FRIDAY: The signing is now official, per an announcement from the Angels.
WEDNESDAY: Yet another superstar free agent has come off the board in what has turned into the fastest-moving offseason in recent memory. The Angels reached a seven-year, $245MM agreement with free-agent third baseman Anthony Rendon on Wednesday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. The deal includes a full no-trade clause, but there are no opt-outs, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The contract doesn’t include any deferrals, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that it’s “slightly” backloaded. The value checks in just above the seven-year, $235MM prediction MLBTR made for Rendon entering the offseason.
Rendon’s the third Scott Boras client to land a $200MM-plus contract this week. He, Gerrit Cole ($324MM) and Stephen Strasburg ($245MM) will combine for a jaw-dropping $814MM in guarantees. Rendon’s now leaving Strasburg and the Nationals, with whom he won a World Series in 2019. Despite the Nationals’ deep pockets, though, owner Mark Lerner expressed doubt last week about the team’s chances of re-signing both of its marquee free agents. Once Strasburg re-signed, the likelihood was that Rendon would leave.
Other teams, including the Dodgers and Rangers, aggressively pursued Rendon over the past few days. However, he has chosen to team with the game’s foremost player, Angels center fielder Mike Trout, to make up one of the premier tandems in baseball. At $35MM per season, the soon-to-be 30-year-old Rendon is now second only to Trout in average annual value for position players.
Rendon earned his enormous payday – one that outdoes the seven-year, $234MM extension Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado signed last winter – with a superb tenure in Washington. The 2011 sixth overall pick debuted two years later and proceeded to post four seasons with upward of 6.0 fWAR as a member of the Nationals. Somehow, though, he didn’t earn an All-Star nod until 2019. That will go down as his best and most memorable Nats campaign, as he slashed a remarkable .319/.412/.598 with a personal-high 34 home runs and a career-best 7.0 fWAR during the regular season. Rendon carried his excellence into the postseason, where he was an integral part of the team’s improbable run to a championship. On the game’s biggest stage, Rendon logged a 1.003 OPS with three homers. His Game 7 World Series HR against the Astros woke up the Nationals in the seventh inning, helping lead to a title-winning comeback.
As was the case when outfielder Bryce Harper left D.C. to accept the Phillies’ mega-offer last winter, Rendon’s departure no doubt stings for the Nationals. If it’s any consolation to the club, though, it will receive some compensation for his exit because it issued him a qualifying offer after the season. The Nats will collect a 2020 draft pick between Competitive Balance Round B and Round 3. They now figure to turn their attention toward replacing Rendon at third base, where they’ve been connected to Josh Donaldson – now the No. 1 free agent left in an ever-shrinking marketplace. They’ll have plenty of competition in that regard, though, with various reports linking the Rangers, Dodgers, Phillies, Twins and Braves to Donaldson.
The Angels, meanwhile, will surrender their second-highest pick next year and lose $500K of their international bonus pool for adding Rendon. But that’s a small price to pay for the Halos, a team desperately seeking a return to the playoffs after five straight failed seasons. Owner Arte Moreno and general manager Billy Eppler entered the offseason looking to make an enormous splash, evidenced previously by their interest in Cole, Strasburg, Donaldson and now-Phillie Zack Wheeler, and they pulled it off by reeling in Rendon.
With Rendon, Trout, shortstop Andrelton Simmons, second baseman David Fletcher, left fielder Justin Upton and designated hitter/right-hander Shohei Ohtani making up the majority of their lineup, the Angels have a strong core of hitters in place. However, there remain obvious need areas on the club, including in its rotation (which should benefit from Ohtani’s return from Tommy John surgery and the acquisition of Dylan Bundy) and at catcher.
The Angels still seem poised to patch both of those holes, as Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports (Twitter links) that they remain focused on finding “significant” starting help and adding a new backstop. Even with Rendon’s salary factored in, the Angels appear to have the money to pick up at least one more high-end contributor and stay under the $208MM luxury-tax line in 2020, with Jason Martinez of Roster Resource estimating their current CBT payroll at $177MM-plus.
Ridiculous. Good luck with that, LA.
Good for them.
For Boras and Rendon, sure; Angels not so much.
Too bad your opinion doesn’t matter.
Get em Vin
How is his slider?
Not as good as our DH’s
Can’t remember…its been over one year since anyone has seen it…
Holy ***** Mike Trout finally gets a good teammate!
Just not one that can pitch
Their pitching isn’t terrible. If ohtani returns to form, canning had a decent rookie campaign, and Bundy might do well having better defense behind him. They could use one starter, but it’s not like they’re completely devoid of any pitching.
That’s nothing but a bunch of hopes and mights. That never goes well. The angels have no proven starters.
When you defend your pitching staff with if returns to form, decent rookie, and might do well, it’s not a very good pitching staff.
Again……
They now have one of the best pitching coaches in MLB.
there are still a lot of arms in the market
Are you saying Pujols, Hamilton, Haren, CJ Wilson, and Houston Street were bad teammates?!
Yea all those guys were horrible as an Angel
You must be new here.
“You must be new here” lmao
What is Pujols?
Pujols is the title you give to a player that is every team’s MVP except on the team he actually plays for.
So much action at the meetings this year wow! They definitely need to go get some pitching now.
Angels were suppose to be looking for pitching right?
they have still time, you know?
Yea and they were looking for pitching and lost on on Cole and signing Rendon is not stopping the from looking for pitching either
Erie – AND? Time to complain?
No just wondering, I don’t follow the Angels and thought they would invest more in pitching rather than hitting
First
What are you doing??? This isn’t YouTube comments
And it’s pretty clear he wasn’t first anyways
LMFAO
@bxcrunner
Boy you just made a fool of yourself. You are like 20th bozo. Maybe mommy can teach you to count
Haha. Can I check in at 136th? Do I get a T-shirt or something?
Nice compliment to Trout but we desperately need pitching
Not many people guessed this one in the contest…
awsome news
This is going to blow up in their face in 1.5 years. Hilarious.
Not any more than either of the big money pitchers
Well so could any deal. Cole could be handicapped tomorrow due to an accident and they’d still be paying him for 9 years
that would give them insurance payouts. hope he just sucks.
