WOW! What a talent. Crushes a HR into the rock pile, makes 2 great catches in deep CF, steals a base. If there is anything to reincarnation, this kid is Mickey Mantle.
Scary part is that he is just 23 yrs old and scratching the surface of his talent. I wish he played on the East Coast.
And Trout was not taken in the Top 20 even. #25 overall.
But what a talent. He is one of the few players that are worth the price of admission on their own.
Angels proceeded to take Trout 4 picks before the Yankees very own supplemental pick at #25. Yankees ended up selecting Slade Heathcott at #29 instead.
If the Angels had chosen to resign K-Rod or Teixera that year its likely Mike Trout would have been a Yankee or even a Met.
Harper will be a free agent when he's 26 so it's a possibility
Angels proceeded to take Trout 4 picks before the Yankees very own supplemental pick at #25. Yankees ended up selecting Slade Heathcott at #29 instead.
If the Angels had chosen to resign K-Rod or Teixera that year its likely Mike Trout would have been a Yankee or even a Met.
Everything about this is so painful to read.
Link - ( New Window )
I do remember that - someone from the Angels said it wouldn't have mattered if the Yankees hadn't signed Teixeira because Trout would have been the pick even if they only had one pick.
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with the supplemental draft choice from the Teixera signing. Trout was the Yankees target all along that year as not many scouts bother to look into North East prospects but the Angels did that year.
Angels proceeded to take Trout 4 picks before the Yankees very own supplemental pick at #25. Yankees ended up selecting Slade Heathcott at #29 instead.
If the Angels had chosen to resign K-Rod or Teixera that year its likely Mike Trout would have been a Yankee or even a Met.
Everything about this is so painful to read.
It shouldn't be, the Yankees won a WS with Teixeira playing a pivotal role so even if it did somehow preclude them from landing Trout it still worked out. The Angels haven't even won a playoff game in the 4 years Trout has been an all-world talent for them.
That figures, Harper is the one who always gets hurt. :-)
And the kid carries himself the right way, which in today's age of athletes, is almost as impressive...........
Bryce Harper was the best player in the game before he got hurt though. Trout is a better all-around player but Harper's bat is just insane.
Bryce Harper was the best player in the game before he got hurt though. Trout is a better all-around player but Harper's bat is just insane.
Trout is better all around, but Harper is the best in the game?
His bat is THAT much better than Trout?
Harper had a 221 OPS+ through 70 games which is as close to Barry Bonds territory as anyone has reached since the man himself was roided out of his mind.
Now I don't think Harper can maintain a 200+ OPS+, but it speaks to his greatness at the plate that he broke out in such an incredible fashion.
.339/.465/.715
I'd still take Trout #1 if we are having a Franchise Draft. Trout has been the best player in the game for years and is simply more proven than Harper. But as far as this season goes, Harper was on a completely different level at the plate before he got hurt.
.339/.465/.715
I'd still take Trout #1 if we are having a Franchise Draft. Trout has been the best player in the game for years and is simply more proven than Harper. But as far as this season goes, Harper was on a completely different level at the plate before he got hurt.
Reminds me of Guerrero vs. Pujols back a decade. Vlad had more raw talent but you had the feeling he would never harness it consistently. That made Pujols the better player. Same is likely to apply to Trout here.
In fact, Trout buries Harper over the last three years.
And now Harper is hurt.....
Over the past handful of seasons there is no question that Trout was miles and miles ahead of Harper.
But what Harper was doing at the plate this year before he got hurt was nothing short of preposterous. Sure it was only a half-season, but Trout has never hit that level for a half-season in his entire career.
Trout is a more complete player since he can field and run the bases better. And Trout has been by far the better player over the previous handful of seasons. But before he got hurt this year, Harper was the best player in baseball because of what he was doing at the plate.
Stanton? He is not a 5 tool player like Mike Trout. Stanton is 5 tool, yes, but not even close to Trout. Trout is the best player on this Earth and the only one close to him is Harper.
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But he seems to ware down at the end of the year. I would take Stanton over him any day. I also dropped Trout last year for Michael Cuddyer in the fantasy championship and that moved payed off for me,Trout was in an awful slump that entire month and Cuddyer went on a tear for me for a few games and I won the league because of it. It was a nice 100 bucks in my pocket from yahoo.
Stanton? He is not a 5 tool player like Mike Trout. Stanton is 5 tool, yes, but not even close to Trout. Trout is the best player on this Earth and the only one close to him is Harper.
