Mike Trout, the Yankees and a Quick Reminder

The Yankees world has absolutely lost its mind and it began when the Sweeny Murti of CBS mentioned the idea of the New York Yankees taking a stab at acquiring Mike Trout this offseason. Well, let’s be fair, the losing of the mind for the New York fan started long before Sweeny hit publish on this post but for dramatic effect just roll with it. I thought that was an awful cute and novel idea to acquire one of the best young hitters and all-around players in the game right now with this new-found farm system but the idea of it is not so unique if you think about it. You see, I already thought about it back on October 7^th so in case you missed it, and want to lose your mind all over again, here is the post again in its entirety. The post is dates, so remember that, but the general gist remains the same. Use prospects, acquire Trout, win. Period.

SEE ORIGINAL POST HERE

This is a pipe dream but as the New York Yankees season ended abruptly on October 2nd the offseason is officially underway for the team and now is the time to dream. If you’re going to dream then you have to dream big and I don’t think it gets any bigger than thinking about the Yankees making a huge splash this offseason by acquiring Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 

Now before you all simply roll your eyes and click off the post please hear me out. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were absolutely horrible again in 2016 and with now five seasons under the belt for Trout and Albert Pujols together the team has about as many playoff game victories as I had during my MLB career, zero. In fact the 2016 season was the worst season for the Angels since 1999 so why wouldn’t they at least entertain the thought of blowing it up and beginning a rebuild with a move of Trout and Pujols?

The Angels have a top-heavy payroll and no farm system in sight to bail the team out if and when they get hit by the injury bug like they did in 2016 and at some point the team has to either sacrifice winning now for a future or continue to live in mediocrity while wasting the best years of Mike Trout’s playing career. CJ Wilson made $20 million in 2016 and didn’t throw a pitch, Garrett Richards missed five months with an elbow ligament injury, Andrew Heaney and Andrew Tropeano will likely miss 2017 recovering from Tommy John surgery and no one knows the status of Matt Shoemaker after taking a line drive to the head late in the 2016 season. With no arms, no prospects to replace them and no money to acquire any the Angels may have to make a trade. They don’t want to, they may have to though and that is where the Yankees should come in with their new-found Top 5 farm system they acquired this summer doing similar trades. 

Before we get too far into this you must remember that Brian Cashman’s former right-hand man Billy Eppler is now the GM in Anaheim so you have to think he is at least somewhat familiar with the bulk of the Yankees system. So what can the Yankees offer to make this deal work for both clubs? I honestly think there are two options that could work. One option is throwing prospects at the Angels and hoping for the best. Headlining a package for Trout could be Jorge Mateo, an outfielder (preferably not Clint Frazier but to acquire Trout it would likely have to be Aaron Judge), and a pitching arm like James Kaprielian or Chance Adams (or Justus Sheffield or Brady Lail or a slew of other names and prospects) and hope for the best or the New York Yankees could get creative and help Anaheim out in multiple ways. 

The Angels need prospects, salary relief and MLB ready talent so why don’t the Yankees give them all three? No I’m not suggesting taking on an aging Albert Pujols to play DH, he has five years left on his deal at $140 million and he is 36-years old, but instead I am suggesting “taking the Josh Hamilton contract” off the Angels books. I put that in parenthesis because Hamilton is not on the Angels anymore, he’s being paid over $26 million by the Angels to play for the Texas Rangers, so if the Yankees could send “cash considerations” over to Anaheim to essentially pay for the Hamilton contract while giving up significantly lesser prospects I think this could work for both sides. 

The Angels have CJ Wilson and Jered Weaver coming off their books which should help but having an extra $26 million, or even less depending on what the league would allow, could only help Anaheim rebuild and get better. Adding back some talent for Trout as well can only help speed up the impending rebuild in Anaheim. Is it unlikely? Yeah, sure is. Is it impossible? No, nothing is impossible. Well it’s only impossible if you don’t ask. So Cashman, ask. 

So I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m either the biggest idiot you’ve ever read for even suggesting this or that they should make a Moneyball type movie about me and let me play myself in it since I am so much better looking than Brad Pitt. Whichever it is, leave it below in the comments section or Tweet me @GreedyStripes.