By Trevor Winsor:
So, if you’ve been living under a rock or you’re not a baseball fan, you probably haven’t heard about how all the monies in the Angels’ pocket have been thrown in only one direction: Mike Trout.
Just a quick breakdown of the LARGEST deal in MLB history:
12-year Deal for $430 Million.
Yes, you read that right. That’s almost half a billion dollars for 12 years of play. This is BONKERS! But if you’ve ever watched him play, you know he deserves just about every dollar. Here’s a breakdown of all that money:
- $222k per game
- $61k per at-bat
- $199k per hit
- $973k per home run
- $364k per RBI
- $1.2 million per stolen base
- $3 million per month
- $692k per week
- $98.6k per day
- $4.1k per hour
- $68 per minute
Even as I type out those numbers, it still doesn’t compute how that’s even possible. Mike Trout will make in an hour what I would love to make per month. Don’t do the math on that, it’s depressing!
I love watching Mike Trout play (though the Angels can suck it) and he is an incredible asset for the game of baseball today. If Bryce Harper can make $330 million, Trout deserves to make even more.
Two words: BUT THEN…….
Here is my concern with all that money. Two names: Albert Pujols & Josh Hamilton
Albert Pujols signed with the Angels in 2012 for a 10-year/$240 million deal. But before he signed that deal, he was a baseball god for about 10 years. For the Cardinals, Pujols had 8 years in that stretch where he hit over .327 with 8 years over 37 home runs. He had over 115 RBI’s for 9 of those years. It’s obvious he was a beast.
Then the Angels wanted to sign him and were willing to pay all that money. So, they did!
BUT THEN, he signed the 10-year deal with the Angels and things changed. Since signing with the Angels, Pujols has yet to hit over .285. He has only had one year with more than 37 home runs. And his run production has dropped exponentially as well. Is he getting old? Yes, he is. Has he had injuries? You bet. But what is it? I think it’s the Curse of the Angel Contract.
You don’t believe me?
Ok, let’s talk Josh Hamilton. You remember him, the guy who had high aspirations of MLB stardom and then went off the deep end. Was the guy who hit 28 home runs in one round during the 2008 Home Run Derby?
Josh Hamilton was signed for a 5-year/$125 million contract after his unbelievable run with the Texas Rangers. During that run, Hamilton hit an average of 30 home runs, a .302 batting average, 155 hits, and 100 RBI’s per year. Those are incredible numbers! In that stretch, he won 3 Silver Slugger Awards, 1 MVP, and 1 ALCS MVP. That’s nuts!!
Very similar to the type of seasons that Pujols had, right?
BUT THEN…..
He signed the deal with the Angels and those numbers changed. He went from an MVP candidate to a guy who struggled his way to two seasons of .250 and .263 batting averages, only 31 total home runs, and only 123 RBI’s. I’m pretty sure you could hit that in the league!
Don’t get me wrong, I loved watching Josh play. It was like waiting for lightning to strike any time he got to the plate. But once he signed a big money contract with the Angels, his career took a turn. Such a bad turn, that he ended up out of the league within the next three seasons.
For those two reasons (Pujols and Hamilton), I’m very nervous about the half-a-billion-dollar investment the Angels have just made.
The longer I’ve watched baseball, the more I see that guys played incredible stretches, earn the money, and then they tank from there. Sure, some of them make great careers out of the later years, but overall, they never are quite the players they should be. Yes, there are exceptions, but for most, this is what happens. A-Rod, Cano, Miguel Cabrera, Jacoby Ellsbury, Chris Davis, and the list goes on. Guys who signed major contracts and didn’t live up to the money.
This is my major concern with the Mike Trout contract. I really, truly, hope that he is one of the exceptions to the Curse of the Contract. But I definitely will have my eye out for the next 3 or 4 years. Injuries, lack of production, and putting the career on cruise control are definite possibilities for these kinds of investments.
I could totally be wrong though. What do you think?