Report: Angels consider offering Mike Trout 10-year, $350 million extension - MLB

The Angels have floated the idea of a 10-year, $350 million extension for center fielder Mike Trout, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Saturday. Rosenthal clarifies that it’s not yet clear whether the Angels formally extended the offer to Trout or whether they’ve even broached the subject of an extension recently. Real or hypothetical, however, it would be the most lucrative deal in the history of Major League Baseball.

Of course, it’s also worth pointing out that Trout isn’t going to accept that kind of contract offer from the club. Per FanGraphs, the two-time AL MVP and seven-time All-Star has forked over 64.7 Wins Above Replacement during his last eight years in Anaheim, and it’s hardly hyperbolic to call him the best player in the game — no matter which metric you use to measure his accomplishments. Barring serious injury or inexplicable decline, he figures to be among the most valuable players in the league for years to come, too. For that reason, it seems plausible that Trout will elect to test the market upon reaching free agency in 2021, and there’s no question that he’ll be in line for a far bigger raise than the ones Bryce Harper and Manny Machado scored this winter.

Should Trout find some common ground with the Angels before then, Rosenthal adds that it “would not seem unreasonable” if he did so to the tune of a 10-year, $400 deal, with an average annual value of $40 million/year. In fact, that may well be the starting point for negotiations, especially taking into account Trout’s immense value (just over $493 million, via FanGraphs) to the organization over the last near-decade.

What’s unclear, then, is how the 27-year-old feels about the possibility of another lengthy extension in Anaheim. Speaking to reporters Friday, he avoided any specific statements concerning current or future negotiations with the team. From MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger:

I haven’t even thought about it,” Trout said. “Obviously, you guys [the media] bring it up a lot and I appreciate you asking me all these questions, but right now is not the time to think about it. I still have two years. […] In Spring Training, you’re trying to get ready for the start of the season, and you don’t want to worry about anything else. That’s the mindset right now, and we’ll go from there. […] I haven’t really thought about it. I’m happy with what [Bryce Harper and Manny Machado] got. They obviously wanted that and we’ll go from there. Like I said, I don’t think about that stuff.

Trout may not be close to making any kind of decision just yet, but one thing is certain: Whether or not he ends up in Anaheim on a long-term basis, his next contract will be one for the record books.

CHICAGO – The number will follow Shohei Ohtani until it is over. No, not Ohtani’s home runs or strikeouts or any of his magnificent numbers from the field. Nothing like that.

It’s all about how much. As in how much will his next contract be worth.

Ohtani is among several players going into their final seasons before they are eligible for free agency. There is still time for signatures and press conferences before opening day, but history shows a new contract becomes less likely once the real games begin.

There is no real precedent for placing a value on Ohtani’s remarkable skills, especially after baseball’s epic offseason spending spree. And that doesn’t factor in the potential business opportunities that go along with the majors’ only truly global star.

Ohtani hit .273 with 34 homers and 95 RBIs last season in his fifth year with the Los Angeles Angels. The 2021 AL MVP also went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts on the mound.

He prepared for this season by leading Japan to the World Baseball Classic championship, striking out fellow Angels star Mike Trout for the final out in a 3-2 victory over the United States in the final.

Ohtani, who turns 29 in July, could set multiple records with his next contract, likely in the neighborhood of a $45 million average annual value and quite possibly reaching $500 million in total.

If the Angels drop out of contention in the rough-and-tumble AL West, Ohtani likely becomes the top name on the trade market this summer. If the Angels are in the mix for the playoffs, the pressure builds on the team to get something done before possibly losing Ohtani in free agency for nothing more than a compensatory draft pick.

So yeah, definitely high stakes with Ohtani and the Angels.

Here is a closer look at five more players eligible for free agency after this season:

RHP Aaron Nola, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Nola, who turns 30 in June, went 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA in 32 starts for Philadelphia last year. He also had a career-best 235 strikeouts in 205 innings for the NL champions.

Nola was selected by the Phillies with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft. There were extension talks during spring training, but it didn’t work out.

“We are very open-minded to trying to sign him at the end of the season,” President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said. “We’re hopeful that he’ll remain a Phillie for a long time.”

3B Matt Chapman, TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Chapman hit 36 homers and drove in 91 runs for Oakland in 2019. He hasn’t been able to duplicate that production, but the three-time Gold Glover finished with 27 homers and 76 RBIs in 155 games last year in his first season with Toronto.

Chapman turns 30 on April 28. Long one of the game’s top fielding third basemen, he is represented by Scott Boras, who generally takes his clients to free agency.

OF TEOSCAR HERNÁNDEZ, SEATTLE MARINERS

Hernández was acquired in a November trade with Toronto. He hit .267 with 25 homers and 77 RBIs in his final year with the Blue Jays. He was terrific in 2021, batting .296 with 32 homers, 116 RBIs and a .870 OPS.

The change of scenery could help the 30-year-old Hernández set himself up for a big payday. He is a .357 hitter with three homers and seven RBIs in 16 games at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.

OF Ian Happ, CHICAGO CUBS

The switch-hitting Happ is coming off perhaps his best big league season, setting career highs with a .271 batting average, 72 RBIs and 42 doubles in 158 games. He also won his first Gold Glove and made the NL All-Star team for the first time.

Chicago had struggled to re-sign its own players in recent years, but it agreed to a $35 million, three-year contract with infielder Nico Hoerner on Monday. The 28-year-old Happ, a first-round pick in the 2015 amateur draft, is on the executive subcommittee for the players’ union.

LHP JULIO URÍAS, LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Urías, who turns 27 in August, likely will have plenty of suitors if he reaches free agency. He went 17-7 with an NL-low 2.16 ERA in 31 starts for the NL West champions in 2022, finishing third in NL Cy Young Award balloting. That’s after he went 20-3 with a 2.96 ERA in the previous season.

Urías also is a Boras client, but the Dodgers have one of the majors’ biggest payrolls. Los Angeles also could make a run at Ohtani, which could factor into its discussions with Urías’ camp.