For most working stiffs, a raise of $28,000 would seem pretty generous. For almost everyone, an annual salary of $510,000 (USD) would be cause for celebration, not consternation. But in the case of Angels OF Mike Trout, whose otherworldly rookie season in 2012 would seem to have him poised to become one of the game’s most marketable young players, earning 40 times less than Vernon Wells might be seen as an insult. Or at least that’s the way his agent, Craig Landis is taking it. From the LA Times’ Mike DiGiovanni :
“During the process, on behalf of Mike, I asked only that the Angels compensate Mike fairly for his historic 2012 season, given his service time,” Landis, who represents Trout, said in an email. “In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a ‘fair’ contract, and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process.”
After Albert Pujols was selected National League rookie of the year and finished fourth in MVP voting, the St. Louis Cardinals bumped his salary from $200,000 in 2001 to $600,000 in 2002.
The Angels, under second-year General Manager Jerry Dipoto, are obviously taking a different tack, as evidenced by their renewal of Trout’s contract. But that is their prerogative.
“The $510,000 salary was not the result of a negotiated compromise between Mike and the Angels,” Landis said. “Because Mike has less than three years of major league service and has not yet reached arbitration, the Angels have the right under the [collective bargaining agreement] to unilaterally impose a salary upon Mike, and they chose to do that today.”