MLB 21st century face of the franchise — Los Angeles Angels: Mike Trout
The face of the Angels? That’s easy.
Since coming to the majors late in 2011, Trout has dominated baseball in Los Angeles and everywhere else. Consider merely his award credentials. In every one of his full seasons, Trout has made the All-Star team.
Nine different times he’s been top five in MVP voting. He won the award in and 2014, 2016 and 2019. He was runner-up in 2012 – when he was a unanimous Rookie of the Year selection — 2013 and 2015.
Drafted by the Angels in the first round of 2009, Trout has a career .303 average with a .415 on-base average and 1.002 OPS. If he has any offensive weakness at all, it may be his selectivity: Trout has three times led the American League in bases on balls.
And when opposing pitchers make the mistake of falling behind Trout in the count, they pay big-time. On first pitches or with counts of 1-0 or2-0, Trout is hitting .333 for his career with 175 home runs.
He is committed to the Angels at least through the 2030 season. That will give Trout time to improve on his status as the iconic Angel both in the 21st century and forever. In 2017 he surpassed Chuck Finley as the most productive Angels player in history as measured by WAR. His total productivity now stands at 82.4 games and is rising at a rate approaching 9 games per season.
That makes Mike Trout more than the face of the 21st century Angels…it makes him the face of 21st century baseball.
In the wings: The question is whether the Angels can retain Shohei Ohtani, who is a free agent at season’s end. If they can, then the Angels could become that rarest of entities, a true Janus franchise with Trout and Ohtani as dual prominent faces.
If not, then the question of a successor to Trout is academic. There isn’t one, and given his credentials there won’t be for a very long time.