The A's will have to deal with Mike Trout in the American League West for a long, long time.
Trout and the Angels are nearing a record-breaking 12-year, $430 million contract extension, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Tuesday. The new deal easily would become the largest in professional sports history.
The 27-year-old was scheduled to become a free agent in 2020. He could have created a super team with Bryce Harper on the Phillies, the team for which he grew up rooting. Or maybe all the money the Giants threw at Harper could have gone to Trout, and then some.
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That no longer can be the case.
Once Harper signed his 13-year, $330 million deal with the Phillies, the Angels couldn't waste any time. There always have been connections to Trout and the Phillies, and Harper didn't hold back in telling the world he’d recruit the star center fielder to Philadelphia.
Instead, Trout will continue to play for the team with which he's put together arguably the greatest start to a career in MLB history. The two-time AL MVP has a .307/..416/.573 slash line over his eight-year career with 240 home runs.
Since 2012, when Trout won the AL Rookie of the Year and was the MVP runner-up, he has averaged 34 home runs and 26 stolen bases. His 64.3 bWAR is the most ever through an age-26 season.
Oakland Athletics
Though he probably never was going to join the A's, the team can't be happy to see Trout in the AL West for so many years to come. Since joining the big leagues, he's been an unstoppable force against Oakland.
Trout is batting .310 with 30 home runs and 28 stolen bases in 124 career games against the A's.
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In an offseason where baseball stars are on the move finding new homes, Trout will have a halo and a heavy wallet for more than the next decade.