The Angels and Anthony Rendon have agreed to a restructured version of his contract that will defer the $38MM he is still owed for the next three to five seasons, reports Sam Blum of The Athletic. Rendon will not return to the team. His tenure with the Angels is over.
Rendon is not officially “retiring,” Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register adds. He’ll still count against the team’s roster for the time being, although with the two sides agreeing to part ways, it stands to reason that the Angels could release him at any point. He’ll be paid regardless.
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reported in late November that the two parties were working on a buyout of sorts regarding the final year and $38MM on the seven-year, $245MM contract Rendon signed following his monster 2019 season. It proved to be a catastrophic misstep for the Halos — one of the least-productive major signings in the sport’s history. Rendon played in only 257 games for Anaheim, slashing just .242/.348/.369 with 22 home runs in 1095 plate appearances. Of a possible 1032 games he could have played with the Angels, Rendon will wind up appearing in just under one-quarter of them.
It’s easy to forget, but Rendon’s Angels tenure started out quite well. He played in 52 of 60 games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and slashed a robust .286/.418/.497 with nine homers, 11 doubles, a triple and more walks (16.4%) than strikeouts (13.4%). It was precisely the type of star-level output for which the Angels hoped when signing the 2019 postseason standout after a sensational run in Washington; from 2017-19, Rendon had slashed .310/.397/.556 with the Nationals.
Everything fell apart after that first season in Anaheim. Rendon’s 2021 season was cut short by hip surgery. His 2022 season ended early due to wrist surgery. He missed all of the 2025 season following a second hip surgery. Even in the 2023-24 seasons, when he avoided undergoing any kind of surgical procedure, Rendon was limited to just 90 games due to the combination of a fractured tibia (suffered when fouling a ball into his leg), a torn hamstring and an oblique strain.
As one would expect, as those injuries piled up, Rendon’s production wilted. Following his terrific 2020 campaign, he played in just 202 games with the Angels and hit .231/.329/.336 with poor defense. He was effectively a replacement-level player — and a frequently injured one at that. Rendon also sparked controversy off the field as well in 2023, when he was captured on video grabbing an A’s fan by the shirt after he’d been cussed at while leaving the field. Rendon swore at the fan and took a swipe at him after releasing his shirt. He was suspended for four games and fined by the league.
The Angels weren’t counting on any contributions from Rendon in 2026 anyhow, but the restructure and deferral of his weighty $38MM salary gives the team some extra spending power this winter. Details surrounding the nature of the deferrals and how much — if anything — they’ll pay Rendon in 2026 are unclear. Blum, however, suggests that the Angels could use the newfound financial freedom to pursue a higher-profile free agent this winter. That doesn’t necessarily have to be at third base, although in Alex Bregman and NPB star Kazuma Okamoto, there are a pair of notable options at the position.
Many of the top names on the free agent market remain unsigned to this point. In addition to Bregman and Okamoto, none of Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez or Tatsuya Imai have signed yet. Imai’s 45-day posting window closes on Jan. 2. Okamoto’s posting window closes two days later.
Prior to the Rendon buyout/restructure, RosterResource projected the Angels’ payroll at about $172MM, which is roughly $34MM shy of their 2025 level. Depending on how the new arrangement has been structured, the Angels could be anywhere from $40-70MM shy of last year’s season-ending mark, which would give general manager Perry Minasian and his staff plenty of room to further augment the club.
Worst FA signing ever.
At least he didn’t play much. Which is better than playing poorly
oh – What are the odds of two teammates signing free agent contracts just 4 days apart, for the same 7 years and $245M, and both being absolute busts.
Strasburg was the bigger bust, at least the Angels got 3.9 WAR out of Rendon …… the Nats got just 8 starts and a combined -0.5 WAR out of Strasburg.
