Inside The Dodgers

Angels' Mike Trout Excited For Shohei Ohtani To Be With Dodgers

Trout truly is a class act...

Jason Fray

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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No one would blame Angels' Mike Trout for being frustrated at this point.

The Angels remain in a strange purgatory, where they're not good enough to make the playoffs -- yet they've not fully committed to a much-needed rebuild.

Trout watched as his buddy, and multi-time MVP Shohei Ohtani went up the freeway to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The frustration might not be directed at Ohtani -- though seeing him leave probably left a bad taste in Trout's mouth...

...or did it?

Trout spoke with the Foul Territory team in an exclusive interview. Naturally, he was asked about Ohtani. As opposed to being slightly salty or even resentful, Trout was beyond happy for his ex-teammate:

Trout not only keeps in touch with Ohtani, but he said he's genuinely excited and happy for him.

The fellow multi-time All-Star admitted that he had some conversations over the offseason with Ohtani. He did his best to try and get Ohtani to re-sign with the Angels.

At this point, the bigger story sits with the Angels and the disconnect between the front office and the owner. Arte Moreno has been reticent to go full bore after bigger players in the wake of recent pricey deals (aka Anthony Rendon) not working out.

Trout will be 33 years old in August. It's a somewhat shocking realization when thinking about the lack of postseason experience he's had. This is especially the case considering how Trout's been viewed as a transcendent ballplayer.

Injuries have limited his participation some, but not being able to make the playoffs with both Ohtani and Trout on your roster is objectively a difficult thing to do. It'll be fascinating to see whether Trout does indeed end his career in Anaheim.

One would guess that he wants to give it a real go in terms of playing in the postseason before his career wraps up. Whether that can happen with the Angels or not is the real question.

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Jason Fray
JASON FRAY

Jason Fray is a proud native of Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA in 2011, he's written for a number of publications -- including Bleacher Report, FOX Sports, Saturday Down South, and New Arena. In his downtime, he enjoys writing scripts, going to shows, weekly pub trivia with the boys, trying the best hole-in-the-wall food spots around town, and traveling (22 countries & counting).