Angels’ Mike Trout: ‘I think the easy way out is to ask for a trade’

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout is determined to stick with the team – at least through the end of his contract – and is not looking to be traded.

Trout has spent his entire career with the Angels and is in the sixth year of a 12-year, $426.5 million contract he signed in March 2019. While the outfielder is considered one of the best players of this generation, he has only played three games in one playoff appearance.

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Los Angeles Angles’ Mike Trout leaves the batting cages during a baseball spring training workout on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Tempe, Arizona. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The New Jersey native said on Monday he was not interested in “taking the easy way out.”

“I think the easy way out is to ask for a trade,” Trout said, via The Athletic. “There might be a time, maybe. I really haven’t thought about this. When I signed that contract, I’m loyal. I want to win a championship here. 

“The overall picture of winning a championship or getting to the playoffs here is the bigger satisfaction than bailing out or taking the easy way out. I think that’s been my mindset. Maybe down the road, if some things change.”

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Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout smiles as he rounds third after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, July 2, 2023 in Anaheim, California. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

The Angels’ championship window may have closed when the team lost Shohei Ohtani to the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency. Most of their window also depends on Trout’s health.

Trout has only played at least 150 games four times in 13 years, not including the 2020 pandemic-impacted season. Last year, he played 82 games and hit .263 with a .858 OPS and 18 home runs.

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Los Angeles Angles’ Mike Trout leaves the batting cages during a baseball spring training workout on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles finished 73-89 last season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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