Angels’ star Mike Trout more deserving of being highest paid athlete than Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes II vs Mike Trout: Value

So through two categories, Mike Trout and Patrick Mahomes II are tied in regards to who better deserves this title. However, we have one final category that will tilt the discussion in favor of Trout.

When it comes to overall value, Trout has been one of the most valuable players of all time despite having played in just eight and a half seasons. According to FanGraphs, Trout ranks 41st overall in the game, computed by translating fWAR to Dollars and compensating for differences of generations. That shows Trout as worth $210.9 million thus far, while the outfielder has earned just $152,834,499 in actual compensation. That’s a return of $58,065,501 to the positive for the Angels.

When not adjusted for generations, Trout has been worth $562.6 million according to FanGraphs. Even if Trout doesn’t play another inning for the Angels, he would have outearned the remaining $408,833,336 by $153.77 million.

However, since I am unable to find a comparable stat for the NFL, let’s simply look at a comparison of AV (Approximate Value) and fWAR (Wins Above Replacement), baseball’s value calculator.

For his two-plus seasons, Mahomes has a combined AV of 40. He led the league in the category during his MVP season of 2018 with 22 but finished 7th last season when Lamar Jackson led the league with 24. It was still an excellent value of 17, especially considering he missed two games.

As previously mentioned Trout has led the league in fWAR during seven of his nine full seasons and has finished no lower than 4th in the category, in 2017 when he missed 46 games due to midseason thumb surgery.

Value Winner: Mike Trout

When it comes down to value, while Mahomes could put up a solid argument with delivering the Super Bowl trophy, Trout has simply been consistently undervalued, even by his steep contract standards. While they haven’t gotten a title from him (thanks to poor pitching), the Angels have received more than their share of value over the years.