Turns out, MLB stars Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are getting paid peanuts. At least compared to what colleague Mike Trout will soon make. Trout is finalizing a contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels that, once official, will be the largest contract in professional sports history, ESPN reports.
The deal is reportedly worth $430 million over 12 seasons and does not include any opt-out clauses, which means the superstar center fielder will likely spend the rest of his career with the team that drafted him out of high school. Trout would have hit the free agent market after the 2020 season had the sides not reached an agreement. 2019 and 2020 will reportedly be part of the 12 year extension.
Trout's deal should all but wrap up a confounding offseason for Major League Baseball, which was defined by long periods with little free agent movement and below-market deals for veterans, but also saw four of the most lucrative contracts ever signed. In addition to Trout, Machado and Harper signed massive free agent deals with the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies, respectively, while the Colorado Rockies inked their homegrown star Nolan Arenado to an 8-year, $260 million extension.
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Trout, though, tops them all. And deservedly so — the 27-year-old is not only one of the top active players, he's well on his way to becoming one of the greatest players of all time. Despite his youth, Trout touts a career .307/.416/.573 slash line and has already tallied 240 career home runs. He owns two MVP awards and has only once — during an injury-plagued 2017 season in which he still managed to lead the league in on-base percentage and slugging percentage — finished lower than second in MVP voting in his seven full seasons in the majors.
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