How Does The Giancarlo Stanton Megadeal Affect Mike Trout?

Rumors are swirling that the Miami Marlins are about to extend All Star slugger Giancarlo Stanton for ten years, paying him $320 Million. The contract would start after Stanton's current three year deal is over, meaning he would be paid $32 Million per season for ten seasons from 2018 thru 2027. He will be 28 when that deal starts and will be 37 when it ends.

The only comparable player to Stanton in baseball is Angels slugger Mike Trout. Trout just turned 23 and has six years left in Anaheim guaranteed to him. He will be 23 on opening day of 2015 when this six-year contract extension kicks in. He will be 28 when the season begins in the last year of the deal, 2020. While he will be paid even MORE than Stanton's annual average value that season, making $33.25 Million for the final three seasons of the deal, the annual average value is actually $19.08 Million.

So for all the talk about Stanton's giant contract, the first three years of the deal see his annual average value at $1.25 Million less than Trout will be compensated in those seasons. And then, at age 29 the conclusion of the 2020 season, Trout will be a free agent. Is the sky the limit? we cannot know for sure, but barring injury or inverted economics, Stanton's hoopla of a deal now will be the BASEMENT of what Mike Trout will be offered for a deal that takes him through his Age-38 Season - the year 2030.

If you think counting these years is a challenge, imagine counting all those dollars.