All-Star center fielder, Mike Trout, of the Los Angeles Angels, is about the be the wealthiest professional athlete of all time.
Trout and the Angels are finalizing the largest contract in professional sports history, a 12-year deal worth more than $430 million that will presumably keep him an Angel for the remainder of his baseball career.
Breaking: Mike Trout and the Angels are finalizing the largest contract in professional sports history, a 12-year deal worth more than $430 million, sources familiar with the deal told @JeffPassan. pic.twitter.com/uZ7Ik7BGaj
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 19, 2019
Trout will rake in $36 million a year, topping Zack Greinke’s previous record average of $34.4 million with the Diamondbacks.
The $430 million deal is over 30% larger than the enormous contract Bryce Harper had just signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Trout would have hit free agency after the 2020 season and the bids would have come in like wildfire. In fact, Harper had already been lobbying for Trout to join him in Philadelphia, a city just 45 miles from Trout’s hometown of Millville, NJ.
But the Angels put a quick end to that fantasy with this new monster deal, one that was very well-deserved.
All of us Philly fans now pic.twitter.com/qaYYtViGlF
— Damon Miller Jr. (@Damon_Miller_Jr) March 19, 2019
Trout is a generational player who has put together arguably the greatest start to a career in baseball history. In 1,065 games, he has slashed .307/.416/.573 with 240 home runs, 648 RBIs, 793 runs and 189 stolen bases. No player in history has put up more wins above replacement through his age-26 season than Trout’s 64.3.
His skill was rewarded, at $24,000 per inning.
That’s right.