New York Yankees: What a Mike Trout Trade Might Look Like

Baseball is the ultimate team sport, not even Mike Trout can do it alone. That’s why a trade to the New York Yankees makes perfect sense for all parties involved.

With the Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim (you should only be allowed to represent one city) currently visiting the Bronx for a four-game series, the inevitable Mike Trout to New York Yankees trade rumors began to sprout up. So much in so, that Trout’s own family and friends began to pester him with questions about the possibility of one day soon, coming home to play. For those who don’t know, Trout grew up in nearby Millville, N.J., less than a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Yankee Stadium.

When asked by N.J. Advance Media about the possibility of a trade to the Yankees, before the start of the series on Monday night, Trout replied, “I just say that I’m happy where I am right now.”

Well, well, well, that doesn’t exactly sound like a ringing endorsement of staying in O.C. for the long haul, now does it? Maybe Trout has become weary of spending his baseball prime stuck in a situation that is more doom than gloom.

The Angels finished the 2015 campaign in third place, while currently wallowing in fourth, already nine games behind division leader Texas. Saddled with a mixed roster of overpaid, injury prone players and unproven below-average talent, the time could be now to make a move. Combine that with a minor league system that ranks dead last according to Baseball America, it would make sense now, more than ever, that this Angels franchise cashes in on arguably the most complete player currently in the game.

“I just say that I’m happy where I am right now.”

Trading ‘Mike from Millville’ is easier said than done. And obviously, if and when he is made available, there will be no shortage of suitors. But the reason the Yankees should be the first club called for a potential deal is obvious.

Newly appointed Angels GM, Billy Eppler, is a Brian Cashman disciple. Having spent ten seasons working side-by-side with Cashman, Eppler knows that the Yankees won’t stay down for too long. With the contracts of Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira and Ivan Nova coming off the books at the completion of this season, and the enormous amounts still owed to Alex Rodriguez and C.C. Sabathia finishing up after 2017, this club will suddenly sit in the low $100 million mark in payroll.

Now sure, the Yankees would love to put themselves in a prime financial position in 2019, to seriously make a run at Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and/or Matt Harvey, but a lot can happen in three long seasons. So swinging a deal for a 24-year-old, club controlled superstar (currently on a 6 year, $144.5 million deal), is the only way to rejuvenate two stagnate clubs and their loyal fan bases.

Any possible deal would begin with the inclusion of one of the Yankees’ closers. If possible, you’d love to send Chapman packing, since he isn’t signed past this year. In all likelihood, 28-year-old Dellin Betances would be the first name Eppler demands. Club controlled till 2020, the addition of Betances automatically makes the Angels bullpen much better.

Next, starting pitching would be a needed commodity. Luis Severino hit a bit of a rough patch to start this campaign, but at only 21 years of age, with four solid pitches in his lively arm, Severino still possesses top of the rotation type stuff. Eppler may also ask for a prospect like James Kaprielian, New York’s 2015 first round pick who could reach the big leagues by the end of summer. Masahiro Tanaka or Nathan Eovoldi would also be on the table.

As far as position players are concerned, the Angels would be remiss to not ask for the Yankees number one overall prospect, Jorge Mateo. A 20-year-old, slick fielding shortstop with emerging power, that already hits for average and the ability to steal 82 bases in a full season–yeah, he’s legit.

However, I wouldn’t be willing to trade Greg Bird or Aaron Judge because the 2017 Yankees will need them both in the lineup every day to stay competitive. The Angels probably wouldn’t ask for Gary Sanchez, since most baseball executives are torn about his ability to grow into a full time big league catcher, although reports from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre are promising to this point.

Last but not least, I’d give Eppler his choice of Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury or Aaron Hicks. Ellsbury would probably be the least likely to be dealt because of his enormous salary and ever-growing propensity for injuries. Word is that Eppler has always been a big Gardner fan, even going so far as to convince the Yankees brass to draft him in the third round of the 2005 draft.

The bottom line is that no deal will get Los Angeles back the return they probably feel Trout is worth, especially for those baseball purists that believe Trout’s WAR (wins above replacement), guarantees its club an extra nine wins per season. But such is the peril of sports. In the ultimate team sport, no one man can do it alone.

So if you’re reading this, Brian Cashman, use this article as the framework for a blockbuster trade that would positively set up both clubs up years, but more importantly, give the Yankees the type of center fielder they haven’t had since, dare I say it… Mickey Mantle.

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The Yankees don’t rebuild, they retool, so whether a blockbuster deal happens sometime before the All-Star break, in 2017, or any time before Trout’s contract expires in 2020, Yankees’ fans can take solace in knowing one thing; Mike Trout is glad to be home, even if it’s only until Thursday: “It’s always good coming back, for sure,” he said. “(I get to) see a lot of family members, see a lot of friends and obviously Yankee Stadium is great.”