LA Angels News: Latest roster move may spell calamity for the franchise's icon

Things for the Los Angeles Angels often go from bad to worse, and almost seemingly in the most dramatic fashion. That seems especially true if your name is Mike Trout, by far the team's most important player.

A startling moment to close out April was deemed nothing more than a scare, as Trout was removed from April 30th's matchup against the Seattle Mariners after jamming his knee on first base after trying to leg out a ground ball. He hoped to play the following day against the Detroit Tigers. Instead, he was held out of action.

After missing the catastrophic loss to the Tigers in the series opener, the Angels made sure that Trout won't be playing at all any time soon, placing the future Hall of Famer on the 15-day injured list with a bone bruise in his left knee, a calamitous development.

Going from hoping to play the following game to being held out of action for over two weeks or more is not the development you'd like to see, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. This isn't just a typical bump or bruise, this is the same knee that limited Trout to just 29 games last season. It's the same knee in which he suffered not one, but two torn meniscus injuries. It's the same knee he had to have surgically repaired last year.

Mike Trout's injured list stint could spell disaster for both him and the Angels

The Angels will define success in 2025 by whether or not they were able to play competitive baseball while further developing their young core. While the early results of that pursuit have been mixed, there's no denying that the objective will be nearly impossible without Trout for an extended period of time.

The Halos decided to move Trout from center field to right in an effort to protect the 33-year-old superstar after he managed just 29 games last season and averaged just 66.5 games per season over the last four years. Ironically, his games played prior to being added to the injured list this season is also 29.

Trout's year so far has been emblematic of what the Angels as a whole have produced on the field. The highs have been very high while the lows have been very low. At the time of his injury, his nine home runs were just one off the major league lead, however, his .179 batting average was eighth-worst among 164 qualified hitters.

Maybe this won't amount to much of anything, and the issue is nothing more than a minor bruise that will require some rest. But this is the Angels. This is Mike Trout. The combination of "injury" and "Trout" usually doesn't end well, and if that's the case, the season as a whole is in serious jeopardy.

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