Mike Trout need not request a trade from the woebegone Los Angeles Angels. He need not publicly bash his fickle owner, Arte Moreno. But if he wants to avoid the second half of his career proving as much of a waste as his first, he needs to at least confront Moreno with hard questions.

“What is your plan? How are you going to fix this? What the heck is going on?”

By Ken RosenthalSep 28, 2023

Trout being Trout, this might be asking too much. Remember the blowback commissioner Rob Manfred received in 2018 for saying Trout would be an even bigger star if he spent more time marketing himself? The lesson, then and now, was that you cannot expect Trout, or any other player, to be something he is not.

Five years later, Trout is 32, a player who cannot seem to stay healthy, no longer the biggest star in the game. The Angels, after failing to make the playoffs for the ninth straight year, are widely expected to lose Shohei Ohtani in free agency. Trout’s frustration was evident when he spoke to reporters Monday, but he did not ask for a trade. Current and former Angels say he does not want one.

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Some fans view Trout’s desire to remain with a losing franchise as some kind of character flaw, as if Trout floated through life, oblivious to competition, and somehow became one of the best athletes in the world. It’s not like that. Trout is an intense competitor. He wants to win. But if he wishes to follow the career path of his role model, Derek Jeter, and spend his entire career with one team, then he cannot be passive in his desire to see the Angels improve.

Mike Trout, right, said he speaks privately with Arte Moreno after each season. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)

To a certain extent, those types of conversations between Trout and ownership already take place. Trout said he speaks privately with Moreno and team president John Carpino after each season, and plans to do so again once this season is over. Torii Hunter, his teammate with the Angels in 2011 and ‘12, said Trout is not afraid to speak up to management.

“I know a lot of people want him to move and not be there and suffer. But at the same time, he has a voice to kind of say, ‘Hey, let’s change this up a little bit,’ and give his opinion. I’m pretty sure he’s doing that,” Hunter said. “He’s not a guy out there publicly who wants everyone to know his business. He actually does a lot of things very subtle, quietly.”

Again, Trout can only be himself. Just as he is not going to go all James Harden and demand a trade every five minutes, he is not going to rip Moreno, even though a public takedown of the owner would seem entirely justified. Trout also might fear his injuries compromise his influence, considering that over the past three seasons, he has played in less than 50 percent of the Angels’ games.

Well, the left hamate fracture Trout suffered on July 3 was a freakish thing, occurring when he fouled off a pitch. And while humility is one of Trout’s most appealing traits, he needs to remember he is still a three-time MVP, still under contract to the Angels for seven more years and nearly $250 million, still one of the best and most respected players of this generation.

His career, his future, his legacy, it’s all at stake. The truth is, he holds leverage over Moreno because he could publicly embarrass him. And he surely has opinions, even if he is not willing to share them with reporters and, by extension, fans. A case in point occurred Monday, when a reporter asked if he felt the Angels organization could get him to the playoffs. Trout ducked the question, complimenting rookie first baseman Nolan Schanuel instead.

In the same interview, Trout said he loves playing for manager Phil Nevin, who is unsigned beyond this season. He repeatedly has praised general manager Perry Minasian, who built a team that was 41-33 on June 18, 4 1/2 games out of first place and in possession of the second AL wild card. With injuries mounting, Minasian made additional moves to reinforce the club. But the season could not be salvaged. For Trout, it was just another lost year.

Even now, in his early 30s, Trout is not a classic leader. It was Mike Moustakas who called a team meeting after the Angels returned from the All-Star break, seeking to reverse a 1-9 slide. At the time, Moustakas had been with the team less than a month. Nevin, meanwhile, recently said of rookie catcher Logan O’Hoppe, “He’s that type of frontline leader that, if you want to say that’s been lacking here, it has.”

Nevin, seemingly knowing how his words might be interpreted, added, “Obviously, we have some veteran players that provide leadership as well.”

That leadership can take on different forms. Trout’s teammates revere him for the person he is. And in recent years, he has found his voice outside of baseball, most notably after his brother-in-law, Aaron Cox, died by suicide in 2018.

In June, Trout became the Mental Wellness Ambassador for Major League Baseball, putting an exclamation point on his efforts to raise awareness for mental health and well-being. He has worked with Tiny Turnup, an apparel company, to create a product line in Cox’s memory, the Your Game Isn’t Over Yet campaign. He recently was named the Angels’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award for the third time in four years.

It’s difficult to ask him to do anything different. His loyalty to the team that drafted him and signed him to two monster contracts is admirable. But when Trout speaks with Moreno this offseason, he needs to adopt a forceful tone, demand answers. He can’t be something he is not. But he can sure ask his team to be more than it is.