The Los Angeles Angels would never think of trading the face of their franchise, but if they did only a small group of teams would be able to present a package large enough to match his generational talent.
According to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, the San Francisco Giants should make their move.
Trout is in the middle of his fourth consecutive season shortened by injury — this time a meniscus tear in late April — with no set timetable for a return. He hasn’t had a healthy season since winning his third American League MVP award in 2019.
Trout is owed $213 million after the end of this season, with $213.4 million of his original $426.4 million deal already paid out.
The Giants have shown they have money to spend but don’t flaunt it for just anybody. They’ve offered massive contracts to players like Shohei Ohtani, Carlos Correa, Bryce Harper, and Aaron Judge but haven’t been able to close the deal. Correa was slightly different; he agreed but flunked his physical just before the introductory press conference.
“This is when the Giants should press hard to get Trout to Oracle Park, wait for him to get healthy, plop him into the middle of their lineup either as the full-time designated hitter or part-time DH/part-time corner outfielder, and hope for the best,” writes Kawakami. “This is important, too: The Giants, as currently set up, wouldn’t be destroyed if Trout never puts up another Trout season. They sure would want it, but just half-a-Trout for the next four or five years wouldn’t be awful. And if they get the full Trout for a season or two? That’d be pretty special.”
The Giants are in third place in the NL West, trailing the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers by eight games. Their best hopes of reaching the postseason rest on the Wild Card race. Acquiring Trout, 100 percent healthy or not, would help them return to the postseason after a two-year absence.
However, the most important factor in a trade for Trout is that he would have to waive his no-trade clause. Speaking to reporters in February, Trout made his disdain for leaving Anaheim clear, but didn’t rule out the possibility of waiving his no-trade clause at some point in the future.