Funny. Verlander just won a Cy Young at 36. Cole could very well be the same type of pitcher in 7-8 years.
Cole could also be CC Sabathia breaking down before 36 and being a good, not great pitcher after. Just because Verlander did it at 36 does nt mean it is the NORM for pitchers at 36. It is a major outlier for pitchers that age.
Verlander is .01% rare hall of fame pitcher. Cole isnt close to him in terms of production or overall ability. The chances he turns into verlander is slim at best. Yankees massively overpaid like they did with stanton, id be impressed to see them win 1 title in his 9 years. That rotation is awful with paxton being the best pitcher with a 3.8 era
Hey L/A, I’d be impressed to see your Doyers win 1 title in the next 50 years. It took them 83 years for their first one and it’s now been since 1889 since their last.
Through their respective age 28 seasons, Cole has a better ERA, ERA+, FIP, WHIP. H/9, BB/9, K/9, K/BB, 121 more Ks in 120 less innings. He also so far has the edge in the post-season rate stats-wise. Baseball’s a crazy game. Who knows what Cole’s future holds but in terms of production and overall ability, so far he appears to be uncomfortable-slow-dance-close.
How did the Yankees overpay for Stanton considering that they didn’t hand him that ridiculous contract extension?
Based on your jealousy?
ba2 is new Nostradamus – So cool.
@ba2929 Dude, the Cole discussion is on a different page.
Yes!!!!
Trout has his wingman
Well no playoffs for Angels but u can watch Trout and Rendon hit in the same line up. They need pitching.
Can he pitch?
Original.
No Papi. He plays third base.
Trade for Kluber or Price…somebody, for the love of God!
Good for LA and Trout. At least they did something big this year. They can still get Ryo or MadBum.
Boras is getting paid this winter. Over $800 mil between Cole, Rendon and Stras.
And it’s only Wednesday!!
Wonder what his cut is?
I feel like the Dodgers were never involved with Cole and Rendon, only a pond in a Boaras chess match
pawn.
I agree
Dodgers = Mongo—-“Mongo only pawn….in game of life”
Big fish in a small pond, Dodgers offered 8/300 which is a pretty solid offer
They offered cole 300 mil
Cole was offered 300 mil
How do we know for sure?
I’ve asked many times for any evidence at all this is true. Nobody has come up with it. So probably it isn’t true.
Wow
Yep knew it and so did everyone else
That’s literally the same amount/years for Strasburg?
Yes captain obvious it is. What is your point
What’s your problem son? It’s an oddity you don’t see too much. You don’t need to reply like that
Better contract than coles
you cannot compare the two. completely different areas of need at different positions
Easily worse. Cole is actually a star.
Rendon’s not? That’s a laugh.
If there was an question on the east coast, there’s not going to be in the media Bermuda triangle that is the Angels. Rendon was the NL version of Trout in that he never courted publicity, so their PR department just got a challenge.
Angels might actually be worth watching this year…. slowest heart beat and most clutch player in baseball, Anthony Rendon.
I’ll take the Amtrak from SD
All of this and no mention this might be the most loaded team Maddon has ever led.
Probably because it isn’t.
Good luck with that Cali tax rate LMAO
Cole will be getting slammed by the good ol state of New York.
How will he survive?
Oh yeah. Let’s start the Gofundme page for him now. No way can he make it after taxes. SMH
when you make that kind of money would a couple of millions really matter? especially when you live in one of the best places in the world?
California is a 3rd world state.
Also, all taxation is theft.
Yeah since roads and bridges just appear when you wish hard enough, am I right?
I pay hefty taxes and they barely ever fix the roads and bridges. Taxation is theft.
California actually has low property taxes — less than half what New Yorkers or Texans pay — and only a third of what they pay in Illinois. For that reason alone California is a more tax friendly state than Illinois and probably New York too — as long as you buy a big house / invest in California real estate.
Rendon will probably still remain officially a resident of Texas, as he is now, which has no state income tax. His work in other states may be prorated according to how many days he plays in them but that was going to happen anyway.
once he goes to ritzy part of newport beach he’ll change his mind.
WOW! Can he pitch?
yes sirrrrr.. wait do we have a pitcher yet??
In talks with Madbum/Ryu/Keuchel and exploring trades. Buckle up.
Wowsers. Never hit 30 till this year…this is Pujols/Hamilton 3.0
i dont think they signed him for the power alone
Averaged 6 war last 3 years. Still in his prime with consistency being his calling card. Your hate is showing.
Yet he still had some seasons that he hit very well in before, despite the fact that his best before was clearly not as good statistically as this year.
Bring on Keuchel and Ryu next
Welcome to the end of your career Anthony. The angels are where huge contracts go to die.
Good for the Angels. Seems a good fit for where they are and want to go.
Massive over pay
Please, dude is a top 5 hitter in the game.
Maybe don’t instead of low talking, elect not to talk at all.
Well, like anyone else, including his original franchise, overpaying was the only way someone could sign Rendon.
Good luck with that Cali tax rate LMAO! Half gone off the bat
LMAO it’s still likely more than the combined lifetime incomes of everyone commenting on this, so, yeah… he will be ok.
cheapskate!
It’s worth it to love in SoCal, why do you think housing is so high
Huh, people with Rendon money don’t get their taxes done at H&R Block & Jackson Hewitt’ like most Americans LOL
So it’s highly unlikely half his salary will be going to taxes.
I.E…The really, really rich have really good tax people and CPA’s and investment advisors on their payrolls. LOL
Go look at Andrew McCutchen’s paystub he posted a few years ago. No amount of creative accounting will stop California from stealing half his money.
13.3% is suddenly half the paycheck? how did you graduate preschool, genius?
Based on the totality of both states’ tax burdens, Illinois has the same socialist tax burden as California.
Now they need Bumgarner n Keuchel
35 million dollar a year contracts getting handed out like candy, crazy year
Angels aren’t done. They only have commitments to 4 players beyond 2020
Angels need to go all in now and sign MadBum.
Yes, his 5+ road ERA the past two seasons will play well in LA.
when you have a team that can score bunch…..
