Angels star Mike Trout diagnosed with rare back condition amid Shohei Ohtani trade rumors

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout, a three-time AL MVP, was on track to have one of the greatest statistical careers of any player in MLB history. Perhaps he still will, but injuries have started to sidetrack Trout's career and it's unclear when his current stint on the injured list will end. Trout has been diagnosed with a rare back condition called costovertebral dysfunction.

Trout has not appeared in a game since July 12 when he left with back spasms. Rib cage inflammation is what is causing the back pain. It will be something the Angels and Trout will likely have to monitor for the rest of his career. The team will reevaluate Trout once his body has had more time to benefit from the cortisone shot he received last week.

"I think we have to have some concern on that," Angels head athletic trainer Mike Frostad said to the Athletic when asked about Trout being out long term. "We do have to look at this as something that — he has to manage it, not just through the rest of this season, but also through the rest of his career probably.

"This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back," Frostad continued. "(Dr. Robert Watkins), one of the most well-known spine surgeons in the country, if not the world, doesn't see a lot of these. For it to happen in a baseball player, we just have to take into consideration what he puts himself through with hitting, swinging on a daily basis just to get prepared and then also playing in the outfield, diving for balls. Jumping into the wall, things like that. And there's so many things that can aggravate it, but this doctor hasn't seen a lot of it."

Trout has played postseason baseball just once with the Angels, in an ALDS sweep at the hands of the Royals in 2014. Los Angeles will almost surely not be a playoff team in 2022, either, as FanGraphs gives the team a 1.1 percent chance of making it.

With the Halos destined to finish with a losing record, why even try and bring Trout back? This season in 79 games (LA was 32-47 in those), Trout is batting .270 with 24 homers and 51 RBIs. He hasn't played at least 140 games since 2018. His 12-year, $426.5 million contract runs through the 2030 season. 

Shohei Ohtani is up for free agency after next season and most likely will command more per year salary wise than Trout because he both pitches and hits, and there has been some speculation that the Halos might listen to Ohtani trade offers ahead of next week's deadline – the Mets are known to have called LA, and New York GM Billy Eppler used to be in the same role with the Angels.

However, Ohtani's popularity is about all the Angels have going for them currently, so any deal is quite unlikely. Ohtani is +120 at Caesars Sportsbook to repeat as AL MVP. 

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