Mike Trout and the Greatest Offensive Decades in History by Craig Edwards May 7, 2020 Last week, I noted how in roughly eight seasons, Mike Trout had already put up one of the best 10-year WAR figures in baseball history. Trout’s remarkable run requires more superlatives than my brain can muster, so let’s just agree that Mike Trout is really, really good. WAR combines the offensive and defensive components of the game, but it should not be shocking that Trout’s offensive numbers alone are fantastic. His career batting line of .305/.419/.581 has produced a 172 wRC+ and over his eight-plus seasons in the majors, Trout has been 511 runs better on offense than the average player. While Trout’s 70-plus WAR thus far puts him in rare company over a 10-year period, putting up more than 500 runs above average is even rarer. Dating back to the start of 1900 season, 22 players have put up 128 10-year periods that resulted in a WAR at the end of that stretch of 70 or greater. During that same time period, only 16 players have combined to make 99 10-year periods over which the player was at least 500 runs above average on offense. In the last 50 years, only Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Jeff Bagwell, and Frank Thomas have reached that mark. With two more solid seasons from Trout, only Bonds will have put up a better offensive decade than the one the Angels center fielder will finish in 2021. With even modest production, Trout is likely to be the major league leader in offensive runs above average for another half-dozen years on top of the two years he’s already produced. Here are all the players who have ever topped the majors in 10-year runs above average since the 10-year period starting in 1900: No. of Years Spent as 10-Year Offensive Leader Player Years as 10-Year OFF Leader Barry Bonds 14 Babe Ruth 12 Ty Cobb 10 Stan Musial 8 Mike Schmidt 7 Mickey Mantle 7 Albert Pujols 6 Rickey Henderson 6 Joe Morgan 6 Hank Aaron 6 Ted Williams 5 Lou Gehrig 5 Mel Ott 4 Honus Wagner 4 Mike Trout 2 Miguel Cabrera 2 Dick Allen 2 Jimmie Foxx 2 Joey Votto 1 Willie Mays 1 Here’s how Trout stacks up over the last 10 years, with the top-three 10-year offensive leaders: 10-Year Offense Leaders Since 2010 Yr End 1st OFF RAA 2nd OFF RAA 3rd OFF RAA 2019 Mike Trout 511 Joey Votto 359 Miguel Cabrera 302 2018 Mike Trout 443 Joey Votto 401 Miguel Cabrera 344 2017 Joey Votto 399 Mike Trout 373 Miguel Cabrera 360 2016 Miguel Cabrera 406 Joey Votto 354 Mike Trout 318 2015 Miguel Cabrera 416 Albert Pujols 364 Matt Holliday 316 2014 Albert Pujols 422 Miguel Cabrera 422 Matt Holliday 324 2013 Albert Pujols 476 Miguel Cabrera 412 Alex Rodriguez 311 2012 Albert Pujols 555 Alex Rodriguez 362 Miguel Cabrera 350 2011 Albert Pujols 579 Alex Rodriguez 408 Barry Bonds 357 2010 Albert Pujols 601 Barry Bonds 475 Alex Rodriguez 453 Trout’s 511 runs currently ranks 90th in history, but with two years to go in his first decade, he could easily end up in the top-50, and possibly the top 25 or 30, behind only Barry Bonds since the end of World