It’s not a bad deal. They should still have enough $$$ to sign a Kuechel, Ryu or Madbum type. Trade for another starter and they should improve
I’m surprised he went there, but good for him. He is going to pay a ton of taxes though. I’m glad he is out of the NL East hA
It’s a fair price to pay a higher quality of life.
He is not paying nearly as much in taxes as you think as state income taxes are paid in proportion to the games played in various states
What a pickup for the angles!
That’s acute comment.
better trade for some good pitching or you’ll waste both the prime of Trout and Rendon now
So many teams would die to have the Angels wallet, yet they have nothing to show for it.
Should they keep Adell or trade him for pitching?
never!
Pitching.
But can he pitch?
No yamsi he cannot pitch. In fact they did not even sign him to pitch. They actually signed an elite free agent who filled a need other than pitching and without keeping them from signing any other pitcher but some people think they should only do one thing at a time and that is just foolish.
A bad front office would allow an elite free agent to go elsewhere just because they are supposed to only be looking for pitching?
Well that is how you would do it anyway
So how much cash does LAA have left now?
$20-30 mil. but then arte can go crazy!
Don’t worry about Arte’s money. Go get your payday loan.
3/4 of a billion dollars just whizzed by in 24 hours.
And all of it to Boras clients. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Boras has to be swimming in money. Three of his clients just netted ~$800 million. Crazy.
10%. but he spends a lot on lots of employees and workout area for players to get better.
$814 million to be exact. Unreal
Over $500 million dollars committed to two players. That’s absurd. Yankees in the same boat.
The Halos have the prospects to trade for Kluber
WOAH you have a great point. All though, I do think that they need one more bat, and if they did trade for Kluber, they still have the bullpen to wrroy about.
Over $600 million actually.
Massive overpay. If they give Rendon 35 million annually over 7 years, why did they not give Cole 40 million over 9 years to beat the Yanks offer? Makes no sense. Although I do get the sense that one of Bumgardner or Ryu will end up with them…
because they don’t have money for both? and the Yankees were never going to be outbid
Because Rendon plays everyday and that is 5 mil more a year which would be 45 extra mil. Plus if they get one of those guys and trade for another decent pitcher then I think I would rather have this situation than only getting Cole
If they would have given that contract to Cole they would have had not too much of money to work with
boras would have taken angels offer to yanks and so on.
Why would they pay Cole $360 million to beat an offer that was $325 million? $326 million would beat it. Why toss in the other $34 million for nothing?
I would never pay that much to anyone who apparently doesn’t even like to play the game. Now that he’s gotten paid, he could lose whatever little interest he has in the sport…and playing in Anaheim kinda does that to a guy, you know?
He doesn’t enjoy the game?
Evidently the game bores him to tears. He just happens to be good at it, like somebody who is a damn fine accountant.
Now, that doesn’t mean he won’t play well–Jeff Kent was another example of a guy who really didn’t like playing the game, and he was pretty good for a long time–but Barry Bonds hated him for it, and Kent eventually got so bored he walked away. from the game.
As long as Rendon keeps performing no one will care, but if his effort ever wanes, look out.
He said he doesn’t like the experience of watching a baseball game. Who cares? I imagine there are many accountants who love their job but don’t want to watch someone, uh, account.
Angels have a big chunk of money invested in a handful of guys. Eppler needs to get a good starter or two, or that top-heavy lineup won’t be getting the needed support for a Wild Card.
That being said, congrats to Rendon and I do hope he enjoys the Angels red. I hear the stadium is very nice
angels are built well with a few hitters that will get on bases and the expensive guys will drive them in.
Angels Logic: “We can sign Donaldson and Bumgarner to help our team and still have money to upgrade the pitching more… Oooooor we can pay Rendon and not be able to afford anyone else… RENDON IT IS!”
They still have the money to sign Madbum and still trade for another good pitcher. Know what ur talking about bud
Every team has money, you can spend as much as you want, there’s no cap we all know this, but the Angels have lately been a team that hasn’t used their financial flexibility wisely or to their advantage, we will see how hard they go after a FA pitcher now
Should be prioritizing pitching but whatever.
Hopefully we’ll be scoring 10 runs p/game.
So guessing moving Fletcher to 2nd Base and that should create a pretty solid infield for them to sign a couple ground ball pitchers. So do they move Lastella to RF for now?
he can back up all infield positions.
Unless one of them is used for trade to get a pitcher.
Angels need Bumgarner, trade for Happ and add a closer. Get it done Mr. Moreno. Do or do not there is no try.
Check out Bum’s road splits the past two seasons.
Bumgarner wants $100 mil and is aging/declining. Happ sucks. I don’t know which closer you’d be happy with, but based on your judgment, I’ll assume he sucks as well. Arte should pull a Constanza and hire you so he can do the opposite.
Unfortunately for Trout’s MVP run, Rendon hitting behind him, Rendon is going to put up some video game numbers. Trout being on base 45% of the time, Rendon should have 150 RBIs or vice versa.
Yeah that lineup is going to be fire in the middle. Adell will be added too
Angels need two starters and at least one or two bullpen arms. In my opinion. But I get them going after Rendon. Gotta get another star player and big bat to go with Trout. Over all…I’m heated the Dodgers did nothing after hyping us up lol but good for you Angels and Yankees and tour fans. Congrats. Must be nice having a team willing to spend and not on washed up players either. Man this is rough lol
Appreciate the honest take.
Assuming your a Dodgers fan. You don’t have much to worry about. You could be a fan of a team like the Rays or A’s where they can’t hand out big contracts hardly at all. (Not saying the A’s or Rays are bad, they get the best out of their money, and I like what they do.)
bold idea to get pitching – trade Andrelton
he is the anchor.
Damn
This is good news for Donaldson, Jung, Wednzel, Rangers and it’s fans. Thank you! Sign Donaldson* Pillar, Chirinos and one of the top 3 starters remaining.
*Although if Donaldson wants more than 70MM-85MM on a 3 to 4 year contract then go after Bryant or Arenado.