True but don’t forget Strasburg was mvp 2019 world series Nats screwed up not taking out insurance on that contract. ✌🏻
I don’t think the Nats could take out insurance on the contract… prior injuries to Strasburg was the reason…
Could you imagine if the nationals resigned both of them
Yes Rendon played more. But he didn’t play well by anyone’s standards. Meaning if he didn’t play another player would have the opportunity to play better than Rendon was. Strasbourg cost the Nationals money and a few games. Rendon cost the angels money and a lot of lost opportunities for other players
The Strasburg contract was arguably one of, if not the, worst contract(s) in MLB history.
Probably be no difference. Neither played. A collossal sunk cost, though.
I’m an Angel fan, I remember being disappointed by the Rendon signing, I really wanted them to go after Strasburg, needed pitching more than anything. Both pretty bad.
That 3rd base position has been a curse to the Angels since Glaus left.
Eh, there are multiple players on record implying rendon was a locker room cancer too. Id take Stras.
Names?
@dolomite. Papelbon. Suzuki and Eaton were on the team. They might know something.
I wanted the halos to go after Gerrit Cole though I doubt he would have seriously considered Anaheim
Rendon’s overall production of 3.9 WAR in 1.5 seasons worth of play is actually slightly above league average *when on the field.* The reason the Angels didn’t give other players opportunities was because they failed to build depth through player development and signings. The team has been more or less operating under the assumption that Rendon can’t be counted on to produce for 3 years now, they’ve just failed to produce a replacement. To the degree that’s about wasted money, it is *to the dollar* equally true of Strasburg, while producing less.
Rendon has gotten all the attention the last few years because of his terrible attitude toward the game and fans making it all look so much worse, but from a strict production standpoint, Strasburg is objectively worse. Literally below replacement.
Watching Corbin lose 15 games a year since they won was also rough. However he had a decent 25 after he road out his contract and left. I thought for sure he would havr retired
Not a classic 3B type, but Chone Figgins was the Angels regular third baseman for the last three years of his tenure there, and was fantastic. MVP votes in two of those years.
Fever, this is right up Henry’s alley. Rendon gets signed for minimum with incentives to play third!
had scherzer brain….coming off maybe the best return on a long term free agent pitcher signing in history (aside from landing the final year trade, though even that looked good at the time)
doubled down on stephen., got reminded what pitchers arms usually do on 7 year contracts, max was a unicorn, stephen of course looked it….but…pitching isn’t friendly to arms…
Not the same guy that said baseball was not his priority and he wasn’t passionate about?
The Angels have never recovered from yhe lost draft picks of the Pujols/Hamilton signing years.
Rendon did well during the Pandemic shortened 2020 season… he just fell off the map after that
I swear they must have made a deal with the devil for the 2019 WS!
youtu.be/X_W3In2KwG0?t=5217
Agreed that barely playing is relatively better than playing badly, plus Rendon was actually healthy and played well for the first year of the deal, as short as it was. As such, the Chris Davis contract at the very least surpasses both Rendon and Strasburg among MLB’s worst contracts.
How about Ryan Howard’s 5 year $125 million contract extension that the Phillies began paying in 2012. The season “after” he tore his Achilles tendon on October 7, 2011 which pretty much ended his career before a cent was paid on the contract and he graciously took all the money from the Phillies for the contract he gave no production towards.
How about Jed Lowrie? 1 walk for 20M from the mets. 8 plate appearances. 20M per base is insane.
I know its after the original contract but bobby bo has to be up there. The man gets a million a year and i dont think he has played in this century.
Bobby Bonilla has played in this century. A 5 second search shows his last season was 2001.
I nominate Ian Desmond. It isn’t even paying the guy $70M for a -2.8 bWAR, as the fact that they signed him, but didn’t have a position for him. They had good players at 2nd, 3rd, and SS, and a good CF.
hence the reason i said think because i really didnt care to waste that 5 seconds
You cared to take, or as you say ‘waste’, the time on that reply.
Whatever tho. It’s no big deal. Have a good day.
I got muted for that? Wow, some people really are hypersensitive.
That’s not necessarily true unless your replacement was providing value. As it played out the Angels paid two salaries for subpar play.
