Do You Think That 2012 Was Mike Trout's Career Season?

[Greg Ambrosius]

One of the great topics of discussion at the Arizona Fall League Symposium last week was Mike Trout and his incredible 2012 season. Trout's ADP in the NFBC was 307 and yet he was called up to the majors in May and hit .326 with 30 home runs, 83 RBIs, 49 stolen bases and 129 runs in just 139 games. His On Base Percentage was .399 and he played a Gold Glove caliber centerfield. He is a top contender for the AL's Most Valuable Player Award along with Miguel Cabrera.

He did all of this despite just turning 21 on Aug. 7th. So it bears the obvious question:

"Was 2012 A Career Year For Mike Trout?"

Ron Shandler, host of the AFL, said at the conference and on SiriusXM that he feels there is a 99 percent chance that 2012 was a career year for Trout. When he polled 12 industry writers about that, some said there was a 90 percent chance that it was a career year, but some went as low as 33 percent, stating that with a full season and continued maturity he could become a regular MVP contender. Most people felt that the stolen bases may go down in time, but few felt that he had peaked as a power hitter.

Now we want to hear from you: Was 2012 a career year for Trout or do you think he's capable of even better yearly numbers? Vote once here and thanks. Oh, and don't just vote, join in the conversation on this fun topic with your opinions on this thread.

[Winston's Empire]

Unlike Albert Pujols, I feel like Mike Trout REALLY IS only 21 Years Old at the start of his career! I also think that 2012 was surely 1 of his career years, but he will do more in a full season if he stays healthy. Look at his physical makeup and what he has between his ears at 21!
I agree his SB's will go down over time and he hopefully won't be flying around center field like a PinBall as much either, lowering his injury risk.
He is a big time player that over the next decade will prove that he is in that Miggy / Pujols type MVP Talk year in and year out.

[ToddZ]

I was one of the 12 polled and was the most optimistic.

My reply was if this means 0%, so be it, but Trout still has, what, 12-15 more seasons (barring injury) and even then he's still "just" 35/36.

I think he'll have 1 (maybe 2) more seasons as good as if not better than 2012. Many, including me, will point to his BABIP and HR/FB and expect regression. But here's the thing -- how much of his high BABIP and HR/FB is "good luck" and how much is just playing at the upper end of his expected skills range?

I know what he did is historical. But I suspect he is going to have a season or two of disappointing (relative to expectations) numbers. I expect his CAREER AVERAGES to be lower than 2012.

But, sometime in the next decade or so, I also expect Trout to have another historical season (relative to the numbers of that season).

[Walla Walla]

He had a great year. But lets see what happens next year. The numbers will go down. The only question is how far.
He could stay within 20% of this year and I'd say the future looks great. But if he drops below say 35 to 40% percent
than forget it. It's a one year wonder season.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here's the results of our poll on Mike Trout:

42% a) 2012 was a career year; he will never top those 5-category numbers in a single year

58% b) He will have at least one season during his career that is even better than 2012

Thanks for the feedback everyone and good luck to all of you...and to potential No. 1 pick Mike Trout!!