The Los Angeles Angels have just made a huge gamble. After having their franchise’s worst season dropping 99 games, the Halos entered the market early. According to various reports, the team has agreed with the Atlanta Braves to acquire Jorge Soler in a trade. In return, the Halos are sending their pitcher Griffin Canning to the NL East team. However, interestingly, this trade has led to direct questions being asked about the status of Mike Trout within the organization.

Since the turn of this decade, Trout has spent more time in the dugout than on the field. Year after year, injuries have ravaged the Angels centerfielder. However, the peak may have come in 2024 when Trout’s torn meniscus forced him to undergo surgery twice. That led to loud discussions over the 33-year-old’s long-term future.

Most agreed that Trout needs to get away from center field and many asked for him to play as a DH more. But now, with Soler’s arrival, that DH role might have just become unavailable for Trout and it’s something that doesn’t sit well with former pitcher Jonathan Papelbon.

“Is Trout going to be their DH to be able to keep him on the field? I think you kind of pigeon-hold yourself,” Papelbon said about the Angels’ trade during his Foul Territory Show appearance. Jorge Soler played a total of 142 games in 2024 (93 with the Giants and 49 with the Braves). Out of those, a whopping 92 were spent as a DH.

Though he played in the outfield for the remaining games, it goes to show why Papelbon worries that Trout’s DH chances might get reduced due to Soler. Or what if Soler’s chances are reduced due to Trout? Either way, the former pitcher wasn’t keen on this trade.

“You can’t keep just running Mike Trout out there or else you are going to get 50 to 100 games from him,” Papelbon added in the show. “I think that’s unfair to the team, it’s unfair to Mike Trout. I don’t get it,” he further added. Since 2020, Mike Trout has played 100+ games only once (2022). Apart from that he has hovered over 70-80 games which fell to 29 in 2024. It was of little surprise that the Angels GM Perry Minasian and owner Arte Moreno called out Trout earlier this month. But Trout was not the only player in that.

Alongside Trout, Minasian pointed fingers at the Angels’ other injured superstar Anthony Rendon. The two did not even play 100 games, when combined. In his annual end-of-season press conference at Angel Stadium, Minasian had said, “We need them to be better. It’s not a lack of effort. It just is what it is, but they understand how important they are, and from a payroll standpoint, they take up a significant chunk of the payroll. So when your best players aren’t playing, it makes it more difficult.” The two played 29 and 57 games, respectively. And their performance?

Trout batted .220 with a .867 OPS, and Rendon had a .218 average with a .574 OPS. that’s definitely not what anyone would expect from the players, costing over $37 million each. Pointing at that, Minasian had said, “There’s been significant money spent on the payroll, it comes back to the players we’re spending on. And we need our best players to play. They know that.” Days after this, it was Moreno who had almost the same thing to say.

“It’s a little bit hard to be in a situation where there’s $72-73 million and they give us no production,” Moreno had said. However, Minasian had something positive to say about the otherwise lackluster season.

“It’s a frustrating year for all of us. I’ll be the first one to say that. But big picture, I’m really excited where this thing’s going. I’ve been in situations like this in other organizations where we’ve had tough seasons. But you can usually point to a season where things change, not necessarily in the win-loss column, but where players took huge leaps and caused a jump in wins and a jump to contention. We needed a young core to build around and we finally have it,” Moreno had said.

So, going by that, is it a smart business move to push Trout even more toward the defense? One can’t deny that Soler solves one very important problem within the Angels’ clubhouse.

Why the Angels need Jorge Soler and Mike Trout in the team

With 165 home runs in 2024, the Los Angeles Angels ranked 21st all across MLB. With the absence of Mike Trout only Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto, Taylor Ward, and Jo Adell crossed the 20-homer mark. Though, Jorge Soler had a relatively down year compared to 2023, even then the star scored 21 home runs. That easily puts him near the top of Halos’ list. One needs to remember that in 2023 Soler had hit 36 home runs and if he somehow returns to that level, it’ll only be good news for an offense-starved Angels. 

On top of that, one can’t deny that there is no guarantee when it comes to Mike Trout. Unfortunately, the star’s injury-ridden run has stretched to 5 years now. Paired with Anthony Rendon’s consistent injuries, the Halos need at least one explosive hitting outlet in their team. So trading for Jorge Soler makes huge sense in that regard, especially, if he manages to give them his usual 135-140 games. And if somehow Trout also manages to stay healthy, one could argue that the two can find a way to coexist. Both are outfielders and it might not be as big an issue for them to take chances in the DH spot.

As of now, the Los Angeles Angels are taking the charge for 2025. Arte Moreno had already assured fans that he’s aiming to compete next year and acquiring Soler might just be the first step towards it. Only time can tell how many more steps they’ll be taking in the coming days. So what do you think about this Jorge Soler trade? Will it affect Mike Trout’s season? Let us know in the comments.