Culture
Rosenthal: Mr. Angel? Mike Trout's chance of ever escaping the franchise now seems even less likely
No player is untradeable, not even an aging, broken-down, signed-through-2030 Mike Trout. But with Trout’s latest injury, the horrifying thought of him spending the rest of his career with the Los Angeles Angels is moving closer to becoming reality.
Trout, who turns 33 on Aug. 7, is expected to be out at least 8 to 12 weeks while recovering from surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. He is guaranteed $35.45 million this season and in each of the next six. Even if he returned by say, Aug. 1, and finished on a roll, what team would trust him enough this offseason to take on most or all of his remaining $212.7 million? From 2021 to 2023, Trout missed more games than he played. And given that he is historically a slow healer, he isn’t exactly on track to reverse that trend in 2024.
“We’ll get through it” 😢 @EricaLWeston @Angels l #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/2pxLf8JJfn
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) May 1, 2024
A trade of Trout, of course, was a long way from ever happening. To the dismay of many opposing fans, the three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star has steadfastly refused to ask out of Anaheim, maintaining he wants to spend his entire career with one team, like his boyhood idol, Derek Jeter, and win with the Angels.
At the start of spring training, Trout said he was “pushing, pushing, pushing” upper management to add free agents, an indication, perhaps, of his growing impatience. Well, his fuse needed to be shorter. He waited too long.
For a trade scenario to become realistic, the following was necessary:
• The Angels to stink again, which was all but a given.
• Trout to A) return to near-MVP form, which at least stood a chance of happening before he hurt his knee; and B) request a trade, which even Angels fans would have understood considering he has never won a postseason game and not even appeared in the playoffs since 2014.
• Angels owner Arte Moreno to demonstrate a willingness not only to grant Trout’s wish but also to include significant cash in a trade, which … was never happening.
Moreno, remember, repeatedly declined to authorize a trade of Shohei Ohtani, even though it would have brought a monster return that could have kick-started his sorry franchise. He then declined to match the Los Angeles Dodgers’ $700 million offer to Ohtani with $680 million deferred, a deal that could very well pay for itself. Ohtani might not have taken the Angels’ money, mind you. But all the Angels will get back for him now is — yikes — the 74th pick in the 2024 draft.
At a reduced annual salary — $15 million? $20 million? — some club still might want Trout. Trades involving major paydowns have been become increasingly common over the past quarter-century. Moreno has made some, sending the New York Yankees more than $28 million to dump Vernon Wells in March 2013 and $63 million to the Texas Rangers to get rid of Josh Hamilton in April 2015. Wells no longer was a productive player. Hamilton angered Moreno by relapsing into substance abuse. Trout, in contrast, is a model citizen and elite player when healthy, a Moreno favorite.
For Wells and Hamilton, the Angels received virtually nothing. For Trout, Moreno probably would want, oh, six top-100 prospects, particularly if he was parting with tens of millions to facilitate the deal. Trout’s actual trade value, even at a reduced financial commitment, would be much less. So, good luck talking Moreno into this. He wouldn’t trade Ohtani when, more than once, he had the chance to make the same type of deal the Washington Nationals made for Juan Soto.
And now where are the Angels? Stuck with two players, Trout and Anthony Rendon, who combined are earning nearly $75 million annually through the completion of Rendon’s contract in 2026 yet cannot stay on the field. Which is where Trout’s tolerance for Moreno’s erratic stewardship becomes less understandable. The team is a mess, has been a mess, is going to be a mess for at least the next few years.
The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked the Angels’ farm system 29th out of 30, ahead of only the Oakland A’s. Even if the Angels somehow turn it around by the end of Trout’s contract, how functional a player will he be in his late 30s? His early 30s sure have not gone well.
In spring training, Trout told me he heard the noise about how he is content with the Angels, doesn’t want to win, won’t demand a trade. In an interview I conducted with him for Fox Sports, he said, “It fuels me more.” He was convinced he was about to return to form, saying he was getting chills just thinking about the possibility. And the way he was playing, a 50-homer, 30-stolen base season — proof he was still the GOAT, or at least, one of the top current players — seemed within his reach.
His earnestness remains one of his most endearing qualities. The suggestion that he does not want to play in a more demanding market always seemed off to those who know him best, who see how hard he works, who witness his competitive fire. But Trout’s desire to succeed with the Angels instead of somewhere else seemed, to most on the outside, a fanciful notion.
Armed with full no-trade protection, he could have leveraged his way to the Philadelphia Phillies, the team closest to his hometown of Millville, N.J. He could have blended in with a clubhouse full of hungry stars — Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. And he could have been celebrated for escaping a bad situation rather than criticized for staying put.
