http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mike-trout-is-the-mvp-and-still-on-track-for-the-g-o-a-t/

Great article for stats nerds. We all knew he was good, but he is that good. Trout is on-track to be the GOAT - greatest of all time. This is based on his WAR through age 24 with a WAR of 48.5 (second place is Ty Cobb).

I guess the stat geeks can make their case, but give me the Bambino, whether on the mound or at the plate. He's the undisputed GOAT in my book.

Pujols put up some great numbers in his first 10 seasons. Trout hasn't bested those. One rung at a time...

Yes I understand Trout is a different kind of player. More of a young Barry Bonds all around talent...

Most impressive thing about Trout to me is that he's right handed. Tougher to be great from that side of the plate

most impressive thing to me about trout is how he kicks the sh*t out of the mariners every time i watch

mariners can win 6-2 trout still hit one out and had two good shags in center

he's a bastard

The article says he is the "bets ever through age 24." For point of comparison with Ruth - Ruth was a pitcher at age 24, but if you compare their first 5 offensive seasons. Ruth's War of 51.5 (oWar + dWar) bests Trout's 49.0 (oWar + dWar) (Using baseball reference stats, not 538).

Closer than I thought though. Ruth is weighted down by the fact his 1922 season fell within this sample range. Pretty amazing he is even in the conversation though.

At Trout's age it's disingenuous to use "through age ____" as a measurement because plenty of great, great players had barely broken in by that age. But given that the aging process in sports is a combination of physical age and wear-and-tear from playing, physical age is not the sole indicator of how long a guy likely has left at a certain productivity level (Minor League and amateur seasons are shorter). You're comparing Trout to guys with half the sample size or less who were still very good players. Through ____ seasons is a much better indicator. Trout still looks elite by that measure, but substantially less so than by age.

I would prefer to compare based on first 5, or first 10 seasons.

Foxx debuted at age 17, Gehrig was 19, Pujols 21. Of the 3, only Pujols saw full time duty right away. But all 3 put up numbers that Trout hasn't reached. As for Ruth, he stands alone. No other player did what he did, first a pitcher, which still holds pitching records. Then he produced otherworldly as a hitter.

Trout is quite a player. No doubt about it. GOAT? Doubtful...