Unquestionably if you have the choice to either trade away or trade for Mike Trout you need to trade for Trout. By Mike Trout standards he is off to a slow start, but that’s a result of just how good he has been in his short career. It isn’t everyday where you get a discount on one of the best players in baseball. Foolishly some owners are not happy with Trout and are looking to shop him, and if you are smart you will be there to scoop him up off another owners team and reap the rewards.
It’s difficult to argue with the numbers he is producing as he is batting .284 with 33 runs scored, ten homeruns, 36 RBI and five steals. It would be nice to see Trout use his speed more as he easily has 30 steal speed.
The batting average by his standards is also a fairly low at .284 seeing as he is a .324 hitter as a full time player. The other numbers are fantastic for Trout though as he is on pace to set career highs in both homeruns and RBI.
Owners may be a little disgruntled with Trout’s lack of steals and batting average since they took him with either the number one or number two pick. If that is the case now is the time to trade for him before it’s too late. Actually, at this point you are on the verge of it being too late to trade for him. Trout has a ten game hitting streak in which he has eight RBI and two homeruns. This hitting streak has seen Trout’s batting average increase approximately .025 points. Also just last night Trout found himself batting in the three hole and if that is the case he is going to see a slight bump in RBI.
The main fault for Trout’s struggles is the increase in strikeout rate which has jumped from 23 percent last year to 31 percent this year. Recently though Trout has been putting the ball in play more often which has led to the hitting streak that has seen his batting average increase. The BABIP for Trout is at a good level at .344 but that is still about 35 points below his career average. If that number increases along with the strikeouts decreasing you will see a huge jump in Trout’s average that will place him put him right back in the argument as the best hitter in baseball. All signs are pointing to a monster breakout soon for Trout and you will want him on your team when it happens.
At 22 years old Trout has already established himself as arguable the number two hitter in baseball behind only the great Miguel Cabrera. If you can make a package deal in which you offer a player like Adam Jones and a decent number two or three pitcher I would do it now before it’s too late and Trout reestablishes himself as the superstar that he is.
In case you don’t believe me that it’s time to trade for Trout, here’s a quick little highlight tape that should cure any doubts you still have.