Thursday Podcast: Mike Trout, contracts, and qualifying offers

Good afternoon, Athletics Nation! Baseball has officially started, which means that I don't have to spend any more time staring out the window waiting for spring.

On today's Phil Naessens Show, we discuss Mike Trout's new contract, the reasons why it is about $149 million smaller than people thought it would be, and a bit of education on young players' contracts and qualifying offers. My segment leads off and goes for about 15 minutes

One small correction: When talking about service time clocks, I referenced that if a player doesn't play very much, he might have to wait more than six years to reach free agency. I sort of corrected myself a couple sentences later, but what I meant to say was that if a player goes back for more time in the minors then his clock is paused. Service time is based on days on the major league roster, not number of games played.

Give it a listen and leave your feedback in the comments!