It didn’t have to be the Phillies. It could have been virtually any contender with payroll flexibility. And it didn’t need to get to the point of a trade. Trout twice signed extensions with the Angels when he could have become a free agent entering his ages 26 and 29 seasons. His loyalty was commendable. But at the moment, he’s looking like a modern equivalent of Ernie Banks, who holds the major-league record for most games played in a career without making the playoffs (2,528).
Banks, playing in an era before free agency, never had the opportunity to choose another team. For most of his career, only the league champions made the playoffs, meeting in the World Series. He was a beloved figure, known as Mr. Cub. He made the Hall of Fame. But to many, there was always something missing, a what-might-have been aspect to his legacy.
Trout, in the wake of his latest injury, is moving into similar territory. More than ever, he seems destined to remain Mr. Angel. As good as his intentions might have been, that’s a very sad thing to say.
(Photo: Paul Rutherford / Getty Images)
“Window seat with garden view / A perfect nook to read a book / I’m lost in my Jane Austen…” sings Kristin Chenoweth in “The Girl in 14G” — what could be more ideal? Well, perhaps showing off your literary knowledge and getting a perfect score on this week’s super-size Book Review Quiz Bowl honoring the life, work and global influence of Jane Austen, who turns 250 today. In the 12 questions below, tap or click your answers to the questions. And no matter how you do, scroll on to the end, where you’ll find links to free e-book versions of her novels — and more.
On Dec. 16, 1775, a girl was born in Steventon, England — the seventh of eight children — to a clergyman and his wife. She was an avid reader, never married and died in 1817, at the age of 41. But in just those few decades, Jane Austen changed the world.
Her novels have had an outsize influence in the centuries since her death. Not only are the books themselves beloved — as sharply observed portraits of British society, revolutionary narrative projects and deliciously satisfying romances — but the stories she created have so permeated culture that people around the world care deeply about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, even if they’ve never actually read “Pride and Prejudice.”
With her 250th birthday this year, the Austen Industrial Complex has kicked into high gear with festivals, parades, museum exhibits, concerts and all manner of merch, ranging from the classily apt to the flamboyantly absurd. The words “Jane mania” have been used; so has “exh-Aust-ion.”
How to capture this brief life, and the blazing impact that has spread across the globe in her wake? Without further ado: a mere sampling of the wealth, wonder and weirdness Austen has brought to our lives. After all, your semiquincentennial doesn’t come around every day.
By ‘A Lady’
Austen published just four novels in her lifetime: “Sense and Sensibility” (1811), “Pride and Prejudice” (1813), “Mansfield Park” (1814) and “Emma” (1815). All of them were published anonymously, with the author credited simply as “A Lady.” (If you’re in New York, you can see this first edition for yourself at the Grolier Club through Feb. 14.)
Where the Magic Happened
Placed near a window for light, this diminutive walnut table was, according to family lore, where the author did much of her writing. It is now in the possession of the Jane Austen Society.
An Iconic Accessory
Few of Austen’s personal artifacts remain, contributing to the author’s mystique. One of them is this turquoise ring, which passed to her sister-in-law and then her niece after her death. In 2012, the ring was put up for auction and bought by the “American Idol” champion Kelly Clarkson. This caused quite a stir in England; British officials were loath to let such an important cultural artifact leave the country’s borders. Jane Austen’s House, the museum now based in the writer’s Hampshire home, launched a crowdfunding campaign to Bring the Ring Home and bought the piece from Clarkson. The real ring now lives at the museum; the singer has a replica.
Austen Onscreen
Since 1940, when Austen had a bit of a moment and Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier starred in MGM’s rather liberally reinterpreted “Pride and Prejudice,” there have been more than 20 international adaptations of Austen’s work made for film and TV (to say nothing of radio). From the sublime (Emma Thompson’s Oscar-winning “Sense and Sensibility”) to the ridiculous (the wholly gratuitous 2022 remake of “Persuasion”), the high waists, flickering firelight and double weddings continue to provide an endless stream of debate fodder — and work for a queen’s regiment of British stars.
Jane Goes X-Rated
The rumors are true: XXX Austen is a thing. “Jane Austen Kama Sutra,” “Pride and Promiscuity: The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen” and enough slash fic and amateur porn to fill Bath’s Assembly Rooms are just the start. Purists may never recover.
