Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout wants to get back to playing baseball as soon as possible. He's just not sure how feasible MLB's reported plan to hold the entire season in Arizona is.

From a baseball perspective, keeping everyone in one area seems like a path to starting the season. Yet Trout has questions about the details of that plan that will lead to some tough discussions:

.@miketrout wants MLB to come back soon as possible, but brings up a number of issues that would have to be worked out logistically before baseball returns in any fashion. #LunchTalkNBCSN pic.twitter.com/TdPfIVI8Jp

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) April 15, 2020

"What are you gonna do with family members? My wife is pregnant. What am I gonna do when she goes into labor?" Trout said while speaking to NBC Sports on Wednesday. "Am I gonna have to quarantine for two weeks after I come back? Because obviously I can't miss that birth of our first child. There's a lot of red flags, there's a lot of questions. Obviously, we would have to agree on it as players. But I think the mentality is we want to get back as soon as we can, but obviously it's gotta be realistic. We can't be sitting in a hotel room, just going from the field to the hotel room and not being able to do anything. I think that's pretty crazy."

On Wednesday, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said playing without fans is the way to restart sports.

"Nobody comes to the stadium. Put [the players] in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled," Fauci told Snapchat's Peter Hamby. "Have them tested every week, and make sure they don't wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play the season out."

Under the outlined plan, MLB would indeed play without fans. Instead of using dugouts, players would sit in the stands to stay six feet apart, and robot umpires could be used to call balls and strikes.

Trout's concerns are valid, and the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association would need to work out an agreement before any such plan is enacted. On Tuesday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced he was in favor of the state hosting all 30 MLB teams and that he has been in contact with Commissioner Rob Manfred.

As Manfred, MLB owners and the MLBPA continue working through contingency plans, it's obvious there are still a number of critical holdups that need to be addressed before baseball can resume.

The 2020 MLB season does not yet have a date for Opening Day, but Los Angeles Angels designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani is nearing a return to the mound after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2018.  

Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway provided an encouraging update on the 25-year-old:

#Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway shared an update on Shohei Ohtani today. Ohtani is throwing long toss out to 180 feet then shortening up to 60 feet "and really letting it go." Should be throwing off a mound "soon."

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) April 7, 2020

  

Ohtani was still able to appear in 106 games last season while starting 91 as the Angels designated hitter. He posted a .286/.343/.505 slash line with 18 home runs and a career-high 62 RBI. His 2019 season, in which he did not pitch, ended after he needed surgery on his kneecap in September.

The left-handed hitter batted .285/.361/.564 with 22 homers and 61 RBI across 367 plate appearances in 104 games as a rookie in 2018. On the mound that year, the right-hander went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 51.2 innings pitched across 10 starts.

#OnThisDay: April 1, 2018

Two-way star, Shohei Ohtani, took the mound for his MLB pitching debut. pic.twitter.com/4DmnugBsxp

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) April 1, 2020

The Japanese star was named the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year.

Callaway added to reporters on Tuesday that the Angels have a schedule in place for Ohtani, but since Opening Day is in limbo, they are "in a bit of a holding pattern."

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Monday night that MLB and the MLBPA "are increasingly focused on a plan that could allow them to start the season as early as May and has the support of high-ranking federal public health officials who believe the league can safely operate amid the coronavirus pandemic."

The reported plan would demand all 30 teams play in Phoenix at empty stadiums.

MLB provided an official update Tuesday:

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1247531526000017412

The delay will allow Ohtani more time to get back to full strength and help the Angels make the postseason for the first time since 2014. L.A. hasn't won a playoff game since 2009.

Amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak reaching the United States, some Major League Baseball clubs have instituted new policies on autographs as a safety precaution.

The Philadelphia Phillies began a policy of having players pre-sign autographs to distribute to fans, while other organizations are using common-sense approaches that allow players to make their own decisions.

"I'm hesitant. I'm aware," Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon said, per Gabe Lacques of USA Today. "Sure, we're less likely to go jump into the stands and sign a lot of autographs and be around a lot of people. The likelihood of us getting it is not high at all. But still, it's in the back of your mind.

