Mike Trout, Angels Scoff At Idea Of Trade: ‘You Do Not Move Superstar Players’

The Internet got a crazy idea about trading Mike Trout. But, spoiler alert: It’s not going to happen.

First of all, let’s get one thing straight: It wouldn’t be a terrible idea for the Los Angeles Angels to trade their star center fielder, as ESPN and FanGraphs suggested. Their rotation is keeping Dr. James Andrews in business, their payroll is funding aging players, their farm system was ranked at the worst in Major League Baseball by Baseball America and they would get a haul of major league and minor league talent for Trout.

But it’s not at all surprising that the Angels are not even thinking about shipping Trout out of Orange County.

“No chance,” Angels general manager Billy Eppler said Friday, per Angels.com. “… You do not move superstar players.”

Trout doesn’t plan on going anywhere, either.

“I’ve seen (the trade ideas),” Trout said Wednesday, per the team’s website. “I just laugh about it. I love where I’m at. I love Anaheim, the stadium, the organization, and obviously the teammates. Teams go through injuries. That’s the way it is.”

Angels starting pitchers Andrew Heaney (left flexor strain) and C.J. Wilson (left shoulder tendinitis) are sidelined until at least July and mid-June, respectively. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons is recovering from thumb surgery, and closer Huston Street is nursing an oblique strain. And the Angels just lost Garrett Richards, their best starter, to Tommy John surgery.

But for the Angels, trading Trout would be the equivalent to packing it in for the year.

“We’re going to keep playing to try to win,” Trout said. “It doesn’t matter what other people say. Our mentality in this clubhouse is to win ballgames with the group of guys that we have. Obviously we don’t have the full team that we wanted down in spring, but that’s the way it goes.”

Thumbnail photo via Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports Images