War II: Best 10-Year Offensive RAA Since 1900 Player Yr Start Yr End OFF RAA Babe Ruth 1920 1929 873.6 Babe Ruth 1919 1928 870.3 Babe Ruth 1921 1930 860.5 Babe Ruth 1923 1932 859.8 Babe Ruth 1922 1931 835.6 Babe Ruth 1918 1927 817.2 Babe Ruth 1924 1933 793.5 Lou Gehrig 1927 1936 779.5 Barry Bonds 1995 2004 752.0 Lou Gehrig 1928 1937 752.0 Lou Gehrig 1926 1935 741.1 Babe Ruth 1925 1934 729.3 Babe Ruth 1917 1926 722.7 Rogers Hornsby 1920 1929 713.8 Babe Ruth 1926 1935 712.0 Lou Gehrig 1929 1938 709.6 Barry Bonds 1996 2005 704.4 Trout isn’t going to be that high up no matter what he does over the next few seasons, but he’s already in pretty select company. The table below shows every player who have put up 500-plus run 10-year periods: Players with 500 Offensive Run Decades Player 500-Run Decade 600-Run Decade 700-Run Decade 800-Run Decade High Babe Ruth 15 13 10 6 873.6 Lou Gehrig 9 7 4 0 779.5 Barry Bonds 13 7 2 0 752.0 Rogers Hornsby 8 4 1 0 713.8 Ty Cobb 7 3 0 0 628.3 Mickey Mantle 7 4 0 0 617.3 Jimmie Foxx 6 2 0 0 604.0 Albert Pujols 4 1 0 0 600.5 Stan Musial 8 0 0 0 589.5 Ted Williams 8 0 0 0 559.5 Mel Ott 5 0 0 0 538.2 Frank Thomas 2 0 0 0 537.9 Willie Mays 4 0 0 0 526.5 Honus Wagner 1 0 0 0 522.8 Mike Trout 1 0 0 0 511.3 Jeff Bagwell 1 0 0 0 501.2 Trout has put up 139 runs above average the last two seasons; two more years like that would put him behind only Bonds over the last 70-plus years. With a potentially shortened 2020 season, Trout will have his work cut out for him. He needs around 120 runs to pass Ty Cobb on the list above. Even if he does nothing over the next two years, he’s still going to add to his total of 500-run decades, and he only needs about 50 runs total over the next three seasons to tie him with Willie Mays and Albert Pujols for 500-run decades. Here’s where Trout stands for individual seasons since the start of 1961: Best 10-Year Offensive Numbers Since 1961 Player Yr Start Yr End OFF RAA Barry Bonds 1995 2004 752 Barry Bonds 1996 2005 704.4 Barry Bonds 1994 2003 693.4 Barry Bonds 1993 2002 691.8 Barry Bonds 1997 2006 659.6 Barry Bonds 1992 2001 652.9 Barry Bonds 1998 2007 629.7 Albert Pujols 2001 2010 600.5 Albert Pujols 2002 2011 578.7 Barry Bonds 1991 2000 577.9 Barry Bonds 1990 1999 567.9 Barry Bonds 1999 2008 567.7 Barry Bonds 1989 1998 555.1 Albert Pujols 2003 2012 554.5 Albert Pujols 2000 2009 546.3 Frank Thomas 1991 2000 537.9 Barry Bonds 2000 2009 537.4 Barry Bonds 1988 1997 522.6 Mike Trout 2010 2019 511.2 Frank Thomas 1990 1999 502.3 Jeff Bagwell 1993 2002 501.2 Even if Trout only gets a season and a half over the next years, a standard Trout-like performance will put him ahead of Pujols and only behind a bunch of Bonds seasons. Mike Trout is certainly a complete player, but based on his offensive production alone, he’s in the inner circle of the sort of great player rarely seen in history. To finish this post off, below you’ll find are the top-three in offensive runs above average for every 10-year period going back to 1909: 10-Year Offensive Runs Above Average