Lol all the people in the comments on the article the other day saying the idea of heyman reporting the angels are interested in rendon was incorrect sure look stupid now
Done with the Dodgers. Dude goes for market rate and we sit around with our ***** in our hands.
I woulda bet money he was going to the Dodgers. Maybe Donaldson or trade for KB?
Dodgers just have no desire to win
They won 7 (seven) years in a row. Where’d you get your schooling Cleb? What a ding ball thing to print.
You know what he means. Everybody does. No need to play dumb.
I don’t think Rendon was ever going to LA
The best story from this signing is Arte and Scott making a deal!!!
they were dining out a few times this offseason.
Washington should have just signed Rendon then, instead of injury-prone Strasburg.
I agree. Good call.
Agreed. This is the exact same contract that Strasburg signed. Rendon is 2 years younger and not quite the injury history. I think Rendon is a slight overpay and Strasburg is a huge overpay..
When Albert is off the books in 2028 they’ll be able to go out and get some pitching
This still will not give the Angels a playoff team, they still need A LOT of pitching, 2 players can’t carry a team.
Exactly, because their starting rotation and their bullpen are still not very good.
Angels felt pressure to make a big splash this offseason with all the “get mike trout help” talk, again. They didn’t get cole and maybe felt like they had to do this? They need pitching and I assume they still get some solid arms but idk if this was necessary.
we still have long offseason.
Dang it Andrew Friedman…
The Angels can have Madison. Who names their son Madison. He may have one good year left in his tank. The Angels need pitchers. That was a very bad idea.
So many arrows you shoot. How brave our scout. You make fun of anothers name?
number1dodger?
We can’t just do nothing out here in Chavez Ravine. We’re not gonna win a title by taking a nap in the off-season, we need to change something, this team can’t win 11 games in October. Something needs to change. Now.
@dodgersfan223574
Is that the GMs fault or is on the players?
In 36 post-season games since 2017 Beringer has a .560 OPS
In 31 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Seager has a .605 OPS
Kershaw had 2 back to back postseasons with a ERA over 7.
The GM can;t it in the clutch nor pitch.
First of all, the Dodgers don’t have a GM. Haven’t had one for over a year.
Second, Friedman admitted that his team was unprepared for the way they were pitched in the postseason and he doesn’t know the answer. So yes, it’s on management too. Mr. Friedman should get no free passes from the fans. He already got one from ownership and that’s one too many.
dodgerscrybayfan22 So demanding. You sound adorable when you screech like that. Mommys little snuggler?
Great maybe the Dodgers can sign Kole Calhoun now. They don’t have that many LH bats ♂️
The real winner this offseason – Boras. He’s raking it in.
They need Adell in the lineup once he gains his extra year of control, by not getting called up by the certain date
as soon as he is ready he should be in the lineup.
If they don’t sign one of these second tier free agent starters I’ll still set their over under at 83
Glad he wont be killing the Mets anymore lol Nats took an L today
Trout might have gotten over $500 million if he had waited until this off season to restructure/extend his contract.
snoo? So?
Just an observation and opinion.. I’m sure Trout’s completely satisfied with the money he got.
Outside a juiced ball contract year he was an above average player. Horrible overpay.
Not sure what stats you are looking at, but that’s clearly not the truth.
@thetruth
Fourth highest WAR total behind only Trout, Mookie and Yelcih the last 3 sesons. Father time.
Donaldson to Texas or L.A.?
Nationals maybe, but hopefully Philly.
Texas, because they can DH him if they have to offer an extra year.
Good point. He would rake in Texas and the DH would keep him fresh.
I don’t see how anyone can say this off season is slow.
How are Angels fans upset about this?! You just got one of the best players in the game!
After a few questionable years with players holding out (Kuechel, etc..) Scott Boras is back with a vengeance! Over $800M in signed contracts from (3) clients!!!
Time to work out a deal with the Red Sox for Price. The Sox will gladly eat some money and not ask for much back in return. A lot of people beat up on Price but he’s been quite good the last two seasons and I feel that he would excel in Anaheim. (The Boston media is too much for him to handle). While he doesn’t throw 95+ anymore, he is an excellent pitcher who can hit his spots and he’s proven that he can win big games now too. Given that Bumgarner will cost the Angels their 2nd round draft pick to sign, it might be better to trade a couple of fringe prospects to Boston for Price than to forfeit a potential lottery ticket. Would love to see the Angels and A’s battle it out for the AL West this year. With a few more moves by Anaheim (or possibly even Texas) the AL West could very well send 3 teams to the AL playoffs this season! They will just need to beat out the Rays.
Good move they needed another bat if they truly wanted to do anything. Now they need to sign ryu, and porcello ( they need an innings eater) trade for price or kluber someone. And then sign Justin smoak
Now they need to sign Ryu and trade for Price
NOW, go sign Donaldson to play 3rd, move Rendon to 2nd, trade Fletcher and La Stella for pitching???
If the anonymous Reddit user is to be believed (and he’s been 100% correct so far) then the Angels are now going to trade for David Price. Add in a deal for Keuchel and they just MIGHT have a Wild Card spot
It’s too bad all the best pitchers out there are lefties. Oakland raked lefties last year.
Friedman is terrible. Now we’re going to sign Donaldson who adds nothing to the team that we already don’t have and will probably end up getting hurt.
Signing Rendon greatly improves Angels everyday lineup with hopefully comeback of injury from Upton and Simmons. However, Pitching is currently a house of cards and needs big help.
The Angels are closer but they still need to get some sort of a Bumgarner/Ryu/Price combo platter to seriously compete.
Okay. Now that leaves Donaldson. The Braves just have to outbid the Dodgers, Nationals and the Phillies who all have much deeper pockets. Boy do I feel confident. =/
And RANGERS! Who by the way, can offer an extra year since they can DH him.
I’d much rather give 7/245 to a position player than a pitcher. Rendon doesn’t turn 30 until June Strasburg is 32 in July so he’s almost two years older than Rendon. I’ll bet 7 years on Rendon over 7 for Strasburg. Although, Washington needed to keep Strasburg. The ange’s need pitching more than they need Rendon but it’s a good deal. It will be a great deal if the get some pitching, too, We’ll see.
