Rumors have swirled for a decade to bring the all time great home to Philly. It’s never made sense. Until now.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Phillies season ended one win away from a second consecutive World Series 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 and the maddened masses went home saddened. But with each passing day frosting eyes are starting to see through winter to pitchers and catchers reporting to Clearwater in February, and have wisely discerned that all is not lost, after all.
The Phillies are returning nearly every single piece from a roster that was a few bounces and a few called strikes away from the World Series. Still, with superteams in Atlanta and Los Angeles ever looming, the Fightins will have a long road back to and through Red October next year.
For years, rumors have connected all time baseball great Mike Trout, a South Jersey native and rabid Philadelphia sports fan himself, to the Phillies. Yet it’s never been practical to trade for Trout, a perennial MVP candidate his entire career, who would command a massive return.
Here’s a look a slew of intersecting reasons that make it likelier than ever that Trout is dealt to Philly this winter.
Trout season is open
Trout is coming off consecutive injury shortened campaigns, and has missed out on a top 5 MVP finish in consecutive seasons for the first time in his career. Doubters are concerned about his durability, and the Angels, who signed him to a massive contract extension, are surely concerned about his longetivity.
Not only has Trout’s “stock” never been lower, but the Phillies have never been more flush with the major league depth and prospect capital needed to land him. This coincides with the Phillies reaching their win-now championship window, and facing enormous pressure to do something to improve an already elite roster.
Angling from the club box
Regardless of how it ultimately turned out, a Trout trade would likely go down as one of the most consequential moves in the annals of modern baseball history, alongside recent blockbusters involving Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, and perhaps most relevantly because the receiving team had multiple years of control, Juan Soto.
Not every front office would be willing to take that risk, nor have the acumen to pull it off, but Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski is one of the most seasoned and aggressive executives in the game. While he had an uncharacteristically quiet trade deadline over the summer, Dombrowski’s career has been defined by big moves for big players. If anyone can pull it off, it’s him.
Bryce on first
A Trout trade is predicated on Bryce Harper returning to first base in 2024, which is probably the best thing for the franchise now and into the future.
Harper at first means that Nick Castellanos can stay in right and Kyle Schwarber can stay off the field and at designated hitter, leaving two open outfield slots for Brandon Marsh and one other high-echelon glove.
Throughout the Phillies playoff run this was Johan Rojas, a rookie who was also an above average hitter during the regular season (.771). His bat cooled in the postseason, and Dombrowski has already said Rojas “won’t be handed” the center field job without earning it next spring.
That means that one of center or left (Marsh can play either) could still possibly be upgraded this fall. But there are limited available players out there who would offer a concrete, no-doubt upgrade over Rojas, who has all the tools to turn into a star in his own right.
Trout is among that very small shoal of players.
Fallen Angels and stupid money
After missing the postseason again in 2023, the Angels are seen as unlikely to resign Japanese two-way star Shohei Ohtani. Trout was seen as untouchable when the Angels were competing, but with Ohtani likely departing due to free agency, an Angels team that won just 73 games in 2023 is unlikely to be competitive in the near future.
Despite already establishing himself as one of the greatest to ever play the game, Trout has never seen real postseason success, and despite the faithfulness to the Angels he expressed when he signed a record 10 year, $430 million contract extension in 2020, he may be unwilling to undergo a rebuild.
The Phillies have one of the largest war chests in baseball thanks to owner John Middleton’s liberal spending philosophy, and they’re among the few teams with both the resources to sign Trout and the financial track record that indicates it’s possible. Perhaps most importantly, the Phillies are one of the only teams that might be willing to eat Trout’s entire contract; other teams might require the Angels to pay some of it down.
Sample trade
Angels get:
- SP Andrew Painter
- SP Griff McGarry
- CF Johan Rojas
- OF Carlos De La Cruz
Phillies get:
- OF Mike Trout
- RP Carlos Estevez
- Cash considerations
Including Rojas is obvious, as it replaces the Angels hole in the outfield, and the Phillies have another glove first defender in Cristian Pache they can bring off the bench.
The centerpiece of the trade is Painter, one of the top ranked prospects in baseball a year ago who underwent Tommy John surgery in the spring and will not pitch competitively until 2025. McGarry is another very high ceiling youngster who entered 2023 as one of the top 100 players in baseball, but who crashed and burned at the AA Reading level despite high strikeout numbers.
It’s an appropriate mix of high risk and high reward type prospects, as Trout himself is one of the highest risk, highest reward players out there, given his injury history and MVP-caliber baseline.
Hypothetical Phillies 2023 Opening Day lineup
- Trea Turner SS
- Bryce Harper 1B
- Mike Trout LF
- Kyle Schwarber DH
- Nick Castellanos RF
- Brandon Marsh CF
- JT Realmuto C
- Bryson Stott 2B
- Alec Bohm 3B
