Mike Trout's $10,000 Rookie Card: The Bubble Burst
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Today, as in most eras, there is debate as to baseball's greatest player. Is it Shohei Ohtani, or is it Aaron Judge? And folks in the Pacific Northwest might even throw the "Big Dumper" into the mix. Reaching back a ways, was it Willie, Mickey, or the Duke? Or going back to the professional game's very beginnings, was it Ross Barnes or Lipman Pike? Ask the question any time from 2012 to 2020, and there was only one answer: Michael Nelson Trout of the Los Angeles Angels. Either that, or your friends might tell you, you just didn't know anything about baseball.
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Just how good was Mike Trout in his prime? Here are just a few of the highlights from the 2010s.
- 2012 American League Rookie of the Year with 30 HR, 49 SB, and 10.5 WAR
- Three American League Most Valuable Player awards (2014, 2016, 2019) and four second place finishes (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018)
- Back-to-back All-Star Game MVP Awards (2014, 2015)
- Averaged an ungodly 9.0 WAR across his first eight full seasons
Naturally, Mike Trout's rookie card from the 2011 Topps Update set reflected his cheat-code numbers and status as the greatest in the game. Per card sales site CardLadder.com, Trout's iconic #US175 in PSA 10 twice topped $9000 in 2020. Admittedly, the alternatives would not have come in gem mint, but this was the kind of price point collectors might more commonly see for rookie cards of Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, and even Mickey Mantle. Mike Trout was that good.
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As is well known, Trout's career has taken a gigantic dip since those halcyon days, the key stat being that the Halos slugger has averaged only 74 games a season since 2020. Even beyond the missed games, however, Trout has looked decidedly more In mortal. Compare these "per 162 games" stat lines for example.
In Truth, the "bad Trout" is still pretty freaking amazing. A slash line of .264/.373/.540 lands the Millville Meteor somewhere north of Harmon Killebrew and just south of Jim Thome. It's also a better last six seasons than those of Trout's long-time comp, Mickey Mantle. But of course, it's nothing like the Trout whose every plate appearance felt like history in the making.
Make no mistake. Mike Trout is still a no-doubt Hall of Famer and will almost certainly go in on the first ballot. When healthy, he is still (arguably) a top ten offensive player. He also has the fourth highest lifetime WAR this century, behind only Albert Pujols, A-Rod, and Adrian Beltre. But holy smokes have his rookie cards come back down to Earth.
Based on CardLadder data, the last time Trout's rookie card sold for $1000 or more was back in April 2025, and the card's most recent sales have hovered around $700 with a low of $630 just two weeks ago. If you're into stats, that $630 selling price reflects a 93% drop from the $9300 sale of August 2020. Granted, $630 is still a lot of money for 8.75 square inches of cardboard, but it sure ain't nine grand! What the future holds, as always, is less certain for the card. A fast start in 2026 that rekindles flashes of the old Trout might re-ignite the market. If not, his eventual call to the Hall certainly will, at least momentarily. Still, it seems safe to say the 2011 Topps Update card's best days are behind it. Of course, doesn't every Meteor eventually find itself plummeting Earthward, only to burn out or land with a crash?
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.