Mike Trout may not win another MVP award, because Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays had a great season and voters seem to be leaning his way, but the Angels center fielder just completed his fourth MVP-caliber campaign in four full seasons as a major leaguer.
Trout has now either won the MVP or (presumably) finished runner-up at age 20, age 21, age 22, and age 23. And there were certainly cases to be made that he was deserving of all four MVP awards. It’s been an incredible start to a career. But how incredible?
Here are the all-time leaders in Wins Above Replacement through age 23:
37.6 - Mike Trout
36.0 - Ty Cobb
34.2 - Ted Williams
31.4 - Mel Ott
30.1 - Ken Griffey Jr.
29.7 - Mickey Mantle
27.7 - Alex Rodriguez
27.5 - Al Kaline
26.7 - Arky Vaughan
26.5 - Rogers Hornsby
I mean, just look at the 10 names on that list. Ridiculous, and Trout sits atop all of them.
Trout has been the subject of intense MVP-related debates in three of his four seasons, but regardless of which side of that coin you favor don’t let it obscure the fact that we’re witnessing something truly special here. There’s certainly room to quibble with the exact rankings--WAR is merely one prominent and easy way to do such things--but however you slice it Trout has been one of the best handful of players in the history of baseball through age 23.