OT: Trout vs. Mantle

IMO, Mantle’s greatness went beyond basic stats – for a time, he was regarded as the fastest man in baseball (Trout isn’t, although he’s close); he hit some of the longest home runs in MLB history (Trout hasn’t, and probably won’t); he was the greatest switch-hitter in history (Trout bats RH only); and his teams won the WS three times in his first 4 seasons, with the Mick blasting 4 WS HRs (Trout still hasn’t made it to the postseason).

Also, while I don’t recall Mantle having an outstanding throwing arm, from what I’ve seen Trout’s isn’t even average. Mantle had an impressive 49 outfield assists in his first 4 years, while Trout thus far has 10 (and Trout, amazingly, went all of 2013 without a single assist).

While most stats favor Trout to date, Mantle’s career really took off in seasons 5 thru 12. I don’t see Trout winning a triple crown, 4 HR titles, compiling a 1.062 OPS, or challenging the single season HR record over his next 8 years, but maybe he’ll surprise me. Right now, despite having an excellent overall season and contending for the MVP, Trout’s only hitting in the .280s while striking out like crazy (he’ll likely top 180 this year). Since the AS break, he’s only hitting .248/.322/.460, and IMO he would be a strange choice for MVP given he batted .311/.405/.609 while the Angels were only 47-36, but then only .258/.329/.484 with 76 SO over the last 60 games when the Angels went 41-19 to become MLB’s winningest team.