If Ellsbury is worth 150, Trout is worth 400 million

[stormngt]

I think the Angels know they have one more year until they really need to offer him a contract and they will wait until then. I don't think it is a big deal.

If some was going to offer you 300 million guaranteed Why wouldn't you want the extension. People don't want to accept the idea that Trout is one major injury away from being a college student and not a professional athlete. Offer him the big contract now. There is a lot of incentive for trout to take it. Every year the Angels wait with the extension the less incentive Trout has to accept it.

I'd like to see them give Trout a good raise this season though.

[Stradling]

I hinted at this and Jeff Fletcher mentioned it as well. Give Trout the extension in May or June, that way it goes against the Tax Threshold starting next season. Give him a decent raise this year.

[Jeff Fletcher]

One thing you guys need to remember is there's really no urgency to sign Trout anytime before he's actually arbitration eligible.

 

Are you worried that his feelings will be hurt if he gets his $200 million contract in May 2014 instead of January 2014? It's the same reason I found it so interesting that fans got so upset that the Angels paid him $510K last year instead of giving him all this extra money that they didn't have to just to make him feel better about himself.

 

It's a system that the players agreed to and everyone follows the same rules. If you think Trout is going to be pouty and have hurt feelings because they didn't change the whole system for him, then you don't think much of him.

 

Also, there's a lot more room for Trout to go down (if he gets hurt or has a decline) than to go up in 2014, so it's not like the Angels are going to save a whole lot of money if they sign him today vs next year.

 

Trout is going to get paid. And he's going to get paid huge. The Angels are aware of this and I'm sure they are budgeting for it.

 

But there's no reason for them to be doing it now.

[stormngt]

One thing you guys need to remember is there's really no urgency to sign Trout anytime before he's actually arbitration eligible.

Are you worried that his feelings will be hurt if he gets his $200 million contract in May 2014 instead of January 2014? It's the same reason I found it so interesting that fans got so upset that the Angels paid him $510K last year instead of giving him all this extra money that they didn't have to just to make him feel better about himself.

It's a system that the players agreed to and everyone follows the same rules. If you think Trout is going to be pouty and have hurt feelings because they didn't change the whole system for him, then you don't think much of him.

Also, there's a lot more room for Trout to go down (if he gets hurt or has a decline) than to go up in 2014, so it's not like the Angels are going to save a whole lot of money if they sign him today vs next year.

Trout is going to get paid. And he's going to get paid huge. The Angels are aware of this and I'm sure they are budgeting for it.

But there's no reason for them to be doing it now.

It woukd be a lot easier for trout to turn down the mega deal after gets 10+ milliin in arb. Than when he only guaranteed 500k. That is why there's an urgency to do it before he hits arb.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

It woukd be a lot easier for trout to turn down the mega deal after gets 10+ milliin in arb. Than when he only guaranteed 500k. That is why there's an urgency to do it before he hits arb.

Jeff Fletcher is talking about the Angels signing him to a long term deal in May of 2014. He won't be arb. eligible until after the 2014 season.

[Docwaukee]

The Angels won't sign him until after opening day because otherwise his AAV would count against the luxury tax for 2014.

 

I'd look for a 10-year contract around May or June.

so he would keep his current contract and sign a contract for 2015 and beyond?  Kind of like Andrus I guess.  That would work.

Edited December 7, 2013 by Dochalo

[Brent Maguire]

Jeff brings up a great point. No reason to try to extend him whatsoever during the offseason. There are 2 gaping holes in the rotation and signing Trout just makes fixing that even harder.

I love the idea of extending him during the season next year.

[seenoevil]

Trout will be the 1st player to sign a 1 billion dollar contract.

[gotbeer]

The problem is this.

The Angels have 4 years of control of him. So that is the Angels only leverage. He's going to break records in arbitration. But the Angels should not set precedence by going all stupid on the league. Because in arbitration it's not that people will be better. But they will say that they are half as good as Trout and thus worth half what he got. Here is MLB Trade Rumors article from 2 years ago on Arbitration Records: Position Players. Now some players did sign higher contracts to buy out their arbitration years.

So Arb 1 $10 million, Arb 2 $11.3 million, Arb 3 $15.5 million.

Of course Howard got bought out of Arb 2 and 3, at $15 million and $19 million.

So for Trout, the Angels should be looking at $11 milllion, $16 million, and $20 million for his arbitration years. For this year $1 million. Then for his free agency years, well, $25-$30 million.

10 years:

14:$1 15:$11 16:$16 17:$20 18:$25 19:$30 20:$30 21:$30 22:$30 23:30

Total $223 million CBT hit about $22.3 million

6 years:

14:$1 15:$11 16:$16 17:$20 18:$25 19:$30

Total $103 million CBT hit about $17.1 million

Personally, I'd like the Angels do a 6 year deal. They could always renegotiate before the contract expires to extend it 3-4 years later on. This gives the Angels some certainty of another 6 years and avoids arbitration where he will break records, but gives Trout financial stability, while also still having a big FA'cy payout. Just in case he goes all Ryan Howard on everyone.

Edited December 7, 2013 by gotbeer

[Lhalo]

Every year the Angels wait, the cost to sign Trout goes up. This season Cano received a ridiculous contract, next season it will be Sandoval, then it will be someone else in 2016. Making sure Mike Trout is an Angel for life should be this org's #1 priority.

[YouthofToday]

Trout will get more than $60 million through arbitration. Inflation has radically shifted the bar Howard set.

[fan_since79]

Every year the Angels wait, the cost to sign Trout goes up. This season Cano received a ridiculous contract, next season it will be Sandoval, then it will be someone else in 2016. Making sure Mike Trout is an Angel for life should be this org's #1 priority.

 

Miguel Cabrera.

[AngelsLakersFan]

One thing you guys need to remember is there's really no urgency to sign Trout anytime before he's actually arbitration eligible.

 

Are you worried that his feelings will be hurt if he gets his $200 million contract in May 2014 instead of January 2014? It's the same reason I found it so interesting that fans got so upset that the Angels paid him $510K last year instead of giving him all this extra money that they didn't have to just to make him feel better about himself.

 

It's a system that the players agreed to and everyone follows the same rules. If you think Trout is going to be pouty and have hurt feelings because they didn't change the whole system for him, then you don't think much of him.

 

Also, there's a lot more room for Trout to go down (if he gets hurt or has a decline) than to go up in 2014, so it's not like the Angels are going to save a whole lot of money if they sign him today vs next year.

 

Trout is going to get paid. And he's going to get paid huge. The Angels are aware of this and I'm sure they are budgeting for it.

 

But there's no reason for them to be doing it now.

 

I half agree. If one thing is for sure, I think it's that we just saw Trout's eventual contract balloon by several dozen million dollars this off season alone. When he hits arbitration at the end of next year he'll get his $10 million or so and that might be all it takes to make him OK with waiting for the highest bid a few years later.