"I'm not going to put myself in a position to heighten the chances. It's annoying more than anything."

Twenty people have died in the United States so far because of the coronavirus, which has become a global cause of concern that's limited air travel and trade while putting citizens in a state of unrest. According to Johns Hopkins, there have been more than 105,000 cases of the coronavirus diagnosed worldwide.

Sports leagues have begun preparing for worst-case scenarios. NHL teams have begun closing dressing rooms to media, and the NBA sent a memo to teams asking them to prepare for the possibility of playing games without fans in the stands. MLB has asked anyone who has visited a high-risk area within the last two weeks to not visit ballparks.

"We are undertaking many precautions currently," MLB said in a statement. "For example, we are asking anyone—including media—who has visited a high-risk area, as defined by the CDC, within the last 14 days not to visit our facilities.

"We are also discussing additional measures internally and with other leagues. At this time, we have not made changes to our media access procedures, and we will advise if we determine to take such steps."

MLB has also told players to not take pens or balls directly from fans in the stands.

"We don't want to get anybody ill, because we don't want this place shut down for 14 days," manager Joe Maddon said. "So, you gotta play by the rules."

Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon doesn't want his players to take the law into their own hands when they face the Houston Astros this season.

"I'm going to have a talk with the boys about not doing anything," Maddon said Saturday, per USA Today's Gabe Lacques. "I think it's more appropriate to play the game. This has been bandied about enough. It's been sliced and diced and in the Veg-o-matic long enough. Let's go play baseball. Let's get things back together properly. Let's be civil about this and move on."

Astros manager Dusty Baker told reporters in February he was concerned that opposing players would retaliate against the reigning American League champions as a result of their sign-stealing scandal.

Following an investigation, MLB concluded the Astros used a replay room to decode the opposing catcher's signs. Manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended for one year—and dismissed by the team—while Houston received a $5 million fine and had to forfeit multiple draft picks in 2020 and 2021.

The Athletic's Evan Drellich reported MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred didn't suspend any Astros players because he was concerned any punishments would be overturned on appeal. That, along with the fact that Houston is still recognized as the 2017 World Series winner, upset some inside the league.

Angels star Mike Trout was among those who criticized how MLB handled the scandal:

Mike Trout is not happy with the Astros and the punishment they received pic.twitter.com/VDwJCFZXHl

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) February 17, 2020

Finishing ahead of the Astros would be Los Angeles' best form of revenge, though it will be no easy feat since 35 games separated the teams in 2019.

The Astros host the Angels for a four-game series to open the regular season March 26, and many fans will be curious to see if L.A. sets the tone for how opponents handle Houston this year.         

The Los Angeles Angels fired their longtime visiting clubhouse manager following an internal investigation that determined he was supplying opposing pitchers with illegal substances to better grip the ball. 

Brian Harkins, who had been with the organization for 30 years, had been found to be providing sticky substances pitchers used to doctor the ball against the Angels, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez. While doctoring the ball on the mound has long been a widespread tactic throughout the league, Major League Baseball has placed an emphasis this season on getting it out of the game. 

Using a sticky substance to improve grip has generally been seen as a way for pitchers to add velocity and movement to their pitches without being detected. Given the number of baseballs a pitcher will go through in an inning, it's tough to detect if a player is using a substance on the field except in more egregious cases. 

As ESPN's Jeff Passan notes, the league's emphasis on ensuring no pitchers are using such substances opens itself to future discipline controversies:  

"The league could start handing out 10-game suspensions for foreign-substance usage on the daily, and that would be the law-abiding thing to do, since Rule 6.02 clearly states pitchers cannot use foreign substances on the mound. The problem there is twofold. First is the practical: That would require opposing managers to ask umpires to check pitchers, and managers are loath to do that because they know their pitchers are using tacky stuff too. Beyond that, the possible narrative -- that a rash of players are getting suspended for 10 games as a consequence of the Astros, who got suspended for zero games, cheating -- would be a rough look for the league."

