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Los Angeles Angels: How much would it take to trade Mike Trout?

By Jason Reed

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the American League looks on in the seventh inning stretch during the 89th MLB All-Star Game, presented by Mastercard at Nationals Park on July 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the American League looks on in the seventh inning stretch during the 89th MLB All-Star Game, presented by Mastercard at Nationals Park on July 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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With all of the MLB trade rumors picking up steam, we decided to take a look at a fun question: how much would it cost for Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout?

Mike Trout is the best baseball player on the planet, period. Not only is the Los Angeles Angels outfielder the greatest player in the MLB, he is setting up nicely to be the greatest player of our generation.

If Trout can maintain a high level of success like the greats before him, he may even challenge to go down as the greatest baseball player of all-time.

However, the Los Angeles Angels have not done much for Trout in his career. Trout and the Angels have made the postseason just once — 2014. The Angels were swept in three games by the Kansas City Royals and have not won a playoff game since 2009.

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The Angels will likely never trade Trout, it is very hard to part ways with the best player in baseball. Perhaps the only way this is conceivably possible is if the Angels are so far off from contending during the last year of his contract — 2020.

At that time, if the Angels missing the playoffs was a surefire thing, it would make sense to get an insane trade return out of a rental in Trout. However, if the team is even close, they are always in contention with Trout.

Thus, we are not suggesting that the Angels should or would trade Mike Trout. We are simply taking a fun look at what exactly it would take to land Trout.

The best trade package to look back on was the Chris Sale trade package with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. Sale is arguably the best player to be traded the last three years when it comes to talent and team control.

For Sale, the Red Sox had to give up Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz. Moncada was the best prospect in baseball at the time and Kopech was a top-100 guy.

Now, Moncada is in the big leagues, Kopech is Chicago’s second-best prospect and 10th-best overall (according to MLB Pipeline) and Alexander Basabe is the team’s 13th-best prospect.

Sale was the prized trade chip that summer and Trout still towers over him in terms of value. Thus, we think there are only a handful of teams that can pull off this trade right now.

Those teams, and the trade return they would have to give up, are:

Torres and Frazier are two guys with big league time, so they are not ranked on the top prospects list. However, both Torres and Frazier are elite guys. Throw in two other top-100 guys, a double-A standout right-handed pitcher (who is ninth in the organization) and a decent catcher and it seems fair.

This deal is a bit different. These four guys are all former top prospects that are now a huge part of the Braves’ playoff run and are all looking to be primed for great careers ahead of them. Throw in a top-50 guy and this deal is intriguing.

The Los Angeles Angels would be getting instant production and something to look forward to in the future.

The Chicago White Sox would essentially be taking their return for Sale, beefing it up and sending it to the Los Angeles Angels for Mike Trout. Trout definitely has a bigger impact than Sale.

A young star, two top-10 prospects, another top-100 prospect and the ninth-best third base prospect would be more than enough to land Trout.

Two wonder kid pitchers alongside three elite prospects with a ton of upside, one of which (Verdugo) being big league ready.

The Los Angeles Angels would be getting two frontline guys and three prospects that will be huge helps in the very near future. That is a great return for Mike Trout.

Next: Are the Angels buyers or sellers?

Obviously, we do not think any of these deals will happen as neither side in the trade would likely want to make the deal. However, if Mike Trout ever is traded before he is a rental, we may see the biggest trade return ever.

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