We’ve reached the end of the line here on the countdown and we are certainly going to finish strong. Mike Trout is the best player in the game right now and he won’t be 25 until August. Trout has probably done more in the first four years of his career than you can even hope for. There’s a reason he’s the modern-day Mickey Mantle.
Trout has either won the AL MVP or been the runner-up for the award in each of his first four full seasons in the league and you could make the case he could have won four straight MVPs.
Trout seemed to focus more on power last season, only stealing 11 bases after stealing 49 in his rookie campaign.
He set a career high in homers with 41 and led the AL in OPS, slugging and OPS+. He led all position players in WAR in the AL at 9.4.
The defensive metrics don’t favor Trout, but he went from a -12 in 2014 to five defensive runs saved last season.
There’s no doubt that the future is bright in the game of baseball and the reason is these 25 guys. There are others too who didn’t make this list like Addison Russell and Byron Buxton who can easily be on this list, plus prospects who will emerge this year.
Who got snubbed? Who should be off the list? Leave a comment below.