Mike Trout Poised to Win First of What Could Be a Gaudy Number of MVP Awards

On the occasion of Mike Trout winning his third consecutive American League Most Valuable Player award this week…

This is where the plot twists like your favorite mystery. Just like Gone Girl or The Hardy Boys.

Trout winning his third consecutive MVP award…

Am I writing this today?

Or am I writing this in November 2016?

That Trout will win his first MVP award Thursday is more of a foregone conclusion than pepperoni and mushroom being the most delicious toppings you can ever put on a pizza.

That it should be Trout's third consecutive MVP award after he was robbed by Miguel Cabrera in both 2012 and 2013 remains fodder for one of the game's fiercest debates.

That this well could be the first of at least three consecutive MVP awards for Trout—check back in November 2016, and say you heard it here first—is as obvious as the perpetual smile on the kid's face.

So unroll the red carpet and cue the trumpets. Maybe the Mariners' Robinson Cano and the Tigers' Victor Martinez will steal a vote here or there but, finally, Trout should win this baby in a Stevie Nicks "Landslide."

Then, by the time he's finished, he may just eclipse Barry Bonds' record seven MVP awards. For many, many reasons…

He's Just a Baby

Greg Allen/Associated Press

At 23, Trout is still younger than Taylor Swift, Clayton Kershaw, Jennifer Lawrence, Madison Bumgarner and Liam Hemsworth. And having just turned 23 in August, Trout is the first player since 1901 with at least 100 steals and 90 homers in his age-22-or-younger season.

This summer, Trout joined grumpy ol' Ty Cobb as the only AL players with 100 or more steals and 550 or more hits before their age-23 season.

He also is only the fourth player since 1901 with 115 runs scored, 35 doubles, five triples and 35 home runs in their age 22-or-younger season, joining Alex Rodriguez (1998), Joe DiMaggio (1937) and Hal Trosky (1934).

The numbers run on and on, like an American League game. One more: Trout is now the first player to rack up three or more consecutive seasons of an 7.9 WAR or higher since Bonds (2001-04) according to Baseball-Reference.com. In those seasons, Bonds won the final four of his seven MVPs.

But for Cabrera's historical seasons in 2012 and 2013 (and the Angels' nosedive), this would be Trout's third MVP award.

As for real time, if this isn't the first of a shelf-full for the kid, then I'm Guy Fieri.

He's Perfect

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Just like the brown-noser who sat in the front row of your freshman composition class and answered every question the teacher asked. Except, unlike him or her, Trout is eminently likable.

And perfect.

"The reason why Trout is perfect," Dodgers starter Zack Greinke, a former teammate of Trout's in Anaheim, told a couple of us at the All-Star Game this summer, "is not only does he hit good and field good, he runs bases good, he takes pitches when he should be taking pitches, he steals when he should be stealing, he throws the ball where he should throw the ball, he plays shallow when he should play shallow.

"He does everything perfect."

Thank goodness the PED dinosaurs like Bonds are no longer roaming the baseball earth because sitting around for three innings awaiting the next at-bat got awfully boring. Great thing about Trout is, you've gotta keep your eyes peeled on him at all times.

At the plate, he can put the ball over the fence or drill it into the gap for a triple. He can beat you on the bases with his speed. He can go over the fence to rob you of a home run. He's Instant Excitement.

If this isn't the first of many MVP awards, then I'm Jimmy Fallon.

He's Still Improving

Associated Press

Trout's 36 homers, 111 RBI and 338 total bases this season all were career highs (so were his 184 strikeouts, so there's a wee bit more room for improvement, too).

"In 2012, he had more volume in stolen bases," Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto told B/R in July. "But you weren't getting the impact in the batter's box that you're getting this year. Which is absurd to say because in 2012, he had great impact in the batter's box.

"He's finding ways to expand the upper reaches of how good he can be. I hate to use a cliche, but I've never seen anything like it."

Admirable thing about Trout, aside from his ever-present smile or infectious enthusiasm, is that he works hard at more than simply accumulating gaudy numbers. Going into this year, his arm was, in the Angels' view, easily the softest of his five tools. So he worked his halo off last spring and during the season with coach Dino Ebel to make it better.

By season's end, Trout's arm had gone from average to plus (in scout's speak) with improved accuracy.

"Even in the dugout, you hear him talk about the game, what he sees, what he thinks is going to happen," Ebel told me this summer. "To be that young and have a mind like that, it's off the charts."

Absurd, so many superlatives. And deserved.

At 23, Trout this season became the youngest player ever to lead the majors in both runs scored (115) and extra-base hits (84). It was the third consecutive season in which Trout led the AL in runs scored, the first man to do that since Mickey Mantle (1956-58).

If this isn't the first of many MVP awards, then I'm Matthew McConaughey.

Now. Three in a row? If Taylor Swift can jump back to 1989, I can jump ahead to 2016. Shake it off...and mark it down.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. He has over two decades of experience covering MLB, including 14 years as a national baseball columnist at CBSSports.com.

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball @ScottMillerBbl.