Here’s How the Angels Hooked Mike Trout to a $430 Million Contract

It all started with owner Arte Moreno having a face-to-face meeting with his superstar.

ANAHEIM, CA - MARCH 24: Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Los Angeles Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - MARCH 24: Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Los Angeles Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno, president John Carpino, and general manager Billy Eppler wanted to sign Mike Trout to an extension before he hit free agency so they asked him if he’d be willing listen to an offer.

“Yes” was his answer.

Therefore, earlier this month Moreno had a face-to-face meeting with his superstar center fielder inside the manager’s office at spring training.

About a week later, that conversation blossomed into a $430 million contract extension that will keep Trout, 27, with the Angels in LA until he is 39.

Trout’s agent Craig Landis, who originally relayed Moreno, Carpino, and Eppler’s question to his client, said he “never gave it higher than a 50 percent chance” Trout would hit free agency.

“I knew Mike liked it here,” Landis said. “If the Angels really wanted to sign him, and they made him a generous offer, it was going to be very difficult for him to turn it down because I know Mike’s never been about making the last dollar.”

On the LA side, they were positive they wanted Trout to remain an Angel for the rest of his career.

“There wasn’t somebody that I’ve come across that checked the boxes like Mike does,” Eppler said. “You trust his intentions, you trust how he’s going to take care of himself, how he’s going to approach the game, how he’s going to be inside the clubhouse. You trust all of those things. For us, it was a pretty easy visualization.”

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