Angels Renew Trout For $20K Over League Minimum
Via ESPN -
The Los Angeles Angels renewed the contract of AL Rookie of the Year Mike Trout for $510,000, prompting an angry response from the outfielder’s agent.
Craig Landis said his client was disappointed with the decision announced Saturday. The salary is $20,000 above the major league minimum.
“During the process, on behalf of Mike, I asked only that the Angels compensate Mike fairly for his historic 2012 season, given his service time,” Landis said in a statement. “In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a ‘fair’ contract and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process. Nonetheless, the renewal of Mike’s contract will put an end [to] this discussion.”
Trout has one year, 70 days of major league service and is likely to be eligible for arbitration after the 2014 season and for free agency after the 2017 World Series. Teams can renew the contracts of unsigned players on their 40-man rosters from March 2-11
“Mike, himself, does not wish to comment on this matter,” Landis said. “As when he learned he would not be the team’s primary center fielder for the upcoming season, Mike will put the disappointment behind him and focus on helping the Angels reach their goal of winning the 2013 World Series.”
Speedy Peter Bourjos is set to be the Angels’ primary center fielder, flanked by Trout in left and 2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton in right.
Trout said he wouldn’t focus on off-the-field issues.
“You could easily put yourself in a bad mood about it, but that’s not me,” Trout said Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I like to play baseball. I’m going to try to win a World Series for the team and not worry about off-the-field things.”
Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, was less diplomatic about his client’s deal.
“I asked only that the Angels compensate Mike fairly for his historic 2012 season, given his service time,” Landis said in an email to the Times. “In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a ‘fair’ contract, and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process.”
Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto defended the team’s position.
“We love Mike — he’s a big part of what we’re doing now and hopefully for many years to come,” Dipoto told the Times. “But we’re operating within the parameters of the collective bargaining agreement, and it’s a system that rewards service time.”
For what it’s worth, in 2007, Troy Tulowitzki made $381,000 in his big “rookie” season and he was paid $750,000 in the next year. And, in 2001, Albert Pujols made $200,000 in his big rookie season and he was paid $600,000 the next year. Lastly, in 2010, Jason Heyward made $400,000 in his rookie season and he was paid $496,500 the following year.
That all said, would it have killed the Angels to renew Trout for $615,000 this season? Is a hundred grand going to kill them? Talk about being penny wise and pound foolish…
Not only that, it’s smarter to keep him happy and convince him to sign a 8 year contract, then as soon as his arbitration years come-on pay him something on par to a superstar and get an extra 5 years out of him at a cost beneficial to the club. I never understand why clubs don’t do this more.
I like the way the Yanks got the most out of Cano, now it’s time to see him go. If you’re a smart team, then that also means knowing when to say when. Case in point, the Yanks didn’t do a good job of this with Jeter, they could have had him on the cheap but decided to let him go to free agency in 2000 and he ended up screwing them with that 189 million contract. And rightly so on Jeter and his agent’s part.
I never understand why teams get into these massive contracts for the like of Pujols and ARod. The Angels are now regretting that contract.
It all comes down to getting value, it’s like trading stocks, but unfortunately there’s a lot of emotion and sentiment surrounding these decisions.
Garcia wrote:
Couldn’t agree more – not that I won’t miss Cano, but with Boras, he’ll end up getting much more in years and dollars than he’s worth.
Garcia wrote:
Yep. And if Pujols didn’t turn it around the second half of last year, it would be absolutely brutal. That contract could be even worse than A-Rod’s if that’s even possible. Cardinals fans who were insisting they re-sign Pujols should now be the most thankful. I sincerely hope the Yanks take a page from the Cards on this one.
It’s the way the system works, for better or for worse. But I think clubs are starting to see the light with regards to player compensation, trying to buy out their arbitration years. I remember the Indians doing this in the early 90′s. Also, with no players going to arbitration this year it will be interesting to see if this will be a trend instead of an outlier.
Personally, I think if Trout posts another big season, he’ll sign a multiyear deal with the Angels.
Garcia wrote:
I remember they used to go to the mat with Bernie Williams. Don Mattingly back in the day too. Of course, the season that Mattingly signed his contract (highest paid player 5/$19.3M, inflation of MLB salaries is amazing), he would miss a good chunk of the season with a bad back.
I also like they way Cano was handled, strangely enough the only bad year he had was one where he had signed his current deal. I don’t believe that the reason for that off year was him being lazy. I also don’t think he’ll half ass it though his contract like others seem to think he will.