A Lady Unmasked
Austen’s final two completed novels, “Northanger Abbey” and “Persuasion,” were published after her death. Her brother Henry, who oversaw their publication, took the opportunity to give his sister the recognition he felt she deserved, revealing the true identity of the “Lady” behind “Pride and Prejudice,” “Emma,” etc. in a biographical note. “The following pages are the production of a pen which has already contributed in no small degree to the entertainment of the public,” he wrote, extolling his sister’s imagination, good humor and love of dancing. Still, “no accumulation of fame would have induced her, had she lived, to affix her name to any productions of her pen.”
Wearable Tributes
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Jane Austen fan wants to find other Jane Austen fans, and what better way to advertise your membership in that all-inclusive club than with a bit of merch — from the subtle and classy to the gloriously obscene.
The Austen Literary Universe
On the page, there is no end to the adventures Austen and her characters have been on. There are Jane Austen mysteries, Jane Austen vampire series, Jane Austen fantasy adventures, Jane Austen Y.A. novels and, of course, Jane Austen romances, which transpose her plots to a remote Maine inn, a Greenwich Village penthouse and the Bay Area Indian American community, to name just a few. You can read about Austen-inspired zombie hunters, time-traveling hockey players, Long Island matchmakers and reality TV stars, or imagine further adventures for some of your favorite characters. (Even the obsequious Mr. Collins gets his day in the sun.)
A Botanical Homage
Created in 2017 to mark the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death, the “Jane Austen” rose is characterized by its intense orange color and light, sweet perfume. It is bushy, healthy and easy to grow.
Aunt Jane
Hoping to cement his beloved aunt’s legacy, Austen’s nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh published this biography — a rather rosy portrait based on interviews with family members — five decades after her death. The book is notable not only as the source (biased though it may be) of many of the scant facts we know about her life, but also for the watercolor portrait by James Andrews that serves as its frontispiece. Based on a sketch by Cassandra, this depiction of Jane is softer and far more winsome than the original: Whether that is due to a lack of skill on her sister’s part or overly enthusiastic artistic license on Andrews’s, this is the version of Austen most familiar to people today.
Cultural Currency
In 2017, the Bank of England released a new 10-pound note featuring Andrews’s portrait of Austen, as well as a line from “Pride and Prejudice”: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” Austen is the third woman — other than the queen — to be featured on British currency, and the only one currently in circulation.
In the Trenches
During World War I and World War II, British soldiers were given copies of Austen’s works. In his 1924 story “The Janeites,” Rudyard Kipling invoked the grotesque contrasts — and the strange comfort — to be found in escaping to Austen’s well-ordered world amid the horrors of trench warfare. As one character observes, “There’s no one to touch Jane when you’re in a tight place.”
Baby Janes
You’re never too young to learn to love Austen — or that one’s good opinion, once lost, may be lost forever.
The Austen Industrial Complex
Maybe you’ve not so much as seen a Jane Austen meme, let alone read one of her novels. No matter! Need a Jane Austen finger puppet? Lego? Magnetic poetry set? Lingerie? Nameplate necklace? Plush book pillow? License plate frame? Bath bomb? Socks? Dog sweater? Whiskey glass? Tarot deck? Of course you do! And you’re in luck: What a time to be alive.
Around the Globe
Austen’s novels have been translated into more than 40 languages, including Polish, Finnish, Chinese and Farsi. There are active chapters of the Jane Austen Society, her 21st-century fan club, throughout the world.
Playable Persuasions
In Austen’s era, no afternoon tea was complete without a rousing round of whist, a trick-taking card game played in two teams of two. But should you not be up on your Regency amusements, you can find plenty of contemporary puzzles and games with which to fill a few pleasant hours, whether you’re piecing together her most beloved characters or using your cunning and wiles to land your very own Mr. Darcy.
#SoJaneAusten
The wild power of the internet means that many Austen moments have taken on lives of their own, from Colin Firth’s sopping wet shirt and Matthew Macfadyen’s flexing hand to Mr. Collins’s ode to superlative spuds and Mr. Knightley’s dramatic floor flop. The memes are fun, yes, but they also speak to the universality of Austen’s writing: More than two centuries after her books were published, the characters and stories she created are as relatable as ever.
Bonnets Fit for a Bennett
For this summer’s Grand Regency Costumed Promenade in Bath, England — as well as the myriad picnics, balls, house parties, dinners, luncheons, teas and fetes that marked the anniversary — seamstresses, milliners, mantua makers and costume warehouses did a brisk business, attiring the faithful in authentic Regency finery. And that’s a commitment: A bespoke, historically accurate bonnet can easily run to hundreds of dollars.
