Source: Keith Allison [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)].

Sideline Spice staff member Luca collaborates with guest writer Justin B, discussing the attention that Mike Trout’s recent record breaking contract has garnered in the sporting world.

Luca: As an Australian, the MLB is nowhere near as popular down here as either the NFL or NBA, giving it secondary status when it comes to chatter about American sport. As a result, most of my friends don’t usually talk about it, limiting my baseball chat to Twitter and my fantasy leagues. That’s why I was surprised that in my football chat, mention of Mike Trout’s record breaking $430 million dollar extension garnered significant attention. When I first saw the contract, my first thought was “he’s off to a GOAT level start to his career, he’s worth the money”. However, the general consensus amongst my friends was “that’s a ridiculous amount of money”, “teams that overpay for a single player never win a World Series” and “no athlete can be worth a contract that large.”

What makes baseball contracts different to those in the other three major American sports is that it’s the only league without a salary cap. Fans of basketball or football are so used to players being paid “the max” and thinking that’s what they’re worth, when in reality, the Steph Curry’s and LeBron James’ of the world have consistently vastly outperformed their contracts throughout the course of their careers. So when non baseball people see someone get an offer that dwarfs the next biggest contract, their reaction is to baulk. In reality though, Trout is so much better than anybody who has played baseball in my lifetime, that in this case, the uncapped MLB allows his contract to actually reflect the value he brings to a team. Justin, what are your thoughts on the talk around Mike Trout’s contract?

Justin B: As a baseball fan, I cannot help but to be frustrated with the recent media coverage surrounding the sport. The news of Mike Trout’s record 12 year, $430 million contract extension has gained the attention of nearly all media sources. It was the leading story on the news radio station on my way to work, a lead story on the front page of my local paper, and the topic of choice around my workplace water cooler. In terms of the sheer amount of total coverage, it might just be the biggest baseball related news story of the year.

The problem that I have with the Trout story is not the story itself. To baseball diehards, Trout is a once in a lifetime player. At age 27, he already has a higher career WAR than Dave Winfield, Jackie Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, and a slew of other Hall of Fame legends. If there was ever a man to be paid baseball’s top salary, it would without a question be Trout. That he has chosen to sign this contract and presumably play the rest of his career with the team that drafted and developed him, instead of testing the choppy waters of free agency, is nothing short of commendable in the modern era.

That should be the end of the story. If you are an Angels fan, be excited that he isn’t going to leave. If you are a fan of a big market team, be disappointed that he probably is never going to play for your city.

But no.

We get to be stuck in a media circus about whether or not Mike Trout is worth this kind of money for hitting a ball, while teachers and police officers get paid comparatively nothing. We get to hear baseball pundits contemplate whether Trout deserves this contract because his milk toast personality impedes him from being the pop culture figure that LeBron James or Cristiano Ronaldo are for their respective sports. Or that his accomplishments as one of the greatest regular season baseball players are somehow less impressive, due to the fact that the Angels have never won a playoff game in the years which he has played.

What does it say for the sport of baseball when this is what people are interested in? That this is the part of the sport that makes mainstream headlines? Not that regular season baseball games are being played in Japan. Not a focus on the career of Ichiro Suzuki, which is presumably coming to an end. Not spring training battles or an excitement for opening day.

All the only thing about baseball that people want to talk about is how much money one man is getting paid and how seemingly absurd or unjustified it is.

Luca: I think Ryan, my Sideline Spice colleague put it best. The MLB actually generates more revenue than the NBA on the whole. The difference is that they do not market it very well nationally or internationally like the latter does, and as such, most of that revenue is generated locally. Because of a lack of awareness on a larger scale, people immediately freak out when they see that amount of money being paid to one player, without knowing who Mike Trout is, what he means to the game of baseball, or just how damn good he is.

While chatting this morning, you brought to my attention some Fangraphs numbers that can be found here . According to the numbers, Trout’s production was worth $78.6 million last year and has been worth $494.5 million over his career. He’s been paid 78.3 million total so far in his career. I don’t like using absolutes in sport, but anyone who says that he’s not worth the contract he got is flat out wrong. He’s already provided roughly that level of surplus value in his career, and is scarily only just entering his prime as a hitter. Most hitters in baseball tend to peak between ages 27-29, so it’s reasonable to say that his best years may still be ahead of him. Another Fangraphs article is inclined to agree, stating that this contract is actually a bargain in the grand scheme of things .

Also, you made a very good point earlier. As you mentioned, because of “Mike Trout’s milk toast personality”, he doesn’t have the same gravitas of a Ronaldo or a LeBron. Like Trout, they’re both in the GOAT conversation for their respective sports, but rarely do you hear people say that they aren’t worth the crazy money that they’re paid. Only Trout has seemed to receive that criticism, and I put that down to a combination of his down to earth demeanour, and the lack of global attention baseball has in comparison to basketball or soccer / football. It’s a shame that this is what most of the chatter is focused around, when really, we should be celebrating that an all time great has not only been deservedly rewarded, but has shown loyalty in an era where that rarely exists in the MLB.