"Mike Trout the best player in sports history to never play in a meaningful game" "Angels are such a disgusting franchise" - MLB fans criticize Angels for wasting Mike Trout's phenomenal potential and talent

The Los Angeles Angels’ postseason dream is virtually over for this season. That’s eight years now without a Mike Trout postseason appearance.

Trout, an all-time baseball great, has only three postseason games to his name. The Angels last made the playoffs in 2014, only to get swept by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Division Series.

It’s a travesty that a player of Trout’s caliber has made the playoffs in only one season. The Angels have been a trainwreck this year. They have been this way for the better part of a decade now.

At the time of writing, the Angels are losing their series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays 8-1 after seven innings. That’s poised to be six defeats in a row and a 15-game deficit in the AL Wild Card race.

The Rays embarrassed the Angels 11-1 on Tuesday night, but Trout delivered and achieved yet another milestone. The 10-time All-Star notched his 25th homer of the season and in doing so, registered his 1,500th career hit. The next day, he registered his 26th homer in another defeat to the Rays, this time 4-3.

Mike Trout became only the fifth Angels player to reach the 1,500-hit milestone, joining Garret Anderson (2,368), Tim Salmon (1,674), Brian Downing (1,588), and Darin Erstad (1,505). Additionally, he has now scored 1,024 runs for the Angels, tying Anderson for the franchise record.

Trout has missed several games due to injuries in recent years. He was out of action from July 12 until last Friday with a costovertebral dysfunction in the T5 region of his spine.

Since the start of 2020, Mike Trout has played in 174 games. To put it into perspective, that’s about one full-length MLB season over a near 2 1/2-year stretch.

The Angels have Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani but lack serious quality in other areas

It doesn’t look like things will be drastically different for the Angels next year or anytime soon. If so, how long before generational talents like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani consider turning to greener pastures? News also emerged in recent days that Angels owner Arte Moreno is exploring a potential sale of the team.

Trout won’t be a free agent until 2031, so he is not leaving soon. However, Ohtani wouldn’t need to wait as long. He has a little over 16 months left on his deal.

The Angels need to turn a corner, and they need to do it fast. If they are not in a position to challenge for the playoffs, they are going to lose their prized assets sooner rather than later.

The Angels seem safe in regard to Trout, at least for now. However, it looks increasingly likely with each passing week that Ohtani could be on his way out next year.