Curt Schilling Thinks Phillies Will Chase Mike Trout After Signing Bryce Harper

Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling doesn't believe the club is done chasing superstars after reaching an agreement with outfielder Bryce Harper on Thursday.

Schilling sat down with TMZ Sports and said he believes the Phillies will make a run at Mike Trout—who is under contract through the 2020 season—in the future.

"Mike Trout was born and raised in New Jersey," Schilling told TMZ Sports. "I can see the Phillies making stupid-money offers in that direction as well. My God, can you imagine throwing Bryce Harper in right field and Mike Trout in center field?"

Phillies owner John Middleton told USA Today's Bob Nightengale in November: "We're going into this expecting to spend money. And maybe even be a little bit stupid about it."

All they have done since is acquire two-time All-Star shortstop Jean Segura and All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto while signing reliever David Robertson (two years, $23 million), former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen (three years, $50 million) and Harper (13 years, $330 million) in free agency.

While Harper's record-setting deal represents the largest guaranteed contract in North American sports history, Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci pointed out the average annual value of $25.4 million provides Philadelphia with the financial flexibility to be players in free agency in the future.

Should Trout hit the open market in 2020, he would become the biggest free agent in MLB history.

Trout has put together a Hall of Fame-caliber career since debuting in 2011. In seven full big league seasons, he has seven All-Star selections, a Rookie of the Year award, six Silver Sluggers and a pair of MVPs. He has never finished outside the top four in AL MVP voting when he has played a full season, finishing runner-up four times.

The 27-year-old has a career slash line of .307/.416/.573 with an OPS of .990, along with 240 home runs.

Despite Trout's unbelievable numbers, the Angels have made the postseason just once since he was called up eight years ago. That lone playoff appearance resulted in an American League Division Series sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals in in 2014.

Los Angeles has not recorded a winning record since 2015.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman (h/t MLB.com's Daniel Kramer) reported in September that Trout would wait for this winter's free-agent market to play out before considering an extension with the Angels. Now that Harper and Manny Machado (10 years, $300 million with the San Diego Padres) have set the market, Los Angeles has a starting point for negotiations.

Then again, there's no guarantee Trout will re-sign—especially if he doesn't believe the team can compete for a World Series. If he decides to just play out his contract, the Phillies could be looking to bring Trout home and create a superstar-filled outfield.