happy to take your reject player.
And, I hope you like the tulips I sent you.