Leaders From 1909 to 2019 Yr End 1st OFF RAA 2nd OFF RAA 3rd OFF RAA 2019 Mike Trout 511 Joey Votto 359 Miguel Cabrera 302 2018 Mike Trout 443 Joey Votto 401 Miguel Cabrera 344 2017 Joey Votto 399 Mike Trout 373 Miguel Cabrera 360 2016 Miguel Cabrera 406 Joey Votto 354 Mike Trout 318 2015 Miguel Cabrera 416 Albert Pujols 364 Matt Holliday 316 2014 Albert Pujols 422 Miguel Cabrera 422 Matt Holliday 324 2013 Albert Pujols 476 Miguel Cabrera 412 Alex Rodriguez 311 2012 Albert Pujols 555 Alex Rodriguez 362 Miguel Cabrera 350 2011 Albert Pujols 579 Alex Rodriguez 408 Barry Bonds 357 2010 Albert Pujols 601 Barry Bonds 475 Alex Rodriguez 453 2009 Albert Pujols 546 Barry Bonds 537 Alex Rodriguez 490 2008 Barry Bonds 568 Alex Rodriguez 490 Albert Pujols 476 2007 Barry Bonds 630 Alex Rodriguez 488 Manny Ramirez 429 2006 Barry Bonds 660 Manny Ramirez 456 Alex Rodriguez 432 2005 Barry Bonds 704 Alex Rodriguez 458 Manny Ramirez 449 2004 Barry Bonds 752 Jeff Bagwell 445 Manny Ramirez 442 2003 Barry Bonds 693 Jeff Bagwell 490 Gary Sheffield 423 2002 Barry Bonds 692 Jeff Bagwell 501 Frank Thomas 421 2001 Barry Bonds 653 Jeff Bagwell 491 Frank Thomas 472 2000 Barry Bonds 578 Frank Thomas 538 Jeff Bagwell 478 1999 Barry Bonds 568 Frank Thomas 502 Jeff Bagwell 427 1998 Barry Bonds 555 Frank Thomas 483 Mark McGwire 379 1997 Barry Bonds 523 Frank Thomas 458 Rickey Henderson 316 1996 Barry Bonds 474 Frank Thomas 392 Rickey Henderson 335 1995 Barry Bonds 411 Rickey Henderson 352 Frank Thomas 332 1994 Rickey Henderson 389 Barry Bonds 359 Wade Boggs 303 1993 Rickey Henderson 417 Barry Bonds 312 Wade Boggs 302 1992 Rickey Henderson 414 Wade Boggs 341 Tim Raines 306 1991 Rickey Henderson 407 Wade Boggs 361 Tim Raines 296 1990 Rickey Henderson 408 Wade Boggs 335 Tim Raines 316 1989 Rickey Henderson 379 Wade Boggs 321 Mike Schmidt 321 1988 Mike Schmidt 365 Rickey Henderson 338 George Brett 317 1987 Mike Schmidt 377 Eddie Murray 314 Rickey Henderson 304 1986 Mike Schmidt 391 Eddie Murray 317 George Brett 308 1985 Mike Schmidt 395 George Brett 319 Eddie Murray 291 1984 Mike Schmidt 394 George Brett 281 Dave Winfield 272 1983 Mike Schmidt 402 Joe Morgan 307 Rod Carew 285 1982 Mike Schmidt 362 Joe Morgan 346 Reggie Jackson 336 1981 Joe Morgan 359 Reggie Jackson 332 Mike Schmidt 318 1980 Joe Morgan 370 Reggie Jackson 357 Willie Stargell 303 1979 Joe Morgan 372 Reggie Jackson 324 Willie Stargell 310 1978 Joe Morgan 379 Reggie Jackson 355 Willie Stargell 329 1977 Joe Morgan 374 Reggie Jackson 356 Willie Stargell 313 1976 Joe Morgan 357 Willie Stargell 322 Dick Allen 315 1975 Dick Allen 357 Willie Stargell 345 Frank Robinson 345 1974 Dick Allen 394 Hank Aaron 393 Frank Robinson 374 1973 Hank Aaron 426 Dick Allen 406 Frank Robinson 394 1972 Hank Aaron 450 Frank Robinson 383 Dick Allen 381 1971 Hank Aaron 476 Frank Robinson 431 Willie Mays 404 1970 Hank Aaron 464 Frank Robinson 449 Willie Mays 413 1969 Hank Aaron 468 Frank Robinson 460 Willie Mays 427 1968 Hank Aaron 486 Willie Mays 461 Frank Robinson 450 1967 Hank Aaron 489 Willie Mays 483 