Entering the 2009 MLB Draft, Angels scouting director Eddie Bane knew he was going to be taking whom he believed to be the second-best player available in the draft. The only question is when he’d pick him.

In Bane’s mind, there was Stephen Strasburg as clear No. 1. Then there was Mike Trout. The only question was whether the Angels would take him with the 24th pick in the first round, or the 25th. They had both selections. They could theoretically go either way.

By Sam BlumAug. 1, 2023

The Angels ended up taking Randal Grichuk at No. 24. And then Trout at No. 25. A choice that has long been talked about and scrutinized. In some ways, it’s defined Grichuk’s MLB path. He was selected before Trout but never matched his talent. He believed he fell out of favor with the organization in subsequent years and was later traded. Part of his story has always been tied to that selection.

It was Bane who set the course. So, what was the real reason why Trout was taken after Grichuk, the reason why Bane didn’t take the best player available as soon as he was available to them? Well, he was annoyed with Trout’s agent, Craig Landis.

“He wanted to nitpick with me before the draft,” Bane said of Landis, noting the agent wanted him to call Trout’s father again, despite the parties having already met.

“And I was kind of petty, so I held it off and I took Randal first and Mike second out of pettiness to the agent really bugging about stuff I didn’t think was that important.”

At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter who was picked first — though both players acknowledge the competitiveness involved in a situation like that. And it’s hard to ignore the divergent narratives attached to the selection that followed both players.

They were two righty-hitting high school outfielders, players trying to make it to the major leagues as fast as possible. They were always going to be viewed in the context of the other as long as they were with the same organization.

“We definitely were pushing each other for sure,” Trout said. “As a competitor, if you aren’t doing that, you shouldn’t be doing this. We both had one goal, to get to the big leagues.

“When he got traded, it kind of sucked because he was one of the guys I grew up in this game playing with.”

Trout and Grichuk were good friends. They roomed together in rookie ball, and then were teammates again in Cedar Rapids. They grew up in small towns and entered into the same big-time circumstance. Trout’s career, though, took off with the Angels. Grichuk’s fizzled amid injuries. But the two kept in touch over the years — texting as recently as two days ago.

And now, all this time later, they’re finally major-league teammates in Anaheim. The Angels acquired Grichuk from the Rockies in a trade on Sunday.

“I didn’t think it would take 14 years to make it to the big leagues with the Angels,” Grichuk joked before Monday’s game. “But here I am.”

The players don’t have the same personality. Trout is outgoing and jovial with all his teammates. Grichuk is well-liked and respected, but definitely quieter.

Bill Mosiello was the Cedar Rapids Single-A manager when Trout and Grichuk were teammates in 2010. He believed both were great players at the time. But it became evident quickly that Trout was beyond great. Mosiello began telling friends and people in the game that Trout had a chance to be among the all-time talents.

At the same time, Grichuk was good. But he wasn’t Trout. And Mosiello suspected that might have worn on Grichuk mentally, given that the two were naturally going to be compared to each other.

“The emotions and the extra pressures,” Mosiello said. “Trout’s just steamrolling and becoming the talk of baseball. He’s such a good kid, and he’s probably like, ‘What’s going on?’ … What was going on in Grichuk’s mind, only he knows.”

“He’s handled it so well,” said Bane, who closely followed the careers of both players. “He’s such a good dude. I don’t think they’re going to walk around and compare each other with themselves. … I think they’ll just be happy to be teammates.”

Grichuk acknowledged that the 2013 trade that sent him to St. Louis was probably a good thing for him. It gave him a fresh start.

Trout was already in the majors at that point. He’d won American League Rookie of the Year and finished second in the MVP voting in back-to-back years. Grichuk was toiling at Double-A Arkansas at the time.

It was less than a year after getting dealt to St. Louis that Grichuk made his MLB debut in 2014.

“After a certain amount of time, a team kind of has their views on you, and their opinions about you,” Grichuk said. “And their impressions of who you are and who you’re going to be. So it was definitely good to get to a different organization that wanted me at that time.”

Time can heal a lot, and change a lot. It’s the Angels now that want Grichuk, a lot. In fact, they need him. Trout was messaging with Grichuk a couple of days ago when it became clear the Angels were in the market for an outfielder.

There was nothing in the offing, necessarily. Just talk of what it would be like to reunite.

They’d started together as naive kids, competing to break in. Their paths diverged. But now, older, wiser and far more established, they saw a chance to maybe play together as the Angels try to make their postseason push. On Sunday night, there was a reunion more than a decade in the making.

“It’s pretty cool that we got him, “Trout said. “And it’s pretty cool to look back on what we went through, and now, we’re back together.”

(Photo of Mike Trout and Randal Grichuk from 2022 spring training: Rick Scuteri / USA Today)