Trout's Contract Ranked Among MLB's Most Untradeable

It wasn't too terribly long ago that if you suggested the Los Angeles Angels should trade centerfielder Mike Trout you'd be met with a condescending shake of the head and the most incriminating type of side-eye look.

That would have been about October 2022 when the future Hall of Famer and franchise icon had just completed a season when he returned to being a 6.0-plus WAR player courtesy of 28 doubles, 40 home runs, 80 RBIs, a .283 batting average and .999 OPS.

That showing was also a rebound after a 36-game injury-plagued 2021 season and four years after he signed his massive 12-year, $426.5-million contract extension, lending hope that his play would retain the bulk of its net value as he moved into his mid-30s.

Then 2023 and 2024 happened: 111 total games, 3.9 combined WAR, 28 homers, 58 RBIs, a .252 average and 131 strikeouts, which helped turn those incredulous cries of "How dare you say the Angels should trade Mike Trout!" into more ruminative thoughts of "Maybe it's time to explore the possibility of trading No. 27."

Well, if the Angels are indeed thinking along those lines - with the Philadelphia Phillies consistently mooted as a possible landing spot for Trout due to their needs in the outfield and Trout's ties to the Main Line - that train may have already left the station.

While Trout did play 130 games in 2025 with 26 homers and a .797 OPS, which he followed up in 2026 with 142 games (his most since 2016) with 22 long balls, an .803 OPS, 131 OPS+ and 4.1 WAR (his best since 2022's 6.1) that helped him earn a nomination for the 2026 Silver Slugger Award on Thursday, the simple truth is that he will be a 35-year-old with a bad back next season.

That prompted Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter to list him as No. 6 on his ranking of "MLB's Most Untradeable Contracts," which was published on Friday.

While saying that Trout, who is owed $141.8 million over the remaining four years of his contract, was able to produce a 2026 season that makes him look "like a more appealing trade chip right now than he has in years," he added that there are some "significant hurdles" to be cleared if the Angels did try to move him.

"Given his franchise legend status and full no-trade clause, Trout would almost certainly have to request a trade to set the wheels in motion on moving him, and he did the exact opposite at the trade deadline when he openly supported the team's retooling efforts," Reuter wrote. "There is also the matter of his health. He was diagnosed with a rare spinal condition in 2022 that is expected to impact him the remainder of his career....That combination of potential complications is enough to make Trout's contract one of the most untradeable in baseball, even if the remaining money is not as untenable as it looked a few years ago."

Indeed, when Reuter conducted this exercise following the 2025 season, Trout ranked No. 2 on the list of most untradeable contracts, with the B/R scribe saying at the time, "At this point, the salary figure is simply too high and the remaining runway of years too long for another team to realistically view Trout as a trade target."

While it does seem most improbable that Trout would or could be traded before the lockout-threatened 2027 season commences (whenever that will be), the trade deadline can do some crazy things to the minds of MLB's GMs.

So, if outfielder Aaron Judge is sidelined again in August (which might get his name on Reuter's untradeable list for 2028), who's to say that New York Yankees' GM Brian Cashman wouldn't cast his gaze west and roll the dice on two months of Trout with a division title or playoff spot within reach, especially if Trout is putting together a season similar to 2026's?

The same could be said for any number of other teams who are seen as the game's big-spending "go for it" franchises, including the Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers (though a trade between the two La La Land teams would be extremely rare), New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.

So while a Trout trade seems a reach from the perspective of Nov. 6, the view can be quite different on Aug. 3, 2027, the day of next season's trade deadline.