Ron Washington's recent comments further a potential schism between Trout and Angels

Ron Washington, Perry Minasian, and Arte Moreno have all publicly commented on Mike Trout's physical decline and how he needs to proceed given his on-field inability in recent years. Much has been said about how Trout's availability and how he needs to be better. The manager, general manager, and owner are now openly questioning and reevaluating Trout's game preparation, off-field training, his rehabilitation methods, and decisions on whether or not to play through injury. Trout has gone after the Angels, and the Angels are going back at Trout. Both are holding each other accountable, which is fine and good, but this is a risky road to go down in front of the public.

Similar to how the Angels have attempted with former first round pick, Sam Bachman, they will look to lighten Trout's game-activation to keep him on the field for longer duration of times than in recent years. Bachman, especially, has rigorous training methods to get his body prepared to pitch, which Angels staffers have looked to diminish to an extent as they view them as counterintuitive when it comes to staying healthy throughout the course of a long season. It has not worked thus far with Bachman, but maybe it will with their $426,500,000 man.

The real issue is the continued critiques of Trout's process. Everyone, Trout more than anybody, knows he needs to play in order to keep the Angels relevant and competitive. Washington, Minasian, and Moreno are preaching to the choir. Their quotes are just going too far in their criticism, and it seems like there is a continuing riff between the team and their superstar.

Minasian: “It comes back to the players we’re spending on. We need our best players to play. They know that, there’s no secret. They’ve been told that. Mike, he’s missing an average of 96 per year? That’s not going to work."

Moreno: “We don't need Mike Trout to be an MVP. We just need Mike Trout to get on the field." Also, "It’s a little bit hard to be in a situation where there’s $72-73 million and they give us no production." That referred to Trout, and also Anthony Rendon.

Now Washington: “Mike’s a workaholic and I think he has to back off sometimes. And we gotta help him pace himself...we just got to watch his workload that he’s taking on. Make sure he’s ready to play, but not overdo [it].”

The fact of the matter is this: if Trout does not feel he can play through an injury or needs to work extra to ready himself, then those decisions should be accepted. Obviously the Angels are in a tough place, they are coming off their worst season ever. The results are wearing on Washington, Minasian, and Moreno as they want nothing more for the Angels to play their way back to relevance. It just feels that their strong emotions accumulating from their team's poor performance are now being targeted at Trout.

Trout takes ownership for his unavailability, he is not trying to get injured. He knows what it takes to play at a level that can lead to Angels victories, he has done it for his entire career. He is hard on himself since he knows he is not living up to his large contract, and does not need Angels staffers publicly critiquing his methods that have lead him to eventually become a first ballot Hall of Famer. What good is that going to do? He is not some young player who needs babysitting like Bachman, he is the entire franchise and has a body of work that outshines 99% of players in the history of the sport. What Washington might view as "overdoing it" Trout could view as necessary in order for him to activate his body, go on the field, hit balls over the fence, steal bases, track down balls in the outfield, and do so day-in and day-out.

The Trout discourse is getting tiring. Go after Rendon all you want, leave Trout out of this.