He is actually a very good 1st baseman. He will be there tomorrow (opening day). Contract is huge, but the amount of asses he puts in the seats for the next 5 or 6 years will more than pay for the back end of his contract if and when he starts to slow down. He is a game changer. A once in a generation type of player. He will probably end up with 3500 hits and 600 home runs while never failing a drug test. Yes, he is the Michael Jordan of baseball. WAR doesn't matter. Do a survey of his peers and they will overwhelmingly state that he is the best player in baseball.
For what it's worth, if you really did survey MLB players, the majority would take Trout on their team over Cabrera. So would most MLB managers.
Heavy hitting first basemen or DH's abound in MLB. There's a trash heap of 30HR hitters at that position who will never make the HOF. Now, Cabrera is very special. He's great. But he's not the greatest player in the league right now.
Base running and defense still have an effect on whether a team wins a game or not. The stats are irrefutable. It's not just who walks the most...the stats have progressed since the days of Moneyball and we can track how defensive play on playable balls actually impacts runs scored.
Trout plays a harder position. He plays it better than most center fielders. He runs bases better than most ball players in the league. And he hits better than most ball players. He's elite on so many levels. Based on that alone, teammates will rally around a Trout instead of a Cabrera. Even if you negate the statistical impact of how he's changed how players will be drafted for the next 5 years (trust me, every GM is looking for the next Trout...not the next Cabrera), players appreciate a 5 tool guy. For good reason. Trout is the best 5 tool player in the league right now, and no one will argue that.
Best of all, he's young, healthy, and you can build a franchise around him. So if you're a GM, you have this young kid who's going to become an icon for your franchise. You can merchandise the hell out of it. You know he'll win you more games than any other player in the league can (which helps you keep your job, which you enjoy). Little boys everywhere will want to be the next Mike Trout. He's never done anything to embarass himself or the league.
He's the Sidney Crosby of baseball. A walking, talking, playing, money making machine for owners. And players want to be on teams that win, because that means playoff bonuses and media attraction that boosts their value. It also means you see more pitches, because no one is going to pitch to this kid.
He's the greatest thing that will ever happen to Pujols and his aging body. Pujols should buy the kid a steak dinner after every game. Every pitch he sees that isn't down and away this year is a result of people avoiding Trout to get to him, as crazy as that would have sounded 3 years ago.
The only man I would allow to hit in front of Trout is Barry Bonds.