Mike Trout is enjoying baseball again with Team USA, and the Los Angeles Angels should be worried

Mike Trout is having a blast playing baseball. But not for the Angels.

He’s the captain and center fielder for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.  And Team USA is very good.       Unlike his decade-long employer, the Angels, they win.

See Trout jump from the dugout for joy, salute his teammates, bounce around the bases.  The man is having the time of his baseball life.

“You know, this is the most fun I’ve had on a baseball field in a while,” he said. “This is — and you can ask anybody in there (the USA locker room) — it’s so fun. It’s awesome. This is awesome.”

He’s a little boy full of boundless joy.

He has toiled in Anaheim for these many years on clubs that rarely even see .500.  His teammates are either hurt or underperforming or both.

With the exception of Shohei Ohtani, the seventh wonder of the world, he is surrounded by mediocrity.

Now his teammates include Nolan Arenado, Mookie Betts, National League MVP Paul Goldschmidt and red-hot Trea Turner, formerly of the Dodgers.

Why wouldn’t Mr. Trout be loving it?

This is all great for fans of Mr. Trout — and there are legions of us — but the Angels might be shuddering.  How happy will their superstar be when he returns to a team that is long on promise and short on results?

The Angels have suffered seven consecutive losing seasons and in 2022 finished 33 games behind Houston in the American League West.