Even providing no value (AKA replacement level) is better than providing negative value.
ohyeadam easy for you to say when you’re not flipping the bill. Not playing much and playing poorly on that salary are pretty much synonyms.
If he could play a lot, he would have been good. injuries kill performance.
Saj, injuries kill performances, correct. So does lack of motivation, laziness, and poor attitude… The guy didn’t try at all.
.717 OPS for a corner INF is not that good at all.
Hosmer? Davis? Sandoval?
Pavano
Chris Davis close for sure
Steroids?
Ellsbury
Joey Gallo. The next Shohei /s
Christmas came on December 30th in Anaheim
Moreno’s gift to himself….now whoever buys the team after the lockout will have to pay a chunk of his salary.
Isn’t deferred salary placed in an annuity to guarantee payment? If so, Moreno’s already paid it.
Chris Davis
Pablo Sandoval
Mike Hampton
Jason Heyward
Josh Hamilton
Kris Bryant is also one that has turned out to be brutal so far. I hope he can get and stay healthy. Back injuries are no joke.
Rendon was bad I think there’s been worse contracts.
Don’t forget Strasburg!
He was hurt but not fake hurt
@em
Are you insinuating Rendon faked his injuries? Because you’d have to give him credit to his commitment of getting multiple surgeries in order to sell his lie.
Oh, this list could go on forever, despite the strong and telling start. Most free agents are largely busts, worth remembering every year at this time as people spout hypothetical nonsense about how this or that player is the holy grail for a team’s success. They so rarely, if ever, are.
Dimitri,
“if ever”
Schwrzer helped the Nationals win a World Series. That’s at least one.
Ohtani is likely to be a massive win for the Dodgers, on the field and off.
Now this is going back a ways, but the best ever signing had to be Greg Maddux. The first 3 years of his tenure with Atlanta he won the CYA (adding the one he won with the Cubs in his walk year made 4 consecutive). Larry Himes was the GM who.let him walk.
Yes, fair response. Better perhaps to say all too rarely.
More like Maddux wanted to go someplace where he could win.
That’s NOT what happened. By the time Maddux made up his mind, he went back to the Cubs before signing with the Braves. By then, Hines had spent the allotted funds.
I don’t know I was just guessing. I don’t remember everything from 30 years ago and this really wasn’t a life change and comments just now.
Carl Crawford
Who can forget the Steve Kemp misstep by the Yankees a few years ago?
Heyward isn’t quite as bad as the others, as he did have some decent years under the contract and helped the Cubs finally win the World Series. As they say, flags fly forever.
All worthy nominees, however Rendon’s 7-year $245M puts the rest of those contracts to shame.
Jason Schmidt
Andruw Jones
Mo Vaughn
Bj upton for the braves. Tried but wasn’t effective.
cj wilson, hamilton, gary matthews, steal em from the rangers…..watch em tank. solid strategy arte..
some of those are worse than ones i mentioned. hampton at the time was almost as criminal as rendon.
Arte Moreno must watch the World Series religiously. All the free agents signed are ws top performers, but not always so much regular season, ie David freese. Arte really needs to stop looking at small sample size in a short series
I don’t get why CJ Wilson always gets mentioned among “bad contracts”. He effectively signed a 4-year/$77.5M contract (since he missed year 5), and while that IS certainly an overpay, he was an effective pitcher overall and hardly even close to one of the worst contracts.
He was injured before going into 2016. And it turned out he was hurt racing cars. What made it worse was that he bad-mouthed the team and some teamates. And he bought an automobile dealer while on $20 mil salary from the Angels.
@aragon – Then he breached his contract. According to CJ himself back in 2013 in an interview about racing, “It’s at your own risk. If you get injured and you show up to spring training injured because of it, then they can release you from your contract, which could be financially very painful.”
Add Denny Naegel. Pretty sure the Rockies werent counting in having to market a pitcher after soliciting an underage working gal.
Naegel did well with the braves
Pablo Sandoval
Mike Hampton
===================
I like these contracts because, not only were they overpayments, they made no sense.
