JUPITER http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-pat-neshek-jersey , Fla. (AP) — second baseman Kolten Wong always wanted to hear.Wong wouldn’t have to prove himself. He didn’t have to be perfect. Wong would be the Cardinals‘ starting second baseman.“It’s something I’ve asked for since I got to the big leagues, just a chance to go out there and play everyday,” Wong said.Last year’s midseason managerial change relaxed Wong. And a comfortable Wong proved to be a valuable player.“Kolten, last year, he may have been the best second baseman in baseball the second half of last season,” said Shildt, who replaced Mike Matheny in mid-July.A career .255 hitter over six seasons with an above-average glove, the 28-year-old Wong hit no better than .210 in any one of the three months prior to Matheny’s firing and no worse than .280 in any month that followed.Wong doesn’t believe the improvement coincidental.“Shildt came in and it gave me that flexibility to be myself and play my game,” Wong said. “The rest is history, I guess.”Matheny’s intensity,Wong said Chuck Klein Jersey , never allowed him to feel comfortable in his role.“I will just say the leash wasn’t too long for me, that’s just how it went,” Wong said. “It was a very short leash. It’s tough to play when you have that kind of pressure. Obviously, I want to play every day. In order for me to play every day it was a make-or-break situation every single day. It was tough.”Wong is taking an aggressive approach this spring. Unafraid of making mistakes, he’s looking to take the extra base. At the plate, he’s able to work on his swing or situational hitting without feeling the pressure produce statistically.Wong is hitting .269 with a homer, a double and two stolen bases in Grapefruit League play.“Before I felt like I was kind of getting tested from the very beginning and if I wasn’t doing good it was kind of, shame on me,” Wong said. “It was a tough time for me trying to figure out how to just go out there and play my game without having that pressure — if I don’t do good today, I’m definitely not going to play tomorrow.”Possessing a nice blend of power and speed, in years past Wong expressed his desire to hit at the top of the order. With Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler healthy, that won’t happen.Shildt expects Wong to create scoring opportunities from the bottom of the lineup.“Kolten’s our second baseman Jimmy Foxx Jersey ,” Shildt said. “I think it’s pretty clear that’s the case. He knows that. He’s had a solid spring across the board. He’s in a good place.” Rob Carr/Getty ImagesWhile Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will be the biggest names on the free-agent market this offseason, it could be a player already under contract for the foreseeable future who could make the biggest splash.Mike Trout.According to Jon Heyman of Fancred, the Los Angeles Angels are expected to approach Trout with extension talks that could lead to his being an Angel for life.Trout still has two years and $66.5 million remaining on the six-year, $144.5 million extensionhe signed back in March 2014, perSpotrac.Even though he is under club control through the 2020 season, Los Angeles would be wise to lock him up long-term. At 27, he is already widely considered to be one of the greatest players in MLB history.Since debuting in 2011, Trout has hit .307/.416/.571 with 234 home runs, 221 doubles, 44 triples, 188 stolen bases and 637 RBI. He has made the American League All-Star team in each of his first seven full seasons. Not only that, but he has won the AL Rookie of the Year award http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-pat-neshek-jersey , two AL MVPs (including three second-place and a fourth-place finish), two All-Star Game MVPs and five Silver Sluggers.Again, he turned 27 in August.The biggest factor that could keep Trout from agreeing to a lifetime contract with the Angels is that the club has made the postseason just once in his career despite his lofty numbers. Los Angeles was swept by the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 American league Division Series.Trout will getpaidregardless of when he decides to ink his next deal, but as one agent told Heyman, the outfielder would be wise to wait until after Harper and Machado sign, allowing his fellow All-Stars to set the market. New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is the owner of the largest and longest contract in MLB history, a 13-year, $325 million deal he signed with the Miami Marlins in November 2014.