I’m sure you’ve all heard the news by now: Angels super-prospect Mike Trout has been called up from AA, and will make his major league debut tonight against the Mariners. Trout has been discussed on the site before, in a Minor Leage Monday feature a couple of weeks ago, but Mark didn’t exactly expect Trout to be in the majors this soon. But with a minor injury to Peter Bourjos, Trout has gotten the call, and will be manning center field for the Angels tonight.
But what happens with Trout when Bourjos is healthy again after the All-Star Break? The Angels have a pair of albatross contracts in the corners, with Vernon Wells under contract until 2014, and Torii Hunter under contract until 2012. Both players are struggling on offense, but have been great defensively. The DH slot is locked up with Bobby Abreu. So…what do you do when Bourjos is ready to return? The most obvious thing would be to send Trout back down to the minors, like the Braves did with top prospects Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado after spot starts earlier this year. But Trout doesn’t have a whole lot to prove in the minors. In AA this season, he has a .950 OPS with 28 stolen bases. Last season, his OPS was .918, and he had 56 stolen bases. A promotion (well, demotion since he’s in the majors now) to AAA Salt Lake would probably just inflate his numbers even more, since the Pacific Coast League is known for its insane offensive production.
We haven’t answered the question yet. What happens when Trout is called up? With Hunter and Wells both struggling, one of them could be demoted to the bench to allow both Trout and Bourjos to roam the outfield. This would be the best case scenario for the Angels, as they wouldn’t lose anything defensively and probably actually make a gaint offensively. But would the team really be inclined to let $18 million (Hunter) or $23 million (Wells) ride the pine for the rest of the season? The easy solution for the Angels, shifting one of Wells or Hunter to the DH position, hits a snag because DH Bobby Abreu has an option for the 2012 season at $9 million that becomes guaranteed when he hits 550 plate appearances. He’s less than 200 away right now, and barring an injury, it looks like he’ll coast to that mark. So the Angels are stuck with five players for four positions, with two of those players being young, talented, and cheap, and three being old, expensive, and struggling offensively. Well, Abreu really isn’t struggling…he’s got a .775 OPS. But the point remains, he’s an expensive veteran.
The most obvious solution for the Angels would be a trade. No one in hell would touch the contracts of Hunter or Wells. Abreu could be an option for an AL team that needs a DH, though. But would the Angels really be willing to cut ties for the player on their team with the second highest OPS this season? They might have to, if the team wants to keep both Bourjos and Trout. One thing is for sure: both Bourjos and Trout need to be playing every day in the majors if they’re going to be on the roster. It wouldn’t make sense to let either ride the bench.
If Trout does stay up in the majors after his promotion, the AL Rookie of the Year race just got a lot more interesting. Michael Pineda has currently lapped the field about three times, and would probably be a unanimous winner if the voting was done today. But if Trout is in the majors playing every day, he could have some competition for the award, because even at 19 years old, Trout is the kind of player that can make an impact in the majors. The two won’t even wait to get acquainted, as Pineda is starting for the Mariners on Saturday in Anaheim.
Regardless of what happens with Trout and Bourjos the rest of the year, it’s good to see the Angels giving both of them a callup. Bourjous got the call last summer, and now it’s Trout’s turn. I just hope that the team does right by them, and doesn’t let one waste away on the bench while one of the overpaid veterans continues to play every day and hinder their development.
