There is a longtime evaluator who has gotten a chance to see Mike Trout in person a handful of times since the Angels recalled the outfielder to the big leagues this season.

The evaluator is not prone to hyperbole or overstatement, and he isn't someone who rushes to judgment.

His feelings about Trout's ability are strong. "If he's not the best player in the game by the end of this season," said the evaluator, "he will be by the end of next season."

On the day that Trout was summoned to the big leagues, the Angels were 6-14. Since then, they are 16-11, and Trout has thrived, at age 20. "He excels at everything he does," said the evaluator.

Trout has 11 extra-base hits in his first 25 games and a .500 slugging percentage. He's averaged 4.28 pitches per plate appearance; the only member of the Angels with more, the evaluator noted, is Albert Pujols, who has a decade more in the big leagues. He has six stolen bases. "He may be the fastest player in the game," said the evaluator. "There isn't anything on a baseball field that he doesn't do well. He's special."

Jerry Dipoto, the Angels' first-year general manager, has been greatly impressed by what he's seen from Trout's at-bats -- but also in his response to when he doesn't get a hit. "I think he's been remarkably good," Dipoto said. "For a 20-year-old, he just doesn't let a bad at-bat carry over. He doesn't let it pile up. ... I can't recall anyone at that age who has that ability.

"He's one of the reasons" the Angels have turned it around, Dipoto said. "He's created some stability at the top of the lineup."

Trout's mindset is that a perfect at-bat, Dipoto said, is an at-bat when he's scored a run. He's got 17 so far.

In 73 days, Trout will celebrate his 21st birthday.

Trout went 0-for-5 on Friday, but the Angels rallied to win; Pujols blasted another homer, as Mike DiGiovanna writes.

Trout could hit anywhere in the top five spots in the Angels' lineup, says Mike Scioscia.

Notables

• In Melky Cabrera's only full season in the National League -- 2010, when he was with the Atlanta Braves -- he had 27 multihit games.

On Friday night, Cabrera had his 23rd multihit game of this season, pushing his batting average to .363. "He's doing Tony Gwynn-type [stuff]," said Bruce Bochy, the Giants' manager, on Friday afternoon.

The style in which he produces is unorthodox: Cabrera has averaged the fewest pitches per plate appearance in the NL, at 3.22. "That's why he's like Tony," said Bochy, who played with Gwynn and then managed him for years with the Padres. "He doesn't strike out a lot, and he'll put the ball in play."

Cabrera already has 22 extra-base hits -- 13 doubles, six triples and three homers -- and he leads the majors in hits with 69. He's got a .951 OPS, but of course, he cannot be regarded as a one-year wonder at this point. Cabrera had 67 extra-base hits among 201 hits for the Royals last year. "I think his year with Atlanta may have humbled him a little bit," Bochy said. "He got himself in great shape, and now he's got his routine and he's consistent with it."

"I knew he was a good player, but you don't realize how good until you see him on a daily basis. He's balanced on both sides of the plate. He doesn't care where he plays. He doesn't care where he hits in the order."

The Giants have their issues to work through. Tim Lincecum has had a knack for bad innings this season, and it happened again in Miami on Friday night; Lincecum had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth, and in the span of about 25 pitches, he and the Giants trailed 6-3.

But San Francisco has been hitting better, and in a couple of weeks, Pablo Sandoval will return from the disabled list to strengthen a lineup that looks much deeper with Cabrera near the top this year.

• Shin-Soo Choo has always possessed excellent qualities for a leadoff hitter, Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta noted on Friday. He's a natural on-base percentage guy; he has a good idea of the strike zone and will work the count and take walks, and he runs well.

"But in the three years I've been here, we haven't had a lineup deep enough to put him there," Acta said.

Until now.

With Asdrubal Cabrera maturing into a middle-of-the-order type of hitter and with Jason Kipnis improving, Acta shifted Choo into the leadoff spot, and he has thrived, hitting .350, with a .447 on-base percentage and 14 hits and six walks in 40 at-bats.

Jake Peavy mentioned in a conversation earlier this month that the Indians don't necessarily have big stars in their lineup, "but they are deep. They've got a lot of guys who will work through at-bats." Yep. Cleveland ranks fifth in the majors in on-base percentage and is are first in the AL Central.

"And we haven't played our best baseball yet," Acta said, noting that it's only recently that Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez, the Indians' No. 1 and No. 2 starters, have started pitching better.

• The Diamondbacks had been skeptical in the spring about whether they could work out a deal with Miguel Montero, because their talks had broken down after Yadier Molina signed his five-year, $75 million deal. Maybe it was Montero's sluggish start that brought him back to the table, or maybe it was Arizona's commitment to keeping him. Later today, Arizona will announce a five-year, $60 million to keep Montero -- an enormous investment for a team that opened this season with a $75 million payroll.

Montero will account for about 15 percent of the team's budget going forward. The deal does not include any no-trade protection, which is not a surprise, because Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers had bumped up against the restrictions that a no-trade clause caused with Peavy and had said that was something he would not again negotiate lightly.

• The Orioles are about to make the most significant investment in their club's history. It would signal a long-term commitment, writes Peter Schmuck. Adam Jones is humbled by the talks.

• San Jose is playing a waiting game with Major League Baseball, writes Susan Slusser. Within this story, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed does some legal saber-rattling.

Should the Giants lose the territorial rights, which came along with the team sale, they are likely to threaten a lawsuit. Should San Jose lose out, the nation's 10th-largest city might follow the same path as St. Petersburg, Fla., and challenge MLB's antitrust exemption. In 1994, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that baseball's antitrust exemption does not extend to the sport's overall business, allowing the state attorney general to investigate whether owners conspired to prevent the Giants from moving to St. Petersburg. Two potential owners threatened antitrust lawsuits, and the following year owners voted to approve the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "What the Giants are doing is very anti-competitive," Reed said. "They're trying to drive a competitor out of the market." In addition, San Jose has a downtown site and city officials who back an A's stadium. "We have an opportunity here, and they are interfering with our opportunity," Reed said. "Whether or not that leads to litigation, I don't know. It's certainly an option, but we are trying to accommodate the commissioner." Reed said the city will not explore any legal measures as long as A's owner Lew Wolff continues to oppose them. "We can be as patient as Lew likes," he said. "It's the team owners' money, their investment."

Unless there is a resolution, some baseball executives believe it's only a matter of time before the city of San Jose files a lawsuit.

• We've got Nationals and Braves on Sunday Night Baseball this week, with a great pitching matchup -- Gio Gonzalez versus Brandon Beachy. Washington won the first game of this series, behind Chien-Ming Wang. Wang might replace Ross Detwiler in the Washington rotation, writes Adam Kilgore.

Tim Hudson and the Braves got hit around; Atlanta has lost five straight. And now Chipper Jones is on the DL.

• Rays manager Joe Maddon was not happy with the Red Sox after Tampa Bay blasted Boston, as Marc Topkin writes. From the story:

Maddon was adamant in his postgame comments that the Sox coaching staff was to blame for what he termed "a weak, cowardly effort," and he made it clear that when provoked, the Rays will respond. "It's kind of incompetent behavior," he said. "It's the kind of behavior that gets people hurt on your own side by choosing to do something so ridiculous." Among other adjectives and adverbs, Maddon said, it was "absurd, idiotic; I'll use all those different words." (DH Luke) Scott, walking with a limp and his right knee red and swollen, was measured in his response. "It's obvious where it came from," he said, referring to the decision to throw at him. "At the end of the day, you reap what you sow. Tomorrow is another day."