Stanton is only a five tool player because of assumptions about the proportionality of his lumber.
Mike Trout: 8/7/91. Played 40 games in 2011
Bryce Harper 10/16/92. Came up in 2012
Gian Stanton: 11/8/89. Played 100 games in 2010
Since the start of 2012, when Harper came up, here are the top 10 position players in fangraphs WAR (and Harper).
1. Mike Trout: 33.1 (530 games)
2. McCutcheon: 24.7
3. Miguel Cabrera: 22.4
4. Buster Posey: 21.0
5. Josh Donaldson: 19.9
6. Robinson Cano: 18.5
7. Alex Gordon: 18.4
8. Adrian Beltre: 18.3
9. Paul Goldschmidt: 18.0
10. Giancarlo Stanton: 17.8 (458 games)
...
21. Bryce Harper: 14.9 (427 games)
Now, this isn't meant to be an official ranking of the "best players in the game" because this doesn't factor in injuries, and doesn't consider that some players are in their primes while others are younger players. Harper I think is the one that is most short-changed here because I think he's just starting to take off.
Stanton won't be 26 until November, Trout turns 24 in 5 weeks, and Harper turns 23 in October. These are all young stars with huge futures ahead of them.
But it is mind-blowing how far ahead Trout measures out compared not only to young stars, but to the rest of the sport.
For those interested, the top 5 pitchers per Fangraphs measurement (which relies heavily on FIP and has its own issues)
1. Clayotn Kershaw, 23.3
2. Felix Hernandez: 19.7
3. Max Scherzer: 19.5
4. David Price: 18.5
5. Chris Sale: 17.8
Bonds ('02): 12.7
Bonds ('01): 12.5
Bonds ('04): 11.9
Trout ('13): 10.5
Trout ('12): 10.3
Bonds ('03): 10.2
A-Rod ('02): 10.0
Trout came out of the gate as a historic player. The guy is special. Only peak A-Rod and Cyborg Bonds had double digit fangraphs WAR seasons from the past 20 years. Early 00's Bonds is one of the most dominant athletes in the history of sports, I realize he cheated but his performance at that time is the closest we'll ever get to modern Babe Ruth. For a young Trout to immediately step into the sport and be the best thing the game has seen in a long long time besides freakazoid Bonds is just mindblowing.
That being said, Trout's main strength is his all-around game. That game last night vs. the Yankees, if you watched that you knew you were seeing a modern Mays type who can impact the game in so many ways. His hitting by itself is amazing but not something mindblowing.
Trout's peak wRC+ (better OPS+, fantastic stat) season was when he put up a 176 mark in 2013. That only rates as the 28th best wRC+ season from the past 20 years according to Fangraphs.
These are the only 200+ wRC+ seasons from the past 20 seasons
Bonds ('02): 244
Bonds ('01): 235
Bonds ('04): 233
Harper ('15): 217 (70 games)
Bonds ('03): 212
McGwire ('98): 205
Now I expect Harper's hitting to dip some, it's almost impossible to remain at the level he's been at for the 1st half of this season. But the fact that he broke out LIKE THIS is just ridiculous.
When Harper was being hyped, I wondered how much higher than Ryan Braun his ceiling was. I thought Harper could be a better hitter but how much better? Braun was an absolute beast of a player in '11 and '12.
37 HR -- 112 RBI -- .326/.394/.596 (165 wRC+) -- 7.2 WAR
That's what he averaged from '11-'12, those are incredible numbers. Braun led the league in WAR and was 2nd to Cabrera (171) in wRC+ over those two years.
If Harper ended up peaking as Braun but stayed at that level for longer than just the 2 that Braun stayed at, people would be perfectly satisfied with his performance and consider him as a player who lived up to the hype.
50 HR -- 122 RBI -- .340/.464/.715 (217 wRC+) -- 10.3 WAR
That's what Harper is on pace for even accounting for the missed games. Now I doubt he was going to be able to stay at that level for this entire season but THAT's his potential at the plate. And it's a tier or two above what Braun was doing. Braun also stole 30 bases a season for the Brewers those 2 years but that doesn't come close to making up for Harper's edge at the plate.
If 22 year old Harper can do this for half a season, I don't think it's out of the question that a 25 year old Harper could do this over an entire season.
All these pitchers getting hurt sucks, but Harper and Trout look like they're going to be generational talents. Trout already is and Harper was flashing it before he got hurt this year. I really didn't think Harper had this in him. Hopefully he stays healthy and makes this a legit rivalry for league supremacy.