Update on Mike Trout’s Possible Contract Extension

As soon as Mike Trout reported for Spring Training in Tempe, Arizona, it was only a matter of time until questions regarding his 2020 free agency and a possible extension with the LA Angels came up.

And as Mike Trout goes, he did not offer any decisive answers when questioned about free agency. His answer was about what you’d expect from a superstar like Trout. He mostly sidestepped the question, but did mention how much he enjoys being with the LA Angels.

“I don’t want to comment on that,” Trout said. “Like I said, I enjoy playing here. I’m having fun. Obviously, losing is not fun, but I enjoy playing this game. I leave it out on the field every night, every day and I go from there.”

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Trout also mentioned how Philadelphia fans, who’s Phillies plan to be a big player for Trout if he hits the market in 2020, asked him every day this offseason when he would be making his home debut at Citizens Bank Park.

Mike Trout also commented on the state of free agency in the MLB, saying, “It’s obviously not good for baseball,” he said. “You’ve got two of the top guys not signed yet. Teams are saying they want to rebuild, but why not start with one of the top guys? … It’s disappointing for the players.”

As for the Angels side of negotiations, owner Arte Moreno also commented on negotiations regarding Trout’s extension…kind of.

“I would probably say that we’ve been in (internal) discussions,” Moreno said. “One of the last interviews I gave I said it’s not in the back of our mind, it’s in the front of our mind.“I think it also depends on the agent and the player. So it’s not like it’s just us. We try to keep in communication with how the agent is feeling and how the player is feeling about where they are.”

The Angels and Moreno have had a Trout extension in their plans this offseason the entire time, but per reports early on in the winter, they wanted to allow Trout to go through the grieving process after the loss of his brother-in-law. They considered it inappropriate to begin conversations before he was ready.

Furthermore, while Angels fans will tell you the team needs to sign another star to convince Trout to stay, that does not appear to be true. Trout praised Billy Eppler during his interview, saying he loves the moves the general manager has made each year. Trout said poor injury luck is the main reason the time has not been able to contend.

While today saw no definite answers, there was definitely a certain feeling about each parties answers. And for what it’s worth, the below tweet occurred tonight.  How credible this tweet is, I’ll leave that up to you. However, the account is followed by national baseball writers such as Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal.

This should be fun (or incredibly stressful), Angels fans.