Mike Trout Sets Sights On Ending Angels MLB Playoffs Drought

As Mike Trout prepares to begin the second decade of his major league career, there is little he hasn’t accomplished. He’s won three MVP awards and is universally regarded as the best player in baseball. He signed the largest contract in Major League Baseball history and, by some measures, has already crossed the threshold for induction into the Hall of Fame before turning 30.

And yet, the one thing missing continues to loom large.

The Angels have only made the playoffs once in Trout’s career. As he enters his 10th full season, the questions about when he will be back in the playoffs are only growing louder.

“I mean, I hear it every year,” Trout said prior to the Angels first full-squad workout in Tempe, Ariz. “I think the only way to change that is just get to the playoffs, no matter how that is.”

The Angels have had five straight losing seasons and have not made the playoffs since 2014, when they were swept by the Royals in the American League Division Series. The most recent disappointment came last year when, despite an expanded postseason field, they went 26-34 and finished fourth in the American League West.