To be sure, there is a clear difference between using the type of substance that has been pervasive around the league for generations versus using cameras and algorithms to decode incoming pitches, but MLB is loathe to find itself in a position to explain that in an official capacity. 

However, the league's warnings may have prompted the Angels' investigation as Passan notes pitching coaches found the memo serious enough to take precautions to avoid potential punishments down the line. 

Among other duties, clubhouse managers are responsible for keeping the visiting locker room fully stocked and assist with player and staff needs as they arise. 

Harkins was hired as a clubhouse manager by the Angels in 1986 and has been the visiting clubhouse manager since 1990. He was named the visiting clubhouse manager of the year in 2005. According to ESPN, the Angels believe he acted alone in providing pitchers with banned substances. 

 

How Mike Trout's 2020 season will end has at least as much to do with the rest of the Los Angeles Angels as it does with him.

But for now, it's newsworthy that the season hasn't even started yet and he's already dropping jaws.

Granted, Trout's latest feat has nothing to do with baseball. It concerns a golf ball. Or, more accurately, an ex-golf ball. For the ball that met his driver during a charity event at a Phoenix-area Topgolf on Sunday promptly expired and went to meet its maker:

Mike Trout hitting rockets isn’t exclusive to the baseball field. pic.twitter.com/tuEyIzxqQ5

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) March 2, 2020

Does this matter? Well, no. But also:

• 1. Holy smokes
• 2. It's spring training, so what the heck
• 3. Seriously, holy smokes

In the meantime, Trout is doing fine at his day job. The 28-year-old center fielder has appeared in four Cactus League games this spring and collected four hits in nine at-bats, with three runs scored.

Come Opening Day on March 26, he will embark on a quest for his fourth American League MVP award. There's little question he'll be the odds-on favorite to win it, on account of him literally being Mike Trout.

Per both Baseball Reference's and FanGraphs' versions of wins above replacement, Trout is the best player in major league history through the age of 27. And though injuries have limited him to 388 games since 2018, he's still racked up more rWAR and fWAR than anyone in that span. It helps that he's transformed into baseball's best hitter via a .303/.447/.634 slash line.

It's at this point that Trout could weep at having no more worlds to conquer. But it would be more his style to spend 2020 turning various weaknesses into strengths. To wit, he might improve his defense by speeding up his jumps and doing a better job of coming in on the ball.

There's also, of course, the postseason. 

Though Trout has been an MVP-caliber player annually since he exploded as a rookie in 2012, his playoff track record is notoriously lacking. His one and only trip to October was in 2014, and it consisted of him collecting just one hit (albeit a home run) in three games.

Yet Trout's postseason shortcomings are not a failure specific to him. The Angels have broadly failed to put a good lineup around him—he owns 52.6 more rWAR than the next-best Angels hitter since 2012—and their pitching has been in rough shape in its own right.

In light of all this, Trout's cry for help in November was a long time coming:

Mike Trout: I'm waiting by my phone to hear that we made a big acquisition.

"I want to get to the playoffs."

Hear the full conversation with @MikeTrout TODAY at 12:35 ET/9:35 PT on @MLBNetworkRadio@Mike_Ferrin | @Jim_Duquette | @Angels | #Angels pic.twitter.com/FGAzT4gKIL

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) November 21, 2019

Yet it's notable that this was after the Angels had hired Joe Maddon, whose credentials include three Manager of the Year awards and a World Series championship with the Chicago Cubs in 2016, as their new skipper in October.

Equally notable is that Trout's wish was later granted when the Angels agreed on a seven-year, $245 million contract with star third baseman Anthony Rendon. Throughout the winter, the Angels also added a veteran catcher (Jason Castro), two starting pitchers (Julio Teheran and Dylan Bundy) and a few supplementary arms.

At the least, these moves should spare the Angels from a repeat of last year's 90-loss flop. Yet a trip to the postseason has only a 22.9 percent chance of happening, according to Baseball Prospectus. And that might be on the high end, as FanGraphs puts their playoff odds at more like 16.5 percent.

