Bryce Harper vs. Mike Trout, 12 years in: What drives them to be great, and will they ever join forces?

“He might’ve rubbed some people the wrong way when he was younger, but he genuinely just wanted to win,” said Gosselin, who teamed with Harper with the Phillies in 2019-20. “There’s nothing he wants to do more than win. And he feels like it’s on him. He probably puts too much on himself at times, but that’s what great players do.”

With the Phillies, it has manifested in helping to recruit star free agents (Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner) to join him. Trout’s greatness is unassailable. Since he rejoined the Angels for good in 2012, he leads the majors in homers (373), slugging (.586), and OPS+ (175), and ranks second in triples (54) and on-base percentage (.413). After being slowed by injuries in the last three seasons, he’s back to his usual feats, becoming the first player to reach 10 homers this season.

The Angels are off to their typical start, too, entering the weekend with a 10-15 record. Anthony Rendon is injured (again); the pitching is thin (again). Shohei Ohtani fled in free agency last winter. There was Trout, though, telling reporters in spring training that asking to be traded would be “taking the easy way out.” He insisted he’s loyal to the Angels and owner Arte Moreno.

But contrary to how it may seem, Trout’s former teammates insist that he wants to win every bit as much as Harper does.

Be like Mike

In 2021, the Angels had a Monday off before opening a late-season road trip against the Rangers. The Eagles happened to be in Dallas to play the Cowboys, so Trout, an Eagles diehard, bought a luxury suite and rounded up his teammates.

“He’s like, ‘I had to do it, but it kills me to give Jerry Jones my money,’ ” Gosselin said, laughing. “It was such a relatable comment. It was something I would say. The Eagles side of him is as genuine as it gets. He’s living and dying with those guys.”

Gosselin, who works for the Phillies as an analyst, grew up in Chester County and went to Malvern Prep. Like Trout, he loves the Eagles. They bonded over football and Wawa and all things Philly as teammates in Southern California.

Surely, then, Trout must have asked Gosselin what it was like to play for their hometown baseball team.

“I don’t remember us having specific conversations about it,” Gosselin said.

It isn’t that Trout doesn’t like coming home. On the contrary, Jersey Mike is designing a championship-level golf course in Vineland that is scheduled to open next year. Gosselin would often kid Trout about returning to Millville for the holidays rather than soaking up the sun in his Newport Beach mansion.

But there’s a difference between spending the offseason at home and playing for your hometown team. It isn’t for everyone. Zack Wheeler, an Atlanta native, nearly got drafted by the Braves in 2009. Years later, he’s relieved that he didn’t.

“Mike is like a normal guy who happens to be one of the best players ever,” Gosselin said. “Harp’s also a down-to-earth guy, but he was known from the time he was like 12 years old, so he has more of that superstar feel around him. Mike comes across as just one of your buddies from high school that happens to have otherworldly talent.”

Eventually, maybe Trout will get frustrated with losing in sunny Anaheim. Maybe he will look at the success that his careerlong foil is having in Philadelphia and ask Moreno to trade him to a contender.

Or maybe not.

“He signed there because he wants to win there. I could never fault a guy for that,” Kendrick said. “Mike never thought the Angels would not be a winning organization. But coming up with the Angels, the way we went about it, sometimes it’s a different philosophy today than what we had back then.”

Said Gosselin: “They gave him his chance. They drafted him in the first round when a lot of teams didn’t have him as a first-rounder. He knows all the people there, knows the owner. If he can win there, where they’ve had a rough go of it, that’ll mean that much more to him.”

Until then, Trout will be the Ted Williams to Harper’s Joe DiMaggio, statistically superior but without the magical October moments. And that may wind up as the biggest difference between them.

“I always want success for Mike,” Marsh said. “Just because of what he’s done for me. Seeing Trouty in a big game in October, that would be special. As long as the Phillies come out on top.”