Hampton’s stats in CO were some of the worst in the history of sports. From 1995-2000, he had a 15/15 K/W, a Whip of 1.8, and an ERA of 6.48. How did his agent ever convince the GM that Hampton would pitch great in Coors?
IRT Sandoval, the RS signed a rapidly declining player that was 50+ pounds overweight, to play 3rd?
Pablo was only $95mm in the dumpster. It should be at least 9 figures to make this list.
Has Rendon really ever joined the team?
There’s just a slight delay on his physical results.
Jordan Montgomery, 2yr/$47.5m, -1.4 WAR
Derek Bell’s free agent signing with the Pirates might be in competition
He was a complete bust (2001) and decided to leave the team in what became known as “ Operation Shutdown “
Did his agent tell him he was signing with the Pirates?
Kei Igawa says ‘konnichiwa’
No Stasburg signing worse.
Injuries to his left groin, left knee, left hamstring, left shin, left oblique, lower back, both wrists and both hips sent him to the IL.
How can someone be injured that much when he barely plays?
Josh Hamilton close 2nd.
Strasburg contract is worse because his contract was not covered by insurance
He may not have been insurable
Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, Eric Hosmer would all like a word. Yoenis Cespedes was also really egregious when you consider the Mets admitted they already KNEW he was injured before signing.
In MLB yes, but nothing comes close to the Browns contract with Deshaun Watson which was fully guaranteed. He was guaranteed 5/230 million. He spent way more time in court and suspension than on the field. When he has played he was basically the worst QB in the NFL.
Contracts over five years are inevitably a loser for the franchise with few exceptions.
EVER.
Rendon needs to RETIRE, and promise never to play again. Sort of a lifetime ban. None of us want to see him on a field again. And Halos need his roster spot.
Chris Davis gives him a run for that title
Great. Now, we can all forget about him.
Like Vernon Wells, this is one of the worst moves, and I hope it stays this way. I’d rather not forget but remember not to do this again.
@alan, at least Vernon was a good dude.
I love what Joe Posnanski said about the Vernon Wells contract and how insane it was:
“This isn’t a baseball contract. This is a testament to the power of mankind to do the impossible.”
And the fact the white sox claimed that contract!
Who?
I’m shocked — the guy loves the game, cannot believe it
Always played with his hair on fire and just oozed class and gratitude.
And good with the fans. Quite the media darling as well.
Freeing up money for Okamoto?
Mr. Moreno, sell the team!
No there not selling the team. Stop it
The only reason that Moreno didn’t sell the team before was that Moreno did not want to take responsibility for liability in the Skagg’s wrongful death lawsuit. Patrick Soon-Shiong was ready to buy the team and backed out because that lawsuit could have resulted in as much as a half billion dollar judgement.
Its only a question of when he will sell now, not if.
sell it back to Disney! when Disney owned it they won the World Series in 2002
Disney became bad owners very quickly even though they created the good angels teams
Since Arte Moreno joined the team, people wondered what kind of Mickey Mouse ballclub the Angels were.
At least when Disney owned the team, everyone knew.
At least with Disney, they were more hands off on the baseball department. The limitations of Disney forced them to get creative, to invest in scouting. Moreno robbed all the other departments to sign players after their peak to ridiculous deals, threw them on billboards, then they sucked on the field and he blamed everyone else. Moreno is one of the worst most unprofessional owners there is and he’s a stain on the league.
Hell no. Disney was worse than Arte. They won the world series despite Disney ownership.
At the very least Arte spends and yes Disney were bad owners to begin with.
How can you blame Moreno for this? No one on Earth knew than Rendon was going to turn into this. He seemed like a perfect fit when he was signed and never really showed any signs of being a walking injury that hated the game of baseball in Washington. He is just a good example of why 100% guaranteed contracts are a bad thing for the sport.
People are stupid.
redmatt: Thanks for confirming it.
Arte was chasing Gerrit Cole knowing he was going to the Yanks. Then Boras threw Rendon and Morono was hooked. For too much. We needed pitchers but with that much tied to Rendon there were only scraps.
