Phillies future still bright without Mike Trout fantasy

While the Phillies might be disappointed, there’s no reason to fret Mike Trout not being a free agent.

Phillies fans saw their biggest dream die Tuesday afternoon after learning New Jersey’s own Mike Trout (a well-documented Eagles and Sixers fan) reportedly agreed to the largest contract in North American sports history.

Even before Philadelphia inked Bryce Harper, fans had visions of Trout and Harper patrolling the grass at Citizens Bank Park for the next decade, creating baseball’s greatest dynamic duo since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Harper’s comments about courting Trout stirred the pot of dreams even more in Philadelphia, but now we have to throw out the ‘Five Blockbuster Trades to Land Mike Trout‘ stories.

While adding a player in his late-20’s who could already walk into Cooperstown with two MVPs, six Silver Sluggers, and seven All-Star games in eight seasons would be dream-worthy, that dream has died. Mike Trout will more than likely never play for the Phillies nor play for a team other than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Philadelphia never even had a shot to draft the hometown kid in 2009. They held the 26th overall pick, two spots behind where Los Angeles selected Trout, and Philly lost that pick when they signed Raúl Ibañez to replace Pat Burrell.

Just remember that the Phillies took high school outfielder Kelly Dugan ahead of DJ LeMahieu, Patrick Corbin, and Kyle Seager, each of whom went within the next seven picks that year.

Not all is lost knowing Trout won’t return to Philadelphia at some point in his Hall of Fame career. While they most likely won’t ever play to the level of Trout, the Phils have several promising outfield prospects, most notably first round picks Adam Haseley and Mickey Moniak.

Philadelphia Phillies

Neither Haseley nor Moniak are considered top-100 prospects by MLB Pipeline despite being drafted very high. That doesn’t mean there’s no hope for them as big league players. Haseley could contribute as early as late-2019, but he could be the long-term answer in center field if Odubel Herrera doesn’t mature or in left field if Andrew McCutchen burns out after two years.

Moniak is still very raw coming straight out of high school as the number one pick in 2016. He turned things around late last season and has added to his thin frame thanks to a professional training program.

The Phillies would celebrate an opportunity to see a Haseley-Moniak-Harper outfield for the next decade.

Even if that doesn’t come to fruition there are other notable outfield prospects making their way up through the system such as Dylan Cozens, Jhailyn Ortiz and Simon Muziotti. The latter two are both years away from contributing while Cozens got a taste of the big leagues last year.

So yes, a couple of fans will regret prematurely buying Mike Trout Phillies jerseys and seeing the superstar outfielder play for a team that hasn’t won a playoff series since 2009 will hurt, but it’s time for fans to officially move on.

Oh, hey… Aaron Judge is a free agent in 2023.