Mike Trout needs his own thread

My friend came through with Jays tickets for tomorrow. I will watch his every move closely.

see if he does better than when i saw him, 2-3 with a walk

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/lookandlearn-preview/A/A013/A013423.jpg

Trout had an okay night; only 1-4, but also a walk and two runs scored. He DH-ed, so unfortunately I didn't get to see him field. The Angels' other MT was 5-5, three doubles, a homer, 11 total bases, and five runs scored. Buehrle got hammered.

Came relatively close to a foul ball of Trout's bat--two rows behind us, maybe 15 seats to the left. I said to my friend that such a baseball might be worth something one day, but wondered how you'd ever authenticate that it was Trout who hit it. "I'd authenticate it," he offered.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post?id=3190

buster olney on why trout's the best all-around player in the game. anyone who'd like to post the text of the article for us cheapos can go ahead, hint hint

trout now ranks 13th in war in angels history; he has fewer plate appearances than anyone in the top 35

having a fun time googling "mike trout scouting report" and seeing what people thought about him 3, 4, 5 years ago. i was kind of out of the baseball loop at the time

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/awards/player-of-the-year/2011/2612308.html

he was pretty well-regarded -- 2010 midwest league mvp as an 18-year-old, hitting .362/.454/.526 with 45 stolen bases in 81 games, narrowly beaten out for texas league mvp by slippery rock's own matt adams in 2011 -- but, you know, so was brandon wood. the atlantic league is littered with guys who once tore up the california league.

he didn't show this kind of power in the minors, but at 6'2", 230 maybe that was bound to happen.

btw randal grichuk (see op) hit 22 homers in double-a this year, but with a .306 obp.

http://baseballnewshound.com/?p=66

this is great, look at the comparison at the top

one article i read quoted the scouting director as saying he picked grichuk before trout just to scare the shit out of the area scout who scouted him

anyone know why he's been DHing lately?

he's 5 for his last 28, but has turned into a walking machine

just clocked one about 450 feet to dead center, 2 straight games going yard

last night's was farther, holy cow

http://wapc.mlb.com/laa/play/?content_id=30679623&c_id=ana

look at figueroa pointing up after he hits it, lol

beast

In case you weren't keeping track:

http://joeposnanski.blogspot.ca/2013/09/baseball-reference.html#more

For such a fluid, grab-bag of an achievement, that's a pretty impressive group of players--which makes sense.

'nother dinger tonight

Think about the adulation a 21-year-old prospect would get if he put up a .500 OBP in Double-A over a half-season. Think what everyone would say if that prospect could also run, field, and hit for power. Baseball America would release issues with tri-folds in the middle.

This player is doing it in the majors. Not Triple-A. But in the majors. Playing half of his games in a pitcher's park.

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/9/20/4750774/mike-trout-angels-mvp

awesome that he's at the top of that distance leaderboard. probably helped a little by playing in such a cavernous park, but still

can't seem to get a hit lately

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9715559/mike-trout-quest-mvp-great-performance-major-league

Article really lays out how ridiculous he is. Definitely the greatest position player I've seen in my lifetime and I'm not sure really anyone's even close.

jeez, i'm his biggest stan but like, a-rod, bonds, griffey - those guys are at least close

Not at 20-21 they weren't. I guess that should be a caveat though.

arod's age 20 season is comparable i think

age 20 season, adjusted batting runs

1. Mel Ott 5.3 1929
2. Mike Trout 5.2 2012
3. Al Kaline 5.1 1955
4. Alex Rodriguez 5.0 1996
5. Ted Williams 5.0 1939
6. Ty Cobb 5.0 1907
7. Mickey Mantle 4.7 1952
8. Frank Robinson 3.6 1956
9. Rogers Hornsby 3.3 1916
10. Dick Hoblitzell 2.9 1909

yeah A-Rod at 20/21 was definitely close

that said we dont know what Trout's peak is. if this isn't it the history books are going to be demolished.

sorry that's batting WINS. Age 21:

1. Mike Trout 6.6 2013
2. Eddie Mathews 5.8 1953
3. Jimmie Foxx 5.6 1929
4. Ted Williams 5.1 1940
5. Ty Cobb 5.1 1908
6. Albert Pujols 4.9 2001
7. Cesar Cedeno 4.7 1972
8. Rogers Hornsby 4.7 1917
9. Denny Lyons 4.7 1887
10. Ken Griffey 4.3 1991

A-Rod 20 was amazing but still behind Trout. A-Rod 21 was not even in same league.

You can see why Leo Durocher was excited about Cedeno in '72.

Cedeno's arrival was right when I started watching baseball, so I still remember all the (legitimate) hype around him. I saw an Astros-Reds spring training game in '72--came away with one of Lee May's bats.

I know you're talking about position players, but the most awesome 20-year-old in my lifetime was Gooden.

Mike Trout has a higher career WAR (20.8) than Jermaine Dye (20.3), Joe Carter (19.3), Ryan Howard (18.9), & Dave Kingman (17.2).

“It can be a combination of dirt stains, grass stains, bloodstains — he'll blow out a knee or a butt cheek. He's in the top two or three for most-soiled every night. He's old-school.”
—Angels assistant equipment manager Shane Demmitt, on the daily state of Trout’s uniform.

“The Sistine Chapel.”
—Rays manager Joe Maddon, when asked to define Trout’s ceiling.

I wonder if Subway sammiches have made his neck that big.

"Blowing out a butt cheek" is a distressing mental image.

i've been to the sistene chapel the ceiling isn't THAT high

ugh sistine

Voted $400 million, didn't give it any thought. If there aren't any bumps in the road before 2018, I have to believe it'll be in that range.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/43039/what-if-willie-mays-were-a-free-agent

13 trade offers for Mike Trout

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22425

the Angels should take the sky scrapper.

that first trade is bonkers. there's no way the angels trade the best player in baseball for an unproven PITCHER and a no-offense 3B who just broke his leg

like machado is good but he's a league average hitter at best and who knows what his defensive range is going to be like now

he's a shortstop playing third

and he was worth 6.2 WAR

at 21

almost entirely because of defense, and he just had a devastating lower body injury

i mean i love machado believe me, but obviously the angels laugh and hang up the phone in a second when they get that call

these trade ideas are meant to be insane - you guys realize that, right?!

yeah i realized that as i went further down haha

kk u realize before he came up defense wasn't even considered his strong suit? league average hitting at age 21 is special

not as special as say mike trout but there's also his defense and kevin gausman, who is a prospect like any other

tbf i do not know who kevin gausman is, but he's a PITCHING PROSPECT ffs

lol i love the abstract over-exaggeration of tinstaapp being stretched into "there is literally no worth in a starting pitcher who isn't playing major league ball yet", been happening a lot lately