And the Dodgers do nothing again this year, oh we tried BS.
The Dodgers are STACKED! The move they should’ve made was to get a new manager. Robert’s is not the one.
Friedman gave Roberts a nice big contract extension. Try to figure it out, it really isn’t that complicated.
I think Jon Daniels was really dumb in not wanting to make this a 7 year deal, Rangers didn’t want more than 5, while fine for Donaldson, Rendon is ONE of the best third basemen in the game, he deserves the 7 years and he got. Well done angels, but JD choked this one… Hopes he doesn’t screw himself out of Donaldson and a Ryu or a mad bum… either way solid deal for both sides
They need another righty SP to go along with Ohtani,Heaney,Buddy and Canning. They should trade for Kluber. If Fletcher moves to 2b they can trade LaStella and a couple minor leaguers to Cleveland ?
Sure! We’ll give you Plutko for LaStella and a couple of minor leaguers. Brace yourselves for disappointment if you think you’re getting Kluber on the cheap. I find it absolutely hilarious. Congrats on the Rendon signing though. He’s one helluva player.
Does anybody read these comments before commenting? All you geniuses that are repeating “but can he pitch” line and all the “good luck with the taxes” comments.
I’m also seeing repeat comments containing, “would of” and “angles”.
Lot of jealousy out there. Good job Eppler!
For sure Freggy.
So Joe Maddon misses out on his ‘Jon Lester’ in Gerrit Cole but does get his ‘Kris Bryant’ with Anthony Rendon. That’s one heck of a one-two punch along with Mike Trout the Angels batting order. The micromanaging ‘Genius’ will still figure out a way to get the least amount of production possible from this future HOF duo.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Joe Maddon is trash and so are the Angels.
yeah, that’s how cubs won the world series in million years!
I give Joe Maddon 0 credit for that. They won despite Joe Maddon. That title happened because Epstein knows how to build a championship roster and polish it off with a shutdown closer at the trade deadline. It cost the cubs Gleyber Torres but they would make that deal all day everyday. In conclusion in Theo we trust, Maddon is garbage.
how come cubs can’t win now? it’s still eps running the show..
No one’s won more games the last 5 years, including 4 straight playoffs, 3 straight NLCS and a ring in the bank with their young championship core still intact. There’s a lot of teams that would LOVE to have the Cubs “problems” haha
@Moneyballer I do agree. They don’t even get by SF without Chapman, much less the Dodgers and CLE. That’s the difference between the Dodgers and Cubs, they don’t get married to their prospects. The goal is to win, at the time Torres was blocked anyway. I hope he continues to be great in NY, I have no issue with that trade. The Cubs won with a lot of their homegrown “prospects” KB, Schwarber, Baez, Hendricks, Contreras, etc… but you have to be willing to use prospects as currency when you feel it’s time to win and go for it.
If the Dodgers feel they are one or two proven pieces away from getting over the hump, they gotta be willing to move a legit prospect or two. Perhaps Lux and May for Kluber and Lindor comes to mind.
Who was Torres blocked by? Big Baby Ben Zobrist? Heard Big Baby Ben made the All MLB Crybaby team. And Big Baby Bryant made it too.
Trout will spend a third of their games at SS and Rendon might be a part time catcher.
and you may come out of mama’s basement once a year!
Only if he’s wearing a helmet
Should used that money to sign three decent pitchers , but they’ll probably just end up trading Thais for Urena , Thais will become a decent 3rd baseman and Urena will blow his arm out and finish the season with 5 era . That’s just how the angels roll
Bunch of morons running the Angels. All Rendon will do is make up the production for the decline of Pujols. Missing the playoffs again.
Pujols hit 20+ HR and hit in the mid 200’s and 100rbi
Plus Simmons, Upton, Ohtani lol dude, you’re deluded
So you’re expecting Pujols to put -5ish WAR a year for the remaining life of his contract? As a part-time 1b/dh?
Dude, why are we even talking about Pujols? He’s hitting 6 or 7th in the lineup lol
Because he’s a shadow of the hitter that he was when he signed his massive deal. Again, rendon is replacing the lost production of Pujols. The impact will be minimal from a deal so large. Mistake.
@Moneyballer
You;re not living up to your name. In 2019 Rendon had more WAR than Pujols has had in the last 5 seasons total.
It’s almost as if as players decline/retire, teams develop/sign/trade for younger players to replace them.
$245 for a top ten hitter who plays a gold glove 3B, protects Trout and plays everyday. Solid deal. Now let’s see what they do with SP
They will do absolutely nothing.
Cool story, bro
they will sit on the mariners and let one big one out!
That wasn’t even a sentence
mrwart14 you sound like a frustrated school marm. Hair in a bun? Smell like little moth balls? Maybe correct yourself.
About time they gave Trout some protection in the lineup. This is Arte Moreno’s best move in quite some time.
It is commendable that they locked up their boy Trout and they are trying to build around him… But get some pitching.
Yeah, they DEFINITELY need to address their pitching our Trout still won’t sniff the playoffs.
So the astros cheated huh?
They should trade Adell for pitching
They won’t Adell is part of the future
How about Adell to Cubs for Quintana and Contreras?
Angels say no quickly.
They shouldn’t ,
You’re right. They should laugh a bunch first.
Rendon takes pressure off in regard to “offensive” catcher……But two starting pitchers a must……Six man rotation works for me.
School is out for a week to celebrate this new Angel! (or the little ones may grouse and pull their bloody cuticles and hope not one sees what they do with boogers.)
For all of the people commenting on taxes, blah, blah, blah
Huh, people with Rendon type money don’t get their taxes done at H&R Block & Jackson Hewitt’ like most Americans LOL
So it’s highly unlikely half his salary will be going to taxes.
I.E…The really, really rich (even in California) have really, really, really good tax people and CPA’s and investment advisors on their payrolls to avoid what the majority of working schmucks can’t avoid
“He, Gerrit Cole ($324MM) and Stephen Strasburg ($245MM) will combine for a jaw-dropping $814MM in guarantees.”
Dear MLBTR Team:
Stop subconsciously beating yourself up…your predictions were close. The term “jaw dropping” no longer exists in the baseball transaction world because of…
…YOU!!!!!!