If you don’t know the story, keeping quiet makes you look smarter.
Yeah. This deal was a serious misallocation of resources at the time and just ended up looking even worse.
I bow down to your incredible intelligence. I didn’t realize you were in the room while the negotiations were taking place. Thank you for educating me Oh Great Aragon, Fly on the Wall.
Hi, fly. Go eat some cow dung and grow.
@Aragon -Actually Arte had been following Rendon since his days at Rice. He figured since the Angels lost out on Cole a power hitting 3B would be a good fit. And a lot of Angel fans (Including myself) were happy with signing. Especially after being the main cog on Chapionship team.
@dolomite – As a Phils fan we saw a lot of him with the Nats, and while the contract (like all large FA deals) was too much for too long, Rendon was an incredibly consistent (and highly sought after) player up until that point. The Phils loved him and no one would have predicted (with foresight) that it would turn out this badly.
The dude had a lot of serious injuries and it turned out to be an awful deal. But all of the geniuses on here that make him out to be a dirtbag are just venting their spleen and drooling on their keyboards.
The problem was that if Arte wasn’t going to spend any more money and bring in pitching that he desperately needed—-then this deal was never going to lead to success
This tied up funds that were needed to spread around and build a team. Arte’s been doing this for a long time though. He collects and overpays a couple big talents but doesn’t give resources to his FO and never builds a team.
Well stated, aragon.
@aragon @balt
you guys are ridiculous. Trout was having another monstrous year and Pujols was fading away. They needed a bat to protect him as he led the league in IBB walks. There’s more than one way to improve a team and getting another bat to protect Trout was one way. Having Ohtani would’ve give them a daunting offense.
His flippant attitude did not help his cause.
Thats the real issue.
If I were an owner, I would never do business with Scott Boras. Than man has ruined baseball.
RS
Yawn
How has Boras ruined baseball?
Aragon,
The Angels made a larger offer to Cole than the Yankees signed him for. Hindsight is 20/20, but at that time no one knew that Cole was going to the Yankees. No, not even you. The Angels were considered a favorite to land him with articles on CBS Sports, LA Times, NY Times, and NY Post all saying so that offseason.
“Angels enter free agency as favorites for Gerrit Cole, and their offseason wish list doesn’t end there ” – CBS Sports
In 2019 the Angels had Fletcher as their 3B, they had just signed Maddon to be their manager, and Moreno had said they were going to increase payroll in 2020.
Rendon was coming off one of the best 3 year stretches in history for a 3B. Only Schmidt, Brett, and Jones had a 3 year stretch that was better than Rendon. At the time the signing was lauded throughout the baseball world. After he had 2.2 WAR in a 2020 season that was about 1/3 of a normal season everyone was praising his play for the Angels. No one knew he would have an injury that practically no one returns from during the every next season.
Moreno has not signed a starting pitcher to a deal longer than 3 years in 15 years. That he went that many years on Cole was unusual to say the least. After Cole signed with the Yankees all 4 of the big name pitchers on the market were gone. Strasburg and Wheeler had already signed when Cole did, and Bumgarner signed that same day. All that was left was Hyun-Jin Ryu and no one believed he was a difference maker.
Maybe you should keep quiet since you don’t know what the story was.
Moreno signed CJ Wilson after the 2011 season to longer than 3 years. That would be less than 10 years prior to Rendon. Sorry Skip, that’s hole number one in your story.
Haha! Thank you!
RF
What flippant attitude?
When he said that his work wasn’t as important to him as his family?
When he said he season should be shorter? What percent of people here commenting on this issue also wish they had to work less?
Here was his quote: We gotta shorten the season, man…There’s too many dang games — 162 games and 185 days or whatever it is. Man, no. We gotta shorten this bad boy up.
Of course, the article also says this: When asked about one thing he would change about baseball, Rendon — prefacing his answer by saying he wanted it to be lighthearted
Based on what I know about Rendon, I’ll take him all day over the vast majority of people criticizing him for his comments.
