Special to Sports News Highlights

(SNH) — We now live in an age in which professional players have more control than ever. While this is certainly better than the decades where owners dictated pretty much everything, it does come at a cost.

Now, for example, it’s not uncommon for players to ask for – or even demand – a trade, and often this stems not from something egregious, but because of a contract dispute or perhaps a lack of confidence in the direction of a team.

In some instances – as in the case with Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers – it’s just time for somebody to go, even if they do so reluctantly. One player, however, who probably won’t be seeking a trade anytime soon is Mike Trout. The superstar may be on the backend of his career, but he’s still only 32 years old and could have a lot of great baseball left. Despite this and the fact that the Angels have failed to put a sustained winning team around him for nearly his entire career, Trout doesn’t want to leave.

Since Trout began with the Angels in 2011, the team has finished over .500 only four times, and their last winning season was 2015. They’ve had one trip to the playoffs in his tenure, and that ended up in a three-game sweep in 2014. Trout in his prime was the best player in the game, and even teaming him with Shohei Ohtani wasn’t enough to change the fortunes of the Angels.

And yet, Trout remained optimistic as spring training started this year, excited for the free agents the team might be pursuing. Plus, while he wants to win a championship, he doesn’t intend to win one with any team expect the Angels.

“The easy way out is just ask for a trade,” he said. "There might be a time. Maybe. I really haven't thought about this. But when I signed that contract, I'm loyal. I want to win a championship here. The overall picture of winning a championship or getting to the playoffs here is bigger satisfaction [than] bailing out and just taking an easy way out. So, I think that's been my mindset. Maybe down the road if something's changed, but that's been my mindset ever since the trade speculations came up.”

Being this loyal is admirable, but it has many around the league asking why. Examining Trout’s background can provide some clues. Apparently, loyalty is something that was stressed to him early on by his parents, and many of his close friends are buddies from childhood.

Where Trout grew up is another piece of the puzzle. Born and raised in New Jersey, he was a huge fan of the Yankees, and specifically their shortstop Derek Jeter. In 2019, when Trout signed a 12-year contract, he admitted that Jeter being a lifetime Yankee played a role in him re-signing with the Angels.

Why else may Trout not want to leave the Halos? Reliver Carlos Estevez and others think it has to do with where Trout was drafted. In the 2009 draft, 21 teams passed on him before the Angels nabbed him.

Whatever happens with Trout, right now he seems focused on baseball and getting back into form after some injury-plagued seasons, and he’s not thinking too much about the future.

“Am I worried about what happens, or do I want to get traded, am I not gonna get traded?” he said. “I'm not worried about any of that. I'm going out there and play my game. I got to put a full season together and see what happens.”

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