THANK YOU
(FROM TORONTO, DIE HARD JAYS FAN)
To many Angels fans dissapointed with this move because the team needs pitching. The Angels just massively upgraded 3B. His floor looks like its around a 900 OPS. His defense is premium.
This move is more impactful then any single pitcher still on the market. Rendon is worth more wins than Bumgarner and Bumgarner is still out there if they think he’s worth the demand. So is Ryu. The offseason hasn’t concluded.
Maddon now has 2 of the top 7 position players to utilize, filling out the lineup with another bat is crucial.Joe is the only Manager that could pull the nose of that plane up & remove the bad MoJo there. Pencil the Angels in to 2020 playoffs. 35 mil/yr Niccccce. Ouch
They must get pitching. Must. But this is a huge signing no doubt.
Yes, because even they score over 800 or 900 runs, which they should have no trouble doing so they are not going to be a playoff team with that pitching staff.
Maddon found his new lead off hitter
ATL definitely in too deep in Rendone waters for sure. I had that Braves fan feeling of NOPE not happening here.
Come on AA get something going and bring back JD.
JD is 34. He’s going to get 4 and 110-120M. Not gonna be a NL team.
Unless it’s Washington or Philly they got the money
I love it when the Angels overpay players. Keep going, Arte Moreno! Go for the billion dollar annual payroll!
These tax comments are hilarious. So he’ll take home roughly a 170 million. Hahaha, to play baseball in SoCal. Most in this comment section can’t even comprehend how much loot that is. I doubt he’s worried about paying the sunshine tax, I certainly don’t mind paying it to live out here and I don’t make anywhere near that kinda money. Sounds like sour grapes from homers that are jealous he didn’t sign with their team.
And all these super rich players can get back much that is lost to taxes with the safest of investments.
The people on this site are amazing The Yankees sign one of the best pitchers in baseball.The response terrible signing. The Angels sign one of the best offensive players in baseball.Terrible signing. Heres my question to all you people who say how bad a signing this is, What kind of numbers is Trout going to put up with Rendon hitting behind him. Now explain to me again why this is a terrible signing
And they think Yankees fans are bad.
Has to be the worst run team in baseball
Nice consolation prize to Cole. That team is going to score a lot of runs- and give up a lot. I think having the best defensive SS in the game and a great defensive CF certainly helps them
90 million or so tied into just 3 players against the payroll. It’s like what now we treat the rest of the team like we are Tampa Bay? Given what Trout is paid I think Donaldson was a better fit for the Angels. They’d save 10mil a year and with that money they could get a good reliever too or a #3 starter maybe. Just saying this contract with Trout’s and Pujols they have to go to luxury tax territory just to field a competitive team. If Arte doesn’t mind shelling out extra money for the tax the next couple seasons then it’s not a bad pickup Pujols will be off the books in a couple seasons.
Great point… and Donaldson would hit behind Trout, protecting him. Also, Josh would be a much shorter contract so they can reassess during the next 3-4 years until the next set of high-level SPs become available in FA under the new CBA rules.
Rendon will also hit behind Trout. His presence also doesn’t prevent any assessments re- or otherwise of Free Agent pitching in ’22 or ’23. It does likely prevent having to assess Free Agent third basemen in ’22 or ’23, at which point Rendon will be around Donaldson’s current age.
But, the length of this contract could be prohibitive for the Angels as FAs are only going to get more expensive. Yes the provide similar benefits for the Angels but one frees up a bunch of money in 3 years to get pitching, the other does not. And Simmons isa FA next year with some high quality SS becoming available within the next two offseasons. So, Donaldson is a better get, imo for what they should be looking at to compete over the next 5 years.
If FA contracts continue upward over the next 3-4 seasons, which is not guaranteed to happen, then the value of Rendon’s contract would be less prohibitive relative to the market, not to mention that it is currently 1 of a grand total of 2 guaranteed contracts on the books post-2022.
If you believe the Angels will still be in dire need of FA pitching in 3-4 seasons then it doesn’t really matter who their third baseman is over that stretch: either one will be spending 3-4 Octobers at home . If the organization then blames Rendon’s contract for an unwillingness to spend money, trade for players, or apparently develop ANY homegrown pitching, especially if his production up to that point matches his deal (I’d bet on Rendon”s 30-33 seasons over Donaldson’s 34-37), then they truly are either inept or uninterested in winning.
As a Braves fan that goes to a lot of Angels games, I’m very happy with this signing.
It takes Rendon out of the NL and I can finally watch him play without having a knot in my stomach…
What’s the one thing the Angels need every single year, because injuries always thin it out? It isn’t third basemen. Unless there’s an upcoming trade for a high-end starter- none of which seem to be available- I don’t see this as moving the needle.
The Angels Opening Day/Every Day 3b has been hurt the last two seasons. Yunel Escobar was the last to play 100+ games at third in 2016.
Point taken. Even if you don’t like WAR, wins above Zack Cozart seems relevant here.
You should absolutely pitch WAZC to FanGraphs.
they still have no pitching
I’ve been saying Rendon was going to Anaheim before the postseason even started. They’ve had a huge hole at 3rd since troy glaus and scott speizio
Well that was a good call. Most people thought he was going to Texas.
Angels made right move. Cole is going to play in about 34 games and how many games that he wins Yankees were going to win regardless. Rendon has the ability to effect 162 games. The wins per dollar is a lot higher with Rendon and the angels still have room for at least one of the big three pitchers left. May not be enough to catch Oakland or houston(depending on what they do or happens to them from the commish) but they will be more fun to watch
Foolish spending hasn’t gotten the angels anywhere recently… can’t imagine that this takes them any further. I mean truth is, you have to at least have decent pitching… which they do not. Good for Rendon though. Getting paid
They added the best remaining FA. how does entire have issue with that?
around a billion spent on 5 guys. or 50000 teachers jobs or 10000 homes for the homeless or 100000 healthcare plans for kids. would it be so so horrible if raised taxes? warning to players and owners. dont stole or it will kill the game. when the cashier at the pro shop can’t afford a home I think they should shut the he’ll up
Yes, keep blaming baseball players for the economic imbalances plaguing our entire society, since, we all know they are the ones in power.
