Angels outfielder Mike Trout had one of the best seasons in baseball history last year -- seventh-best by WAR during the expansion era -- hitting .326/.399/.564 with 30 homers and 49 steals despite not being called up until late April. He was an All-Star, the unanimous Rookie of the Year, and the runner-up for the AL MVP Award.
Because he has less than three years of service time, the Angels are free to pay Trout whatever they want, basically. They renewed his contract for $510,000 on Saturday, only $20,000 more than the league minimum. Unsurprisingly, agent Craig Landis was not pleased:
Trout, 21, will be eligible for salary arbitration following the 2014 season and free agency following the 2017 season. If he continues at a similar pace to last season, he'll smash pretty much every salary record in the coming years. For now, he'll have to get by on a measly half-a-million bucks over the next 12 months.
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