"Mike Trout is dedicated to LA Angels" – Joey Votto believes loyalty is a double-edged sword in sports, drawing parallels to his Reds tenure
Mike Trout got his start with the Los Angeles Angels after they drafted him in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft. He has since turned that into a pretty impressive 14-year career, all in LA.
He has stayed loyal to the Halos, which has disappointed many fans. Trout is one of the league's best players but has only played in three postseason games during his career.
This was something that did not sit right with Joey Votto. He detailed his thoughts on Trout's loyalty five years ago on the Dan Patrick Show:
"So for Mike Trout, he is dedicated to that organization, and that is the give and take of attatching yourself at the hip with an organization."
Trout's lack of postseason experience is certainly a talking point of his career. Fast forward five years later, and he still has just three postseason games under his belt. Votto added:
"As somebody that played for one organization who had maybe five-eightish playoff games, I did not win a playoff series. That's part of my relationship with the fans of Cincinnati."
Votto knows exactly what Trout is going through being a member of the Reds. He did not play in many postseason games, either, and that has stuck out during his career.
Mike Trout's postseason chances with the Angels not getting any better
Mike Trout took over as the guy for the Angels this season after Shoehi Ohtani signed his monster contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, his season would end after just 29 games this year. Even if he were healthy throughout the year, it still would have been tough for the Angels to make the postseason.
Losing out on Ohtani was a major blow, but they still could not make the postseason with him on the roster. Injuries and a lack of other starts surrounding Trout and Ohtani made it hard to gather momentum.
Now, everything is riding on Trout's shoulders and with his injury history, that might not be good. The last time he made it past 130 games during a season came all the way back in 2019.
Trout is expected to be ready for the start of the 2025 season. Hopefully the front office can work some magic and put good players besides him because we're not sure how many more seasons he has left.