Wish it was the Phillies, but wish him success there. He earned it.
Angels fans (and other fans) – what do you project to be the typical batting order with Rendon? Fletcher, Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, Pujols as the first 5?
I believe Fletcher may be traded, so La Stella, Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, Uoton, Pujols, Goodwin, Simmons,, Stassi (or another catcher)
Winners: Rendon, Boras, anyone that didn’t just pay 245M for a middle of the road 3B.
Loser: anyone that did pay 245M for a middle of the road 3B
So everyone’s a winner, then? Because so far this offseason no one has paid $245 million dollars for a middle of the road third baseman.
Loser: you for spouting factual nonsense about how good Rendon is. Please, name more than 1 better 3B than him. Actually, name 10 better than him, that’s what it would take for him to be “middle of the pack.”
Middle of the road third baseman. Do you know know baseball? or are delusional.
You do realize he was first team on the all baseball team. This middle of the road 3rd basemen in #2 in WAR the last two years at his position and isn’t 30 years old yet.
Dvader I would be interested in your analysis of how Rendon is middle of the road TJ third baseman
35 million per year to Rendon— that is crazy Really solid player, but not worth that amount.
Look at his numbers again, then ask yourself if those numbers can reasonably be construed as merely “really solid” as opposed to “elite.”
He’s elite. He’s sixth in baseball in WAR the last six years and he’s under 30.
Thirty five million is a lot. Too much. But he’s the best position player to hit the market in years. It will be interesting how much more Betts will get… who is the second best player of the last six years.
How much do you think Betts will get? It’s the going rate.
Actually he may be. He is fourth behind, Trout, Yelich, and Betts in WAR over the past 4 years. He has a high on base percentage and will work counts. He is a doubles machine. He will hit behind Trout. If Trout is on base when he hits a double that is a run.
Problem is that the Angels need pitching. The lineup looks solid, I hope they dont enter the start of the season with what they have now for starting pitching. I would rather have pitchers rather than Rendon, but I’d rather have Rendon than nothing at all.
Good player feel the angels overpaid and they did it just to pacify Mike Trout. This is the guy who got his ring and has decided now I just want to get paid and the angels are clearly still at best the third best team in the American League west. The angels now have three massive contracts they will not be able to get out from under five years from now when this deal comes off like a nightmare they will be unable to move him. He is without question and MVP candidate but he just does not move the needle for the Angels. If you are an angel fan ask yourself this question “does this make the angels better than Houston? Oakland? Even our cross city rival Dodgers?“ If you can honestly answer yes then you are delusional. Yankees fan here so I had no horse in the sweepstakes so I can save this objectively unless they trade for two top-of-the-line starters this is a 500 team at best.
Requiring that a single FA signing make a team instantly better than the teams you named to be considered a good one is bananas. (incidentally, the Angels only have two contracts on the books in 5 years). The assumption that it’s the only move the team plans on making is also strange.
For those thinking Rendon was overpaid, remember that Arenado’s contract set the market and Rendon is the superior all-around player.
While the Arenado defenders are getting set here, Bregman’s better too. And Machado. Maybe even Suarez. Devers is a better hitter also. All said, Rendon is justified being paid higher than a guy who’s not a Top 5 third baseman in baseball.
Anyway, although the Angels might suffer on the mound they will have quite the lineup.
Mr. Guest.
You really are one of the better posters here.
There are some strong third baseman, no doubt, but WAR last year. Bregman 1, Rendon 2. Two years Bregman 1. Rendon 2. Last three years. Rendon 1, Bregman 2.
The last three years Rendon has a better ave, OBP and slugging than Bregman.
Bregman’s better because he’s younger. But I don’t see how you can make a case for someone else being better than Rendon.
It’s baseball, things change. But Rendon is elite.
Mac – I want to stress that I was making a point that Rendon is better than Arenado. I’d have to sit down and think about the best 3B debate. So many factors, and I don’t weight WAR as high as others do. There are flaws in that number with variables that do not account certain human elements.
Congrats on your Angels locking in Rendon. Depending on how things play out this offseason I might have to take back that whole 3rd or 4th place comment from weeks ago 🙂
…what…are you…basing that on?
I….am…..basing…..it…..on everything outside of Colorado.
Ah, so you arbitrarily ignore one player’s career Home production, then compare what remains to the careers of a group of players in their entirety. Interesting system.
Incidentally Arenado’s better on the road than Suarez and Machado [who is the only one close to Arenado defensively], and Devers has had ONE great season offensively, though him hitting left-handed at Fenway for 81 games doesn’t get the same “Colorado is magic” type dismissal.
Comparing Fenway to Coors is ignorant in-itself.
Factually incorrect with Suarez and Machado. Both, along with Longoria, had a higher OPS than Arenado on the road. So did Moncada, Sano, Bryant and Justin Turner. Arenado typically lands outside the Top 10 in OPS. Some years not, most years yes. At home, Arenado falls 1st or 2nd.
Double check the numbers before you take a puff.
How is comparing two stadiums ignorant? We’re literally comparing 3rd basemen. If I said they were the same, that would be ignorant. I’m saying they, along with several other stadiums favor hitters to varying degrees. Rather than factoring those advantages across the board, you’ve decided Arenado’s, and only Arenado’s home numbers just don’t count when evaluating him. It doesn’t make any sense.
RE: Machado and Suarez I was using career splits. Since you’ve cherry-picked OPS: .
Arenado Road OPS: .799
Machado Road OPS: .778
Suarez Road OPS: .779
Not that it matters, as your Best all-around 3B rankings relegate only Arenado to his offensive performance on the road (or just his OPS?) It was just a quick aside..
2018 OPS:
Arenado – .772
That was behind Maikel Franco, Andujar, Camargo, Machado (primarily SS that year), Bryant, Gyorko, E. Escobar, Wendel, Suarez, Bregman, J. Ramirez, Turner, Rendon, Chapman, M. Carpenter, Bregman.
Fingers are tired from all those names….
