Big Payday For MLB Star

This comes as no surprise to anybody who even remotely follows the game of baseball. Mike Trout is hands down the best player in the sport right now. He's now going to get paid like it. If you thought the contract for Manny Machado and Bryce Harper were big, Trout's is out of this freaking world. Trout got a 12 year contract extension from the Angels worth a record setting $430 million. That is not an exaggeration, you did read that correctly. Mike Trout will make a total of $430 million over the next 12 years, an unheard of number in sports.

Here's a good look at the numbers. His contract in Los Angeles is good until the end of the 2030 season. He'll be making an average of $33.25 million a year, broken down that's about $98K a day. That's more money a day than most people might possibly see in their lifetimes, I know that's more than I'll ever make in a year, and Trout can haul that in in just one day! Let's put this another way, just to show how truly eye popping Trout's contract is. Mike Trout's contract is more valued than seven pro sports franchises. The Colorado Avalanche are valued at exactly the same as Trout at $430 million. The other seven teams, the Nashville Predators (425 million), Winnipeg Jets (415 million), Buffalo Sabres (375 million), Columbus Blue Jackets (320 million), Florida Panthers (295 million) and Arizona Coyotes (295 million) are all valued less than Mike Trout.

Now for the real question. Is Mike trout worth the money? He's the face of this Angels franchise, no doubt about that. He's a two time winner of the MVP of the American League, both those years, and he finished second in voting on four other occasions. Trout drove in 100 or more runs and he's hit over .300 in every year but three. Trout has also scored over 100 runs in a season six times in his eight year career, four such years, he lead the American League in that category. Trout is a seven time All-Star and won the Silver Slugger on six occasions.

The only knock against the game's best player is playoff success. He's only seen the playoffs once since Trout came into the league and they were swept in the divisional round by the World Champion Royals in 2015. Outside of that playoff year, the Angels have only had a winning record in a season twice. I'd love to see the Angels actually go somewhere with him in the lineup. They've finished with the same exact 80-82 record in each of the last two seasons. So it would be nice to see Los Angeles actually go somewhere this year with Trout leading the charge. The West is still going to be tough to deal with the Astros but I think the Angels can start making some noise and possibly building around the game's best player.