In 2019, the American League's five playoff slots were claimed by three 100-win teams (Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins), a 97-win club (Oakland Athletics) and a 96-game winner (Tampa Bay Rays). All five are still entrenched as the league's superpowers, which leaves only slim paths to October for the Junior Circuit's other contenders. 

Even to this end, the Angels figure to be up against the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers. Depending on how their young lineup meshes with their newly veteran-boosted pitching staff, the Toronto Blue Jays could also join the mix. 

If the Angels have any hope of beating the odds in 2020, it springs from their offense. 

Trout and Rendon, who posted a 1.010 OPS with 34 home runs in 2019, might be the best offensive duo in MLB. The Angels also have Shohei Ohtani, who has an .883 OPS and 40 homers in 210 career games.

Throw in Castro, Andrelton Simmons, healthy versions of Justin Upton and Tommy La Stella and fast-rising prospect Jo Adell, and there's a very real possibility that future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols will be the Angels' only below-average regular in 2020.

It should be some comfort to the Angels that seven of the top eight run-scoring teams from last season qualified for the postseason. But the one exception is also a cautionary tale of sorts.

Though only the Yankees, Astros and Twins scored more often than the Red Sox in 2019, too much of their offensive output was rendered moot by a pitching staff that simply allowed too many runs. Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Workman did yeoman's work for Boston's rotation and bullpen, respectively, but they were basically all alone in being healthy and productive all season.

The scary part for the Angels here is that, as bad as the Red Sox's pitching was in 2019, theirs was even worse. Indeed, the staff's 5.0 total rWAR was the lowest in the American League. And included within was an MLB-low 0.8 rWAR from their starters.

Sometime in the middle of May, the Angels will finally welcome Ohtani back to the mound after the two-way star gave his pitching arm a rest during his recovery from Tommy John surgery in 2019. In the meantime, they can take solace in how Bundy, Teheran, Andrew Heaney, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez and Jaime Barria have yet to give up even a single earned run this spring.

Spring results must be taken with a boulder of salt, however, and even results these good can't overshadow the trouble that talented right-hander Griffin Canning is having with his elbow. Factor in how Ohtani's delayed schedule and hitting duties will preclude him from a sizable workload, and the Angels pitching staff is still a major question mark.

The Angels are to be credited for at least trying to put a winner around Trout, but their efforts have merely graduated them from a "definitely not" to a "maybe" for October 2020. That's to say that the best player in baseball is still something of an underdog.

Depending on his preferred methods for blowing off steam, that could be bad news for golf balls come the winter.

              

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout announced Monday that he and his wife Jessica are expecting their first child.

Trout shared a video on Twitter, which included the moment Jessica first told him she was pregnant:

https://twitter.com/MikeTrout/status/1234647942897623040

Little man, you have the best mommy already and I can’t wait to be your dad! We are so humbled by this gift God has given us. We love you already, buddy!!

— Mike Trout (@MikeTrout) March 3, 2020

Jessica also commented on the announcement:

To my sweet husband, I hope our son inherits your kind heart & genuine soul, because you truly amaze me everyday & I cannot wait to watch you become a father! I wouldn’t want to embark on this new adventure of becoming parents with anyone but YOU! 😘#18weeks #Aug2020 #babyboy

— Jessica Tara Trout (@JessTara) March 3, 2020

With his son due in August, the Angels can expect to be without the three-time AL MVP for a stretch of games this season. Manager Joe Maddon at least has plenty of time to prepare.

The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya noted the younger Trout will be 11 by the time his dad's 12-year, $426.5 million contract with the Angels expires.

Mike and Jessica Trout got married in December 2017 after getting engaged in July 2016.

"She's been there before baseball and through the whole journey," Trout said of his wife. "You say we're getting married young—I was with her for 11 years."

This poor golf ball was humiliated like thousands of baseballs have been by Los Angeles Angels All-Star outfielder Mike Trout:

Mike Trout destroyed this golf ball 🤯

(via @Angels)pic.twitter.com/lLrzqkzULp

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 2, 2020

The 28-year-old reigning American League MVP couldn't help but laugh along with his teammates.

