Before recording Friday’s show, Matt Enuco (Nuke) brought up how it’s the perfect time for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to trade Mike Trout. The AL west is out of reach and so is a shot at a wild card spot.
There was excitement this season with Shohei Ohtani, but he’s been out with a UCL issue and was just recently cleared to start hitting again. He’ll be re-evaluated around the all-star break. Zack Cozart also had surgery on his labrum and his season is likely done.
Overall, the Angels have 14 players on the DL. So, with the playoffs not being a realistic possibility, Nuke feels the Angels should try and maximize their future by trying to get a large haul for Trout in a trade.
Naturally we thought about what a trade could look like for the Cubs and White Sox. Again, it’s only a hypothetical, seeing as our conclusion was it would derail the White Sox rebuild and the Cubs would have to give up too much young MLB talent to land Trout.
You have to factor in the money too. For example, when I first thought about it on the Cubs side, the farm system isn’t filled with top-100 prospects. They have plenty of controllable young players, but to lessen the number of players in a trade you could put Kris Bryant on the table as the headliner.
I know, you just had a heart attack.
That was just my gut reaction though. Bryant is under team control for three more years after this season. Trout has two more years on his contract after 2018, but he’s also making $34 million a season.
But even with the difference in money, you’d always make that trade if you’re a Cubs fan, right? Again, the Angels wouldn’t because they need more than just another great player back, but this is why it’s a fun debate to have.
As far as the White Sox go, they have a bunch of highly ranked prospects and have the pieces to pull the trade. But again, that price would be way too high and most likely ruins the rebuild.
Is it a dumb debate? Sure, but you really get to learn how much you value your favorite players because let’s not kid ourselves here, Mike Trout will retire as the greatest baseball player of all-time.
It’s just too damn bad that he’s stuck with the Angels.
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