Add The New York Post on Google The vision Mike Trout has of how he will end his career remains unchanged in the wake of Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s agreement to purchase a controlling share of the Angels.
“It doesn’t change,” Trout said. “I got four years left on my deal. I’m excited.”
Shortly after being informed of the impending sale by Angels president Molly Jolly, Trout said he looked up Kroenke’s history in other sports.
Super Bowl champions with the Rams. NBA champions with the Denver Nuggets. Stanley Cup champions with the Colorado Avalanche. English Premier League champions with Arsenal.
“What a track record,” Trout said. “Wherever he buys, he wins. So it’s a good sign.”
“Super excited to meet him and talk to him and get to know him a little bit and see where it goes.”
Trout said he called a Rams player – he wouldn’t say whom – for a scouting report on the new owner.
“He had some really good things to say,” he said.
Trout, 35, played in his one and only postseason series in 2014. He has endured 11 consecutive losing seasons with the Angels, including this one.
With control of the team shifting to Kroenke, Trout said he was able to imagine a future in which the Angels win a World Series.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “I think you look at the track record. I know one thing that’s going to be on his mind is get to the World Series and win (a) championship. As a player, you know, it makes you feel good to have that and to feel that.
“It’s obviously been frustrating the last … I don’t know how many years it’s been. But just to hear the news like this, I’m super excited to have this change.”
That doesn’t mean Trout wanted departing owner Arte Moreno to sell the team. His feelings toward Moreno were much warmer than the average fan’s, as it was Moreno who ran the Angels when they drafted him and signed him to a 12-year, $426.5-million contract in 2019. The deal includes a no-trade provision.
Trout stuck with the Angels not only because of his loyalty to the team but also because of his loyalty to Moreno.
“He took a chance on a 17-year-old kid from Millville, New Jersey, and he took care of me and my family,” he said.
As appreciative as Trout was of everything Moreno did for him, he welcomed what he described as “a fresh start.”
“You kind of felt that way, (that) it was needed,” he said. “No bad things, no bad hard feelings against Arte. We’re super excited. The guys are excited. There’s a good vibe around the clubhouse, vibe around the stadium, and we’re all excited.”
Moreno used to ask Trout for his opinions. Asked what advice he might offer Kroenke on how to improve the Angels, Trout replied, “There’s a lot of things. I’m not going to get into specifics. You know, just a fresh start and a new mindset, maybe just to change some things.”
Trout pointed to how interim general manager John Mozeliak upgraded the farm system by exchanging veterans for prospects at the trade deadline.
“So, you can build off that,” Trout said. “Bringing new ownership in, they’re probably excited to get this thing flipped around.”
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Trout compared the change in ownership to previous changes in the leadership of the baseball operations department.
Trout was hopeful this particular switch would introduce a new energy in and around the team.
“I think the biggest thing is you know getting that feeling of that winning culture back and having that vibe in the clubhouse,” he said.
That being said, Trout said there were limits to the lengths to which he would go for Kroenke.
A devoted fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, Trout laughed when asked if he would wear a Rams cap.
Would he compromise and become a fan of one of Kroenke’s other teams? The Avalanche? The Nuggets? Arsenal?
“If I went to a Rams game and if they weren’t playing Eagles, I would probably cheer for the Rams,” he said. “If they were playing the Eagles, you know what I mean? I’m a die-hard Philly guy.”
