Silencing the speculation, Angels owner says team won't trade Mike Trout
The Internet was set ablaze this week with hot takes after Keith Law at ESPN ranked the Los Angeles Angels farm system last in Major League Baseball.
In his piece, he wrote: "They need a big draft this year to restock the system or we're going to start talking about whether it's time to trade Mike Trout."
This, of course, spawned plenty of conversations surrounding a hypothetical trade, but Angels owner Arte Moreno isn't even thinking of that possibility.
"One hundred percent we are not trading Mike Trout," Moreno said in an interview with Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com. "We're not trading Mike Trout. It's not even in the thought process. Yes, we want to win. But we're not going to give up any part of what we're going to do in the future by making economic mistakes right now."
The "economic mistakes" he's referring to include the fact that the team didn't splurge on a free agent this offseason to shore up its hole in left field. Moreno defended the lack of spending, stressing the importance of future financial flexibility.
If the Angels want to win, though, now would be the time. Trout has been one of the best (if not the best) players in baseball since his first full season in 2012. Last season, he slashed .299/.402/.590 with a career-high 41 homers.
The Angels do have some time as the 24-year-old outfielder is under contract through 2020, but the clock is ticking.
