Mike Trout prefers to play center field for Angels, but is ‘on the same page’ with manager Joe Maddon

TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Trout expected this conversation to happen at some point before the end of his Angels contract in 2030.

Just not now.

“It was definitely surprising,” the Angels superstar said Monday, a day after reading on Twitter that Angels manager Joe Maddon and the team were considering moving him out of center field.

Maddon said a day earlier that the Angels were pondering the move to ease the strain on Trout’s body. He missed nearly all of the season last year with a strained calf.

On Monday morning, the two finally talked about it.

“Obviously, corner outfield is less wear on your body,” Trout said before the Angels first official workout of the spring. “They’re trying to keep me out there for 162 games. Just coming in, I want to play center field. We had a great conversation about it.”

Trout added that they are now “on the same page.”

It’s far from a settled issue, though.

“We’ll see,” Trout said. “(Maddon) makes the lineup. We have a lot of great outfielders. A lot of young stars. We’ll see how it goes.”

Brandon Marsh is the only one who could replace Trout in center, and at this point it’s not a lock that Marsh will be one of the Angels top three outfielders. They also have Justin Upton and Jo Adell, who would only play the corners.

“I just want to come and help the team, whether that’s center, right or left,” Marsh said. “Center field does sound very appetizing, but we have a lot of good guys, especially Trouty. I’m just gonna see what the guys decide to do.”

Trout said he understands the Angels want to take care of him. Maddon had said a day earlier that he understood simply moving Trout to left may not have that big of an impact on his health anyway.

For now, Trout said he’s fine.

He said the calf injury still nagged him a couple weeks into the offseason, but not since mid-October. He said he’s had a normal offseason of workouts.

“I feel great,” he said. “Best I’ve felt in a while. No issues with the calf. Don’t feel it at all. Great offseason. No setbacks. Nothing.”

Trout added that Mike Frostad, the new head athletic trainer, has some ideas of other ways that he could prevent future injuries.

“Obviously he’s going to throw some stuff at me,” Trout said. “I haven’t dug into it too much. But we have a great plan and we’re going to go from there.”

Keeping Trout on the field certainly would go a long way toward making the Angels a better team. The three-time MVP is on a Hall of Fame trajectory after 10 full seasons in the majors. He finished in the top five in MVP voting in nine seasons, before getting zero votes last year because of the injury.

“All the stats and everything was great in the past, but you’ve got something to prove this year,” Trout said. “I come in every year to do that. I try to be the best player on the field at all times. That’s my mentality. The biggest thing obviously is staying healthy. I’m gonna do everything I can to prove that.”

A healthy Trout would help the Angels end their seven-season playoff drought, as would improved pitching. To that end, the Angels signed free agents Noah Syndergaard, Michael Lorenzen and Aaron Loup. They also resigned closer Raisel Iglesias.

“I’m fully confident in Perry,” Trout said. “He’s obviously not done. Great additions before the lockout. … Perry wants to win. I talk to him about it every day. Every chance he has to bring someone else in to help this team get better, he’s going to do it.”

Trout also addressed last month’s trial, in which former Angels employee Eric Kay was convicted of supplying the drugs that led to Tyler Skaggs’ death. In the trial, several other former Angels player testified that they knew that Skaggs was using opioids and that Kay was a supplier.

Asked if he knew what was going on, he said: “I did not.”

“It was tough for everybody,” Trout said of the trial. “Just the baseball family in general. It’s a very sad situation for everybody.”