MLB trade rumors: Angels’ Mike Trout to Braves or Phillies?

If the Angels consider trading Mike Trout this offseason, one insider thinks the Braves and Phillies could be in play.

We could be getting closer and closer to an unprecedented baseball moment: The sport’s best player, Mike Trout, possibly on the trade block this coming winter.

If you go by the word of the Los Angeles Angels, Trout isn’t going anywhere. But thanks to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, front office members around baseball believe the franchise is about to reach a crossroads.

Rosenthal suggested a possible solution this winter: Offer Trout a record-breaking contract extension to keep him in Los Angeles well past the 2020 season. If Trout accepts, all trade talk ends for a long time. If he rebuffs an offer, it could be time to try to extract peak value with two years left on his contract.

If–or when–that moment occurs, Rosenthal believes a few teams could fit the bill with need, prospects and a surplus of young players to offer.

The Angels, the executive said, could identify a prospect-rich team that wants to “condense talent” by trading a slew of youngsters for two years of a future Hall of Famer. The Phillies, Braves and Padres are three such organizations, and the Yankees never can be ruled out of such pursuits.

As for Atlanta, here’s what a possible offer could look like in the mind of a baseball executive.

The exec proposed the following package from the Braves: Outfielder Ender Inciarte and left-hander Sean Newcomb plus the Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 7 prospects, according to MLBPipeline.com, from a talent-rich system: right-handers Kyle Wright and Ian Anderson, third baseman Austin Riley and righty Touki Toussaint. Sounds like a lot? Of course it’s a lot — the Braves would be getting Mike Trout.

A similar package from the Phillies could possibly involve outfielder Odubel Herrera, right-hander Zach Eflin plus four of the top 10 prospects in a very talented farm system.

Trout to Phillies?

Trout, 27, has two years left on his contract after the 2018 season.

Joe Giglio may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.