Opponents won't be laughing when Trout inevitably continues to build upon his 285 career home runs once the Angels open their 2020 season on March 26 at Houston. 

Trout posted a .291/.438/.645 slash line with 45 home runs and 104 RBI across 134 starts for L.A. in 2019 en route to his third MVP award.

One can only imagine how Trout will celebrate once he wins his first postseason game. The Angels have made the playoffs just once since the seven-time Silver Slugger debuted in 2011, getting swept by the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 American League Division Series. 

One of the side effects of the delays and reworking of the trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers is the collapse of a separate deal that would have resulted in Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling on the Los Angeles Angels.   

Angels owner Arte Moreno told reporters he was the one who ended talks on the deal that would have sent Luis Rengifo and a prospect to the Dodgers for the two veterans.

"It wasn't all impatience," Moreno said. "There were other things involved, too. ... I just would rather not talk about it. That wasn't going to happen, and it's not happening."

The trade between the Angels and Dodgers largely hinged on a three-team deal between the Red Sox, Minnesota Twins and Dodgers, but that trade was reworked after Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reported Boston was "spooked" by the medical review of pitcher Brusdar Graterol.

That led to a lengthy delay and new trades involving the majority of the same pieces, but Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported Moreno "wasn't pleased about the delay."

Pederson and Stripling would have been notable additions for an Angels team looking to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 campaign. Los Angeles is coming off four straight losing seasons and appeared to be wasting Mike Trout's prime, but it added manager Joe Maddon and slugger Anthony Rendon this offseason.

Pederson would have been a nice complement as a powerful left-handed bat alongside the right-handed Trout and Rendon.

The outfielder hit 36 home runs last season and finished with 25 or more in four of the last five years.

Stripling could have helped stabilize the pitching staff in a number of roles because he is versatile enough to start or come out of the bullpen. He was an All-Star in 2018 and finished the 2019 campaign with a 3.47 ERA.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout joined the growing chorus of players who are unhappy with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's decision not to punish Houston Astros players involved in the sign-stealing scandal.

"I don't agree with the punishments, with the players not getting anything. It was a player-driven thing," Trout told reporters Monday. "It sucks because a guy's career's been affected and a lot of people lost jobs. It was tough.

"Me going up to the plate and knowing what's coming would be pretty fun up there. A lot of guys lost respect for some of the [Astros players]. It seems like every day something new comes out."

Trout added, "You can take my shirt off...if you hit a homer to send your team to the World Series at home, you can do whatever you want to me.”

Mike Trout is not happy with the Astros and the punishment they received pic.twitter.com/VDwJCFZXHl

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) February 17, 2020

Trout also addressed rumors of HGH use, denying the allegations. Major League Baseball and the MLBPA previously released a statement denying the rumor.

"I didn't worry about it because it's not true," Trout told reporters. 

Trout added that Trevor Bauer's camp reached out to apologize for legitimizing the rumor. Bauer told Daniel Roberts of Yahoo that players were aware Trout had an exemption for HGH use due to a thyroid issue. He later walked back the allegation.

Manfred struck a deal with the MLBPA that granted Astros players immunity for their cooperation into the sign-stealing investigation. Astros players used video recordings to steal signs from opposing pitchers and would then bang on trash cans from the dugout to tip hitters when an off-speed pitch was coming.

The Astros fired general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch after MLB suspended them for a year. The Boston Red Sox parted ways with manager Alex Cora (a former Astros bench coach) and the Mets fired manager Carlos Beltran (a former Astros player) for their roles in the scheme.

Manfred defended giving players immunity, saying it was the only way for MLB to gather all the facts.

"Independent of what the GM did, the manager did, (the players) have an obligation to play by the rules and they didn't do it," Manfred told ESPN (h/t CBS Sports). "I understand when people say the players should've been punished. I understand why they feel that way. ... If I was in a world where I could've found all the facts without granting immunity, I would've done that."

Manfred added that there would be no tolerance for any retaliation against Astros players. Houston players and management have taken widespread criticism for their handling of public apologies since the scandal broke.