Mike Trout Has Accumulated More WAR Than 48 Current Hall Of Famers

According to baseball reference, from 2011 until today, Mike Trout has accumulated 46.9 wins above replacement. That's an astonishing total (more on that in a sec) that really puts into perspective how special he is. HOF players he has now passed in career WAR include Lefty Gomez, Dizzy Dean, Phil Rizzuto, Catfish Hunter, and Rollie Fingers. Are any of those guys legends of baseball? Of course not, but they are hall of famers and Trout is fucking 24 years old!

Now back to his 46.9 WAR through his age 24 season. That's the most ever by a MLB player through his age 24 season. It isn't one of the best starts ever to a career. It's THE BEST start ever to a career (through 24 years old):

Look at the names on that list! Those are some of the best players we have ever seen (plus Andruw Jones). Of the 15 other names on that list Trout accomplished the feat in less games than 10 of them. 

This is why it's crazy to me when people refer to a prospect, or even a young star, as the next Trout. There is no next trout. Not even Harper is in Trout's class. They were rookies the same season. Trout has 46.9 WAR. Harper has 22.1 WAR. Machado is at 23.8 WAR. McCutchen 37.8. Stanton 27.4. Donaldson 31.8. All those guys have either been in the league as long or longer than Trout and he blows them all out of the water. 

So sorry. Kris Bryant isn't the next Trout. Carlos Correa isn't the next Trout. This is a once in a generation situation we have going on. He is the unquestioned best player in baseball and on pace to become one of the best of all time. 

Lastly, it's insane that Ted Williams is on this list at all considering he didn't even play his age 24 season due to serving in World War II. He accumulated his WAR in that table in just 586 games while the players below him took between 616 and 904...