Most Ardently, Jane
Austen was prolific correspondent, believed to have written thousands of letters in her lifetime, many to her sister, Cassandra. But in an act that has frustrated biographers for centuries, upon Jane’s death, Cassandra protected her sister’s privacy — and reputation? — by burning almost all of them, leaving only about 160 intact, many heavily redacted. But what survives is filled with pithy one-liners. To wit: “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”
Stage and Sensibility
Austen’s works have been adapted numerous times for the stage. Some plays (and musicals) hew closely to the original text, while others — such as Emily Breeze’s comedic riff on “Pride and Prejudice,” “Are the Bennet Girls OK?”, which is running at New York City’s West End Theater through Dec. 21 — use creative license to explore ideas of gender, romance and rage through a contemporary lens.
Austen 101
Austen remains a reliable fount of academic scholarship; recent conference papers have focused on the author’s enduring global reach, the work’s relationship to modern intersectionality, digital humanities and “Jane Austen on the Cheap.” And as one professor told our colleague Sarah Lyall of the Austen amateur scholarship hive, “Woe betide the academic who doesn’t take them seriously.”
W.W.J.D.
When facing problems — of etiquette, romance, domestic or professional turmoil — sometimes the only thing to do is ask: What would Jane do?
A famous poet once observed that it is difficult to get the news from poems. The weather is a different story. April showers, summer sunshine and — maybe especially — the chill of winter provide an endless supply of moods and metaphors. Poets like to practice a double meteorology, looking out at the water and up at the sky for evidence of interior conditions of feeling.
The inner and outer forecasts don’t always match up. This short poem by Louise Glück starts out cold and stays that way for most of its 11 lines.
And then it bursts into flame.
“Early December in Croton-on-Hudson” comes from Glück’s debut collection, “Firstborn,” which was published in 1968. She wrote the poems in it between the ages of 18 and 23, but they bear many of the hallmarks of her mature style, including an approach to personal matters — sex, love, illness, family life — that is at once uncompromising and elusive. She doesn’t flinch. She also doesn’t explain.
Here, for example, Glück assembles fragments of experience that imply — but also obscure — a larger narrative. It’s almost as if a short story, or even a novel, had been smashed like a glass Christmas ornament, leaving the reader to infer the sphere from the shards.
We know there was a couple with a flat tire, and that a year later at least one of them still has feelings for the other. It’s hard not to wonder if they’re still together, or where they were going with those Christmas presents.
To some extent, those questions can be addressed with the help of biographical clues. The version of “Early December in Croton-on-Hudson” that appeared in The Atlantic in 1967 was dedicated to Charles Hertz, a Columbia University graduate student who was Glück’s first husband. They divorced a few years later. Glück, who died in 2023, was never shy about putting her life into her work.
But the poem we are reading now is not just the record of a passion that has long since cooled. More than 50 years after “Firstborn,” on the occasion of receiving the Nobel Prize for literature, Glück celebrated the “intimate, seductive, often furtive or clandestine” relations between poets and their readers. Recalling her childhood discovery of William Blake and Emily Dickinson, she declared her lifelong ardor for “poems to which the listener or reader makes an essential contribution, as recipient of a confidence or an outcry, sometimes as co-conspirator.”
That’s the kind of poem she wrote.
“Confidence” can have two meanings, both of which apply to “Early December in Croton-on-Hudson.” Reading it, you are privy to a secret, something meant for your ears only. You are also in the presence of an assertive, self-possessed voice.
Where there is power, there’s also risk. To give voice to desire — to whisper or cry “I want you” — is to issue a challenge and admit vulnerability. It’s a declaration of conquest and a promise of surrender.
What happens next? That’s up to you.
High school basketball: Boys’ and girls’ scores from Tuesday, Dec. 16
Louvre reopens partially after workers extend strike in aftermath of heist
Trump’s BBC lawsuit: A botched report, BritBox, and porn
Lost pooch swept out to sea rescued off California coast after dramatic search, use of proven technology
Trump turns up the heat on red-state Republicans blocking new congressional maps
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Louvre reopens partially after workers extend strike in aftermath of heist
Trump’s BBC lawsuit: A botched report, BritBox, and porn
Video: Prosecutors Charge Nick Reiner With Murdering His Parents
HHS probes Minnesota’s use of billions in federal social service funds amid fraud concerns: report
Thousands of dinosaur footprints discovered on rock faces in northern Italy
-
Iowa2 days agoAddy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
-
Washington1 week agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa1 week agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Iowa4 days agoHow much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
-
Cleveland, OH1 week agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
-
World1 week ago
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
-
Maine18 hours agoElementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
-
Technology6 days agoThe Game Awards are losing their luster
