John Kim 
The future of Major League Baseball superstars just so happen to be represented by the “big three” in sneaker brands. Nike has Mike Trout, a player who was either the MVP or the runner-up in each of his four full seasons. Under Armour boasts Bryce Harper, the young slugger who became a YouTube sensation with his monster homeruns and went on to capture last year’s NL MVP. adidas has the best player in baseball’s best team – Kris Bryant of the Northside Cubs. Truth be told, it’s hard to get people to shift attention to cleats given their obvious limits of use, but the names attached to these signature shoes are too big to not leverage them in sneakers.
All three are highly marketable to the baseball demographic and sports culture as a whole and they will undoubtedly lead the charge in the rise of “cleat awareness”. Of course, not everyone needs a pair of cleats like they need a pair of gym shoes, so now’s the time to get their names out there with training footwear, similar to what Reebok is doing with NFL athlete JJ Watt. New Balance is another relevant brand in sneakers with a formidable presence, but none of their athletes are quite on the tier of the three mentioned earlier. So what do you think? Would you cop a “takedown” version of trainers with Trout/Harper/Bryant logos attached to them? See below for a line-up of cleats coming your way this month.
Above: Nike Zoom Trout 3, available July 1st
Above: Under Armour Harper One, available July 15th
Above: adidas Boost Icon.2.0, available August 1st (Not Kris Bryant’s signature shoe)