He literally got paid millions to play a game, a game. I wish I was so lucky to be born with the talent to do that. I certainly wouldn’t take it for granted. There was an easy solution to his problem; go get a different job that didn’t interfere with his family time. Here endeth the lesson.
He almost certainly worked harder than you ever have
NB4 your sob story.
How many things are you taking for granted right now? That you’re, probably, a guy? American? Maybe white? Billions of people would love to trade places with you. You almost certainly take that for granted – if not most of the time, I’ve be stunned.
Class dismissed
Another person that has no idea what it takes to play at the level Rendon did nor what industry he worked in.
Rendon got paid millions to be an entertainer, just like an actor. Baseball is entertainment. He had a job in the entertainment industry. He was elite at doing that job.
Rendon was arguably the best in baseball from 2017-2019. Only Arenado and Bregman were in the same stratosphere.
Being among the elite at his job took year round commitment to being the best and that commitment started at about 10 or 11 years old and took the rest of his lifetime to get to the point where he was good enough to be one of 30 people in the world that had a job doing what he did and one of three in the world that could do the job at the level Rendon did. .
When you don’t know what you are talking about, there is a easy solution; don’t comment.
Juan, OUCH! On the money, but ouch.
Hitters that rely a lot on doubles, their production tends to age worse than hitters that rely on BB and hr, because doubles suffer a lot as your body slows down into your 30’s. Obviously it was injuries that was Rendon’s main problem, but that tends to be more of an issue going into your mid 30’s anyway, and Rendon wasn’t exactly an ironman despite having some decent GP seasons, he’s dealt with a lot of injuries of his baseball career.
Sorry
“Hitters that rely a lot on doubles, their production tends to age worse than hitters that rely on BB and hr”
I would like to see some support for this
Pretty sure he never completed a firefight with an armed car-jacker like i have. Nor has he ever delivered a baby. Probably never gave CPR to anyone. My guess is he never worked an over-night shift when it was zero degrees outside. You have no clue of my life or how hard I worked. I stand by my comment that his flippant attitude made him one of the most hated players in all of baseball. He took his talent for granted and as stated, if it wasn’t for him he should have quit. Oh, and I am a POC. So there’s that.
Cool story, brah
“NB4 your sob story.”
“I stand by my comment that his flippant attitude made him one of the most hated players in all of baseball”
I agree that the media narrative around him has made a certain type of person hate him.
I completed far too many firefights in Najaf. Sadly I had to give CPR way too many times. I spent weeks at triple digit temps outside. I snow camp in sub zero temperatures. No tent, Just me and a rucksack mano a mano with nature in the Rockies of Colorado or Montana every February to take my mind off Najaf and other he!!holes. Then I come home and teach 10-17 year olds what it takes to try to become the next Anthony Rendon or Alex Bregman.
Now I doubt he has done any of that because he was working his behind off year round from an early age to be the best at what his job was. He made it to the very top of his field.
What I know is that you are not one of the top 3 people in the world in your field. If you were, you wouldn’t have time to be here. While we occasionally see some retired players or guys like me that made it to AA or even AAA, what you won’t see is Aaron Judge or Juan Soto level players or anyone at their peak.
What I know is whatever you claim to have done, you have no clue what it takes to be a major league 3B at an elite level. I know that because you tried to spin it to but, but, but I did this and he didn’t. I know that if you were a LEO you trained for a few months, maybe even 6 months, while he started at 10-11 years old and then trained year round for a decade or more for his shot. He lived and breathed baseball 24/7/365 because that is the only way to be elite at it. Really the only way to be elite at anything. that is why there are only 30 guys in the world that do the job he did at any one time and he was the best of the best among those 30. Top 3.
If you really were a LEO, I salute you for what you did for a living. You made a difference for those people you served.
Anaheim and Colorado manage to spend decently but rarely put together competitive teams.
It is like buying stock at the high point in the market and watching it fall.
