Mike Trout has detailed a \"frustrating\" season that will end with him having played in fewer than half of the Los Angeles Angels\' games over the past three years.
\"Yeah, it\'s frustrating,\" said Trout, who is dealing with a hand injury. \"I wanted to get back. It\'s tough. It\'s been hard.\"
The 32-year-old won three American League MVP awards within his first eight full seasons and finished as the runner-up in four other instances.
Trout suffered a fracture to the hamate bone on the bottom part of his left hand while completing a swing on July 3. He pushed to come back seven weeks later, on Aug. 22, with the Angels still on the fringes of contention, but his hand didn\'t respond well.
He has seven years and nearly $250 million remaining on the mega-extension he signed heading into the 2019 season, and there are questions throughout the industry about whether he and the Angels might actually part ways.
He is expected to meet with the front office to talk about the team\'s direction in the near future.
\"These conversations happen every year, not just this year,\" Trout said. \"They\'re private conversations I have with the front office -- John[Carpino] and Perry [Minasian], all those guys up there. So just keep it as that. The plan, as it always is, is to take a couple weeks off in the offseason, clear my mind, get in shape, get ready to play and go from there.\"
Trout provided a similar answer when asked if he wants to see it through with the Angels, saying: \"I go through this every year. That\'s private conversations I have with Arte [Moreno] and John, and I\'m doing the same thing I did last, what, 13 years, just go into the offseason, clear my mind, get ready for spring and, you know, wearing an Angels uniform in spring.\"