2017 – Arenado: .886
Still behind Sano, Cozart, Turner (again), Frazier, Donaldson, Bryant (again), J. Ramirez (again)
2016 – Arenado: .832
Still behind Matt Carpenter (again), Solarte, Beltre, K. Seager, Machado (again), Longoria, Turner (3rd time), Donaldson (again), Valencia, Bryant (3rd time)….in less than 200 at bats, Bregman also higher.
And 2019: Arenado .866
Still behind Bregman, Sano, Rendon, Turner (4th time), Devers, Moncada, Bryant (4th time) Urshela, Suarez, H. Dozier, Machado, Longoria
Are we done yet?
All that typing and you somehow still forgot to type “Road” next to all those OPSs
“Are we done yet?”
I mean, you’ve done a pretty good job proving that as long as you ignore half of the games he’s played, his defense, seem to define “best all-around 3b” exclusively by OPS (even though “in less than 200 at bats, Bregman also higher.” leads me to believe you don’t know how rate stats work), then misrepresent his OPS by using only his road numbers without labeling, then Arenado is definitely an inferior 3rd baseman.
So yeah if that was your plan, mission accomplished.
Well, I’ve been watching MLB Network and the people on there who actually know baseball. Every one of them has been praising the Angels for signing Rendon. I trust their analysis more than the brain trust that is on here bashing the Angels for this signing. No one knows they need pitching more than the Angels. They have plenty of money left to get a couple of good starters and a catcher. Let’s see how it plays out. The winter is young.
The Angels just went from 70 to 74 wins.
Look out baseball, Trout may be playing important games till late June. Not sure how he deals with all the pressure.
This can’t be good for the “average” fan trying to see a game for less then a week’s salary, to me, this has become a ” rich man’s” game.
If it was gonna cost $245m and 7 years for either Rendon or Strasburg, the Nats should have given it to Rendon. Their pitching is much deeper than their offense.
Working and living a few blocks away from the big A; can’t wait to see Trout and Tony in same lineup!
Best move they could have made; no way pay Cole 324M.
Can sign MadBum or Ryu; etc.
Hang out till trade deadline and further upgrade pitching then
Honk Honk
If healthy, Rendon is a strong compliment to Trout long term. LAA just needs a big lefty power bat besides Ohtani to balance the lineup. Why not call BAL about Davis for 1B? BAL would obviously have to eat a ton of salary.
angl222 – Have you looked at Davis’ career stats? He stinks. His career BA is .234. He hit .179 in 2019. Again, he stinks.
Davis? WTF?
Wow Davis and Pujols in the same lineup!!!
Aredondo should be crying right now his a way better player could have gotten 300 million in this years free agent class. Its not even a competition any more why would any player not hire Boras he gets huge deals for average players. And if you dont think so look at their career numbers not just last year where most guys hit home runs.
With all these boras signing, one wonders if the owners are just doing this to appease the free agents after the cold winter of the past two seasons to see how the market plays. Not saying Rendon isnt an overpay, but a player in the prime is worth it. And especially at the winter meetings and not some mid season or pre spring training signing. Now if there are more signings, especially to medium and smaller market clubs..
Angels needed pitchers and instead they got another high priced hitter. A better buy than their last bat big FA bat but its still not going to make up for a total lack of starting pitching.
Yeah, they should’ve totally spent $450mil on a guy who plays once, maybe twice a week instead of locking down 3B with an A++ defense and hitter
smh
Two players on the Angels make up the entire salary of the A’s, and they’re still better than you. Buy them rings Angels!
As long as the A’s continue their 30 year tradition of not buying, nor otherwise earning “them rings.”
Angles will be paying 3 players $100 million for the next 2 years. Bold strategy.
Nice. Too bad the Angels need three starters to even say they have a decent rotation. Their bullpen is nowhere near good either.
Finally someone mentions the Angels need for pitching in the Angels Sign Anthony Rendon comments. Valuable insight that no one seems to realize.
Man, I would hope they realize it…. Reality is, Rendon will protect Trout and provide enough for a few wins, but good pitching will make them contenders. I’m sure their front office realizes it too, I’m just not entirely sure what their strategy is at this point. Dallas and MadBum ain’t gonna get it done, but at least it will improve their rotation a little.
Mick, I was being facetious. It’s been mentioned maybe a hundred times-ish in this article’s comments.
I was being double-facetious(?) I confess, I’m not really sure that’s a thing.
He is a great player…he becomes a great acquisition only if they can get some pitching and compete. I would dangle Adell in a trade and sign one of the three remaining decent starters left. You have to get at least two quality pitchers (really more) to compete.
Good thing you’re not the GM because that’s a horrible idea
Plain and simple desperate move by a team that needs to just start a rebuild their not beating Houston or the As even with rendon. You would figure all those years working with cashman the angels GM would have learned something. Trout wasted his career on a losing team its sad but he and ohtani chose to play their so their not real winers if they chose to play for them.
Start to rebuild?? How? The Angels got Pujols with massive contract still on the books and Trout signed on for years to come. This was a move to surround Trout with another productive player that can help scoring more runs.
Now it would be a total failure if the Angels cannot sign at least 2 established starting pitchers because everyone knows that pitching is their glaring need.
They’ll have to trade Addel. I think they start emptying out the farm of position prospects, at least. They can get Syndergard I believe almost straight up for him. They need Upton to produce, Albert to come back to what he was five years ago, health from their pitching along with luck. Rays send Alvarado, Castillo, Whitley for Addel.
Plain and simple, desperate use of the word their.
People like you who don’t like the Angels will never recognize a step towards improving an already talented team. By anyone’s standards who knows baseball, the Angels have an incredible lineup. So I ask you and anyone who shares your negative opinion:
Who should the Angels acquire this winter to change your mind into thinking they have a chance at a successful season?
Keuchel is a ground ball pitcher, he would do great with that angel infield.
reading this being a red sox fan makes me so glad we dont have a 3rd baseman making anywhere anywhere near that kinda money, all we have is a better defender, hitter and fielder, while rendon may hit for more home runs( i’ve never seen him play so i have no idea), our 3rd base is locked down for most likely the next 15 years, thank you ben Cherrington:)