Both before and after Rendon’s departure, Anaheim is the last place team in AL West by a wide margin.
@hiflew- Simple most fans don’t look at the big picture. And they’re lying if they said the Rendon signing was bad from the beginning. Arte spent money you can’t fault him for that.
Oh, really? Vernon Wells, Josh Hamilton, Albert Puhols were all on him. He has never been a good baseball mind. Just a dang good ad man!
@aragon-Vernon Wells was acquired by trade from Toronto. Was that you said “If you don’t know the story”?
Yes. And the Angels let the Jays off the hook on that extension.
Who said he was a F/A? The team paid $47 mil for 2 seasons he ‘played’ for the Angels.
Because your response lumped him with other FA signings
A great ad man.
It’s true that Moreno couldn’t have predicted this, but he also has a long track record of interfering with his GM to make big free agent splashes for the “splashiness” that weren’t good for the team. See also: Albert Pujols; Josh Hamilton.
It didn’t hurt that the Rangers were widely reported to be going hard after Rendon upon the opening of their new stadium. Grabbing the top free agent that your division rivals are going after isn’t a bad move in and of itself, but those have always been the bigger factors to his decisions over “What does the team need most right now to improve”.
I agree that his downfall was unpredictable.
The problem is that they needed starting pitching instead of another high-priced position player that offseason, but they stupidly pivoted to Rendon after losing the bidding war on their first choice for a starter in free agency.
@Lanidrac: The Angels have had a void at 3B since Troy Glaus. Top prospects like Dallas McPherson and Brandon Wood didn’t pan out plus a few veteran signings that didn’t accomplish much.
The Rendon signing was much needed at the time as he would finally give the Angels a top third baseman. Every team could always use more pitching and the Halos were going hard after Gerrit Cole but lost out to the Yankees as did the Dodgers. So, the Angels turned their attention to their longtime third base need and beat out the Dodgers in the Rendon sweepstakes.
Obviously the contract turned out to be a disaster. But hindsight is 20/20.
Among 2019 starting pitchers best ERA was 4.29 which was Skaggs’. With no starter starting more than 18 games.
And David Fletcher played 3B with 3.7 WAR. He is no Rendon butit was obvious we needed starting pitchers and relief pitchers whole lot more than 3B.
Greatest heist in the history of professional sports.
Marwin Gonzalez with the twins imo. Dude got the contract based solely off cheating
2 years – $21 million is chump change compared to what Rendon got.
At least Rendon earned the contract with his play. Marwin only got paid due to trash can banging
Pure Criminal
JM I think King James and his $50M ripping off the Lakers is the biggest heist
Right- the GOAT playing the best-ever basketball for a player his age is ripping off his team.
The goat? I didn’t know Jordan came out of retirement??
@Chicken and only playing 15 minutes then sitting out 3 games Yes!!!!!!!!!
@corrosive23- Amen Brother
I wonder how the restructuring of the contract affects the 40 man roster and the salary cap for the Angels in next few years?
MJ and a slew of others would like a word concerning this one trick pony.
Okamoto and Imai duel signing to be announced this week
They’re going to duel?!
duo*
Spelling bee champ.
Never- I think most people talk to their phones rather than type it out.
I think that has been Minasian’s idea but had to get the Rendon money for approval. In addition to that, I would like to see him trade for Senga. The Mets are shopping him and are looking for prospects and a lot of international money that they need soon to sign a SS they want but need more international $$. Senga”s salary would be taken on, but I think he can bounce back and he has good upside. Imai is friends and former teammates with Kikuchi. Okamoto had a preference for Anaheim before being posted. I read his family is also big Disneyland fans. I think he was married there. Not sure if that was in Tokyo Disney located in Urayasu City, Chiba or in Anaheim CA.
He hasn’t been with the team since signing the deal.
Bigger major FA bust, Rendon or Chris Davis?
Rendon by far
@mr. I’ll raise you Strasburg. He pitched 18 innings after his deal
Strasburg was slightly worse but if you bake in the good will of the WS it doesnt feel as bad.
