The Los Angeles Angels will soon need to make a massive decision on one of the best players in Major League Baseball.
Lucas, Bob and Peter open this week's show with a blunt reality check: the Los Angeles Angels are not playing good baseball.
Entering Monday, the Angels sit at the bottom of the National League West with a 29-43 record, 7.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners, who are neck-and-neck with the Athletics for the top spot in the AL West.
This past weekend, Los Angeles did get its second-straight series win over the Tampa Bay Rays to make up a little ground in the division.
Now, the Angels will begin a seven-game road trip spanning from Monday, June 15, until Sunday, June 21. In that time, Los Angeles will face the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set and then take on the Athletics for four games over the weekend.
Finally, taking a look at some positive news coming out of Anaheim, an amazing storyline to follow this season has been first baseman Trey Mancini's comeback after a colon cancer diagnosis.
Then, taking a look back at Angels' owner Arte Moreno's comments from the offseason, where Moreno said that the fans don't care about winning. The trio debate if that mindset directly impacted the Angels this season. Lucas makes the point that if the owner claims fans don't care about winning, then Moreno didn't do enough in the winter to set the team up for success-- and all three hosts land on a belief that the Angels were set up to fail this season.
Staying on the topic of hypotheticals, Lucas mentions outfielder Mike Trout's production this season, which is reminiscent of his prime. The 34-year-old is hitting .224 with 26 extra-base hits including 15 home runs, 32 RBIs and a .833 OPS (134 OPS +) in 71 games this season.
This begs the question of whether Los Angeles will hold on to Trout for as long as they can, of if the club will explore a trade in the near future. Trout's trade value is the highest it's been in recent memory, so the trio debate whether the Angels will consider moving the future Hall of Famer.
This also sparks a conversation on how the Angels should proceed with it's roster if the team keeps Trout in Anahaim, with our hosts remaining hopeful that Los Angeles gives one final push toward the postseason in an effort to reward Trout for his loyalty.
Listen to the full podcast and let us know in the comments how you would handle Trout's situation if you were in control, and join Roundtable's Angels site to ensure you don't miss any news with the team.
