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It wasn't long ago that it would have been unthinkable for the Washington Nationals to put Bryce Harper on the trading block. But all of a sudden http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , that idea is now extremely thinkable.Thus, a thought experiment: When might the Los Angeles Angels be in the same position with Mike Trout?Certainly not imminently. There's beenzero buzz about the Angels trading Trout ahead of this year's non-waiver trade deadline. That presumably has to do with how they're not rebuilding and with how he's achieving peak Mike Trout.The seven-time All-Star and two-time American League MVP is hitting .310/.462/.621 with 29 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Per Baseball Reference, he leads everyone in wins above replacement by a considerable margin:1.Mike Trout: 7.9 WAR2.Jose Ramirez: 6.8 WAR3.Mookie Betts:6.6 WARWith 62 career WAR to his name, Trout is all but certain to surpass Ty Cobb (63.4) for the most WAR ever through a player's age-26 season by the end of the year. When we look back years from now, it should be just another chapter in the story of Trout becoming the greatest player in Major League Baseball history.The Angels are slated to play a part in Trout's story for at least the next two years. The six-year, $144.5 million contract extension he signed in March 2014 runs through 2020.After that, the Angels have no guarantee that he won't test the free-agent waters."I don't know the answer," Trout saidin June about the possibility of signing on beyond 2020, per Bill Shaikinof theLos Angeles Times. "I want to get to the playoffs. That's my mindset. I can't predict the future. So I just take it one game at a time now and see what happens."The longer Trout continues to not have an answer, the more likely a trade becomes.This isn't the first time the idea has materialized. A possible Trout trade was a hot topic back in 2016. Although he was en route to his second MVP at the time, the Angels were an injury-riddled mess of a team that was on its way to a 74-88 record.Instead, the Angels held on to Trout and committed to building a better team around him. Thanks to key additions such as slugging outfielder Justin Upton and two-way marvel Shohei Ohtani, the effort hasn't been a total failure.Nor, however, has it been a rousing success. The Angels fell short of .500 last year. If they hold to their .388 winning percentage since May 11, they'll end up right there again this year.The Angels will be hard-pressed to spend their way out of mediocrity.Theirpayrollis at $174.4 million. PerBaseball Reference, they're projected to spend $168.7 million in 2019 and $197.1 million in 2020. The $33.3 million they'll pay Trout in 2019 and 2020 is a good deal, but it's offset by the $87 million they'll owe what's left of Albert Pujols between 2019 and 2021.Masterpress/Getty ImagesLikewise, the Angels' farm system may not be the solution. It's better than it used to be Brett Gardner Jersey , but it still only ranks as Bleacher Report's No. 20 system following the 2018 draft. Its best player is uber-athletic outfielder Jo Adell, and he's just 19 and has advanced only as far as High-A.Meanwhile, there's the Mike Scioscia factor. He's been managing the Angels since 2000, but the 10-year contract he signedin 2009 is up at the end of this season. If the Angels go in a new direction with a new manager this winter, perhaps they'll also commit to a rebuild.For that, Step No. 1 might be cashing in Trout's tremendous trade value.Despite being the highest-paid player in MLB, he still checks in at No. 4 among the most valuable trade chips, according to Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs. In theory, the Angels could dump his remaining contractand get multiple elite prospects back for him if they were to put him on the block this offseason.In reality, it might not be that simple.Although this winter's free-agent class has lost some of its shine, it's still going to offer Harper, Manny Machado, Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel, A.J. Pollock, Nelson Cruz, Eduardo Escobar, Josh Donaldson, Brian Dozier http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , Craig Kimbrel, Andrew Miller, Zach Britton and, if they opt out of their current deals, Clayton Kershaw and David Price.Amid that much readily available talent, some teams may just as soon spend loads of money rather than enter into a bidding war for Trout that'll cost them loads of moneyand loads of prospects.Besides, the Angels might give contending another shot no matter who's in the manager's chair for 2019.They'd be betting on better things being in store for a lineup built on Trout, Ohtani, Upton, Andrelton Simmons, a reborn Kole Calhoun and a hopefully healthy Zack Cozart. Provided that Ohtani's balky elbow holds up, a rotation with him, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs and Jaime Barria could do some damage.If the Angels do go that route, however, it'll be a case of trying the same thing and expecting different results. Because the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics figure to still be relevant, the American League West probably isn't going to give them any more leeway than they've had in 2018.If things were to go south again in 2019, the Angels might not have much choice but to put Trout on the market either that summer or the ensuing winter. On the chance they hold on to him for one last push in 2020 Brian Roberts Jersey , him sharing a lineup with a past-40 Pujols and past-30 versions of Upton, Simmons and Cozart could ultimately necessitate a midsummer trade.All told, it's hard to place a bet on exactly when the Angels will determine that they need to trade Trout. But barring a series of miracles, that time sure seems to be coming. Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference. Payroll and contract data courtesy of Spotrac. Price may be an AL Cy Young Award winner and two-time AL ERA champion, but it was nearly impossible to coat his postseason track record in sugar before Thursday.Exactlyone of his 11 playoff starts featured more than six innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed. And while there weren't many glaring differences between his regular-season peripherals and his postseason peripherals, there was this one: He'd allowed 1.7 homers per nine innings in the playoffs, compared to 0.9 otherwise.How to explain all this? Good question. Price obviously had it in him to be a great pitcher in October. For whatever reason, he just...wasn't.In any case, what matters now is how Price broke his postseason curse. Put simply: He threw the heck out of the ball and didn't give Astros hitters a single inch.Despite basically not getting any rest ahead of Game 5, Price had afastballthatsat at 94 mph and climbed as high as 96 mph. He rarely had that kind of average velocityor maximum velocity this season.The 33-year-old also brought one hell of a changeup to play with. He expertly kept it on the same plane as his hard stuff, right up until the bottom dropped out of it as it entered the hitting zone.Via Rob Friedman, cue Jose Altuve's illustration of how Astros hitters had no answer for the pitch:Rob Friedman PitchingNinjaYet another David Price Filthy Changeup. hYKApabqysPrice collected 12 swings and misses on his changeup alone and 15 total. The latter shattered his previous career high (12) for whiffs in a playoff game.In addition to keeping Astros hitters off balance, Price attacked the strike zone with a vengeance. He threw first-pitch strikes to 14 of the 21 batters he faced and ended up with 65 strikes out of 93 total pitches. That's a rate of 70 percent.In short, the Red Sox got vintage Price in Game 5. This is arguably a first for his three seasons with the team, which have been frequently marked by subpar stuff and command.But better late than never, as they say, and both Price and the Red Sox have every reason to feel thrilled about it.Price just cut down all his postseason demons with one fell swoop. The Red Sox have won as many American League pennants since 2004 as they did from 1919 to 2003 (four). If Price has any more wherethat came from, they may not have much trouble overcoming either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Milwaukee Brewers to claim their fourth World Series championship since 2004.Good stuff for a player and team that people used to think were cursed.Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and Baseball Savant.