LA Angels: Mike Trout has already earned his place in Cooperstown
By Jason Reed
Former LA Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero is on second Hall of Fame ballot. One current Angel, Mike Trout, has already cemented his place in Cooperstown.
The LA Angels have had some great players grace the big A in their history. Legends such as Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson and now, Albert Pujols, all played for the Angels. In the 2000s, another superstar and future Hall of Famer joined the LA Angels; outfielder Vladimir Guerrero. Now, in his second ballot, Guerrero is essentially a lock to join the Hall of Fame.
Guerrero is best known for his time with the Angels and Montreal Expos. The product of Nizao, Dominican Republic, won the 2004 AL MVP in his first season with the Angels. Overall, Guerrero was a four-time all-star (nine-time overall) and four-time Silver Slugger (eight-time overall) with the Angels.
In his 16-year career, Guerrero hit 449 home runs and drove in 1496 RBIs with a .318 batting average in 2147 games played. As an Angel, Guerrero played 846 games and is the 11th-best hitter in Angels’ history — according to FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
Above him are the likes of Howie Kendrick, Garret Anderson, Tim Salmon and Jim Fregosi. Although it is calculated differently, pitchers Jered Weaver, Nolan Ryan and Chuck Finley are significant names with a higher WAR as an Angel. The overall, all-time leader in WAR for the LA Angels?
Mike Trout; who has played only 925 games in his career; who is still only 26 years old; and who has won two MVPs, five Silver Sluggers, has been elected to six MLB All-Star Games and was the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year in just six full seasons. It’s not even close, either. Trout’s 54.4 WAR in six years beats the next best hitter, Fregosi, by 11.8 War.
Fregosi played 1429 games as an Angel. In fact, Trout’s 54.4 WAR already beats Guerrero’s career 54.3 WAR. Yes, he is that good.
Vladimir Guerrero — who looks to be a HOF lock on his second ballot — career WAR: 54.3
— LA Sports Hub (@LA_SportsHub) January 17, 2018
Mike Trout — who has played 1222 fewer games than Guerrero — career WAR: 54.4 https://t.co/hquyMYA5UB
Ignore what Mike Trout could do the rest of his career. At his current pace, likely not even in his prime yet, Trout has the chance to go down in the top-three all-time. Ignore that, we all know special Trout is and what he is capable of if he stays healthy.
Mike Trout is already a Hall of Famer. After only six full seasons (seven counting his 40 games played in 2011), he can join the most illustrious group of baseball players in the World. It shouldn’t even be close, either. At this pace, Trout is a unanimous Hall of Fame candidate. Now, he easily makes the first ballot.
Trout’s 54.4 WAR puts him at 156th all-time. He’s already surpassed Guerrero and in 2016 passed up 32 Hall of Famers. Statistically, he fits right in.
Of the 26 retired players to win two MVP awards, only five have not made Cooperstown. Two are on track to — Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez — leaving just three players; Roger Maris, Juan Gonzalez and Dale Murphy.
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Maris missed out on the Hall of Fame after only 72 votes in 1977. Some pointed towards Maris’ short prime, however, some have also hypothesized that Maris was not voted in because of his unfavorable relationship with the media. Maris’ career 36.9 WAR still does not come close to Trout, though.
Steroid allegations ultimately kept Gonzalez out of Cooperstown. Bad fielding also did not help his case, as the outfielder could only muster a 35.8 career WAR in a time when voters started to rely more on sabermetric statistics.
Murphy may be the only real exception. Yes, his prime was shorter than others, but he had five-tools, similar to Trout, and was completely clean in an otherwise dirty period for baseball. But still, Trout has been better. Murphy posted a 44.3 career WAR.
Of course, Trout is going to continue mashing baseballs and further cementing his legacy. Nobody is questioning that he will eventually go down as one of the best all-time and maybe even the first unanimous selection into the Hall.
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However, if Trout decided he wanted to hang ’em up today and go play cricket in Australia, he has already made his case as the best LA Angels player of all-time and a sure-fire Hall of Famer.