Mickey Mantle 449 1966 Willie Mays 524 Mickey Mantle 510 Hank Aaron 493 1965 Mickey Mantle 568 Willie Mays 523 Hank Aaron 497 1964 Mickey Mantle 613 Willie Mays 524 Hank Aaron 487 1963 Mickey Mantle 609 Willie Mays 527 Hank Aaron 446 1962 Mickey Mantle 617 Willie Mays 472 Eddie Mathews 446 1961 Mickey Mantle 602 Eddie Mathews 425 Willie Mays 414 1960 Mickey Mantle 528 Ted Williams 417 Stan Musial 395 1959 Mickey Mantle 480 Stan Musial 444 Ted Williams 415 1958 Stan Musial 512 Ted Williams 492 Mickey Mantle 437 1957 Stan Musial 571 Ted Williams 513 Mickey Mantle 368 1956 Stan Musial 555 Ted Williams 520 Ralph Kiner 359 1955 Stan Musial 590 Ted Williams 560 Ralph Kiner 370 1954 Stan Musial 548 Ted Williams 507 Ralph Kiner 360 1953 Stan Musial 551 Ted Williams 441 Ralph Kiner 342 1952 Stan Musial 553 Ted Williams 420 Ralph Kiner 314 1951 Stan Musial 535 Ted Williams 504 Ralph Kiner 284 1950 Ted Williams 543 Stan Musial 473 Joe DiMaggio 284 1949 Ted Williams 557 Stan Musial 416 Joe DiMaggio 298 1948 Ted Williams 528 Stan Musial 346 Johnny Mize 338 1947 Ted Williams 459 Johnny Mize 351 Joe DiMaggio 311 1946 Ted Williams 373 Johnny Mize 360 Mel Ott 356 1945 Mel Ott 434 Johnny Mize 352 Joe DiMaggio 336 1944 Mel Ott 455 Johnny Mize 352 Jimmie Foxx 336 1943 Mel Ott 475 Jimmie Foxx 405 Johnny Mize 352 1942 Mel Ott 486 Jimmie Foxx 484 Lou Gehrig 404 1941 Jimmie Foxx 579 Mel Ott 503 Lou Gehrig 474 1940 Jimmie Foxx 584 Lou Gehrig 556 Mel Ott 503 1939 Lou Gehrig 650 Jimmie Foxx 602 Mel Ott 523 1938 Lou Gehrig 710 Jimmie Foxx 604 Mel Ott 538 1937 Lou Gehrig 752 Jimmie Foxx 558 Babe Ruth 511 1936 Lou Gehrig 780 Babe Ruth 614 Jimmie Foxx 541 1935 Lou Gehrig 741 Babe Ruth 712 Jimmie Foxx 487 1934 Babe Ruth 729 Lou Gehrig 693 Jimmie Foxx 423 1933 Babe Ruth 794 Lou Gehrig 604 Rogers Hornsby 472 1932 Babe Ruth 860 Lou Gehrig 550 Rogers Hornsby 516 1931 Babe Ruth 836 Rogers Hornsby 609 Lou Gehrig 480 1930 Babe Ruth 861 Rogers Hornsby 652 Harry Heilmann 468 1929 Babe Ruth 874 Rogers Hornsby 714 Harry Heilmann 440 1928 Babe Ruth 870 Rogers Hornsby 664 Harry Heilmann 432 1927 Babe Ruth 817 Rogers Hornsby 600 Harry Heilmann 418 1926 Babe Ruth 723 Rogers Hornsby 571 Tris Speaker 426 1925 Babe Ruth 627 Rogers Hornsby 578 Tris Speaker 452 1924 Babe Ruth 616 Rogers Hornsby 483 Ty Cobb 462 1923 Babe Ruth 515 Ty Cobb 474 Tris Speaker 450 1922 Ty Cobb 500 Tris Speaker 438 Babe Ruth 398 1921 Ty Cobb 518 Tris Speaker 460 Eddie Collins 354 1920 Ty Cobb 552 Tris Speaker 461 Joe Jackson 413 1919 Ty Cobb 602 Tris Speaker 444 Eddie Collins 387 1918 Ty Cobb 628 Tris Speaker 457 Eddie Collins 419 1917 Ty Cobb 627 Tris Speaker 425 Eddie Collins 411 1916 Ty Cobb 596 Eddie Collins 385 Tris Speaker 377 1915 Ty Cobb 556 Eddie Collins 356 Honus Wagner 334 1914 Ty Cobb 484 Honus Wagner 373 Sam Crawford 313 1913 Ty Cobb 446 Honus Wagner 430 Nap Lajoie 309 1912 Honus Wagner 468 Ty Cobb 392 Nap Lajoie 331 1911 Honus Wagner 479 Nap Lajoie 338 Ty Cobb 321 1910 Honus Wagner 492 Nap Lajoie 393 Sam Crawford 272 1909 Honus Wagner 523 Nap Lajoie 352 Elmer Flick 298