Dig – What does that mean? Strasburg and Rendon were teammates in 2019, both were instrumental in that championship.
There’s no comparison, Strasburg’s contract turned out to be the worst of the two.
@fever. Yeah Strasburg was worse. He had two starts. I guess he gets a free pass because of his injury. I’ll still take rendon playing 40 games a year. It’s still the worst contract in mlb.
Strasburg wanted to be in Washington. That is the difference.
Basically Strasburg and Rendon had the same contract. Strasburg was even worse than Rendon if you can believe that. Rendon actually had one good season, the Covid year.
I vote Rendon. Davis was bad, but at least he tried. He just lost his ability for some reason. Rendon lost his love for the game if he ever had any.
Rendon by a long shot. Davis cared.
Maybe Vernon Wells.
Jason Bay-Mets
Davis, because while Rendon not playing cost the team a lot of money, Davis playing historically bad cost the team a lot of money AND wins. Although, neither team was going to win even if they could re-allocate that money anyway.
@disadv You could argue that Rendon not playing kept the team from winning, as well.
I’ll still put the Rendon over Davis as the worst signing. As people have said, Davis cared. Rendon did not.
Anthony “its just a job, but I’ll attack a fan” Rendon.
@kellin
You’re conflating Rendon’s optics with his actual ability, though.
Rendon said baseball is “too long and boring” back in 2014, then went on to have several MVP-caliber seasons after that. So it’s not as though his words equate him not trying. His injuries have also been pretty catastrophic. I love what I do for a living, but if it gave me a hip injury more common in people 70+ that significantly affected my quality of life, I maybe wouldn’t be as rosy about it either.
As for Davis, he got in spats with Brandon Hyde, and had a reputation of not listening to coaches. I’d speculate that he was probably told things that he had already tried, but to act as though Rendon is purely a bum and Davis was pure class is just false.
Also, Davis put up a 66 OPS+ and -5.8 WAR in his final 4 seasons. Rendon, 86 OPS+ and 1.7 WAR. You can take those WAR and OPS+ with a grain of salt, but what you cannot deny is that they are calculated based on on-field results, and Davis’ numbers were not only bad, but actively worsened his team. And he did that while “trying.”
But at least whoever played in Rendon’s place each time he got hurt significantly outperformed Davis, who was putting up significant negative WAR every year.
Part of that is on the Orioles for keep running him out there instead of benching or even platooning him, but it still happened.
Davis. Ne never contributed once he signed. Rendon had a very good 2020 season and then got hurt in early 2021.
Melvin Upton Jr.
Kirby Yates signing with Jays. Jays paid him while he was recovering….but dude signed elsewhere after 2 years were up. Never threw a pitch for 5he Jays….in yet still in the league.
A chapter they are probably very satisfied with ending. Although they are still likely to owe a good amount of money due to whatever restructuring they have done, so is it really truly over?
The end of an error
booted his money down the line
This is great for the Angels. Gives them more flexibility for 2026 to spend.
It’s sad they’ve had two albatross contracts this century (Josh Hamilton) but at least the team has shown a willingness to spend, albeit not always wisely.
Wouldn’t call it an albatross by any means, put Pujols didn’t exactly live up to contract expectations either
Why spend more at this point though when you’re so far away??
It wasn’t necessary to say that he will not return to the team. We all knew that.
Bobby Bonilla payment schedule says hi…
I suggested this two years ago. Pay him a third of what he’s owed, then defer the rest for years. Even when healthy, dude didn’t want to play anymore. There was talk when Rendon went FA in 2019 that he he didn’t want to play much longer. Then he signed that long-term contract just to get the extra money. One more Angels free agent contract failure under Arte Moreno. They played themselves, although Rendon should have been upfront about his career goals.
At least Rendon is not taking up a roster anymore…
The damage has been done.
Did it ever start?
Heard he injured again himself opening the chirstmas gifts.
Literally the worst free agency move ever. Dude had a horrible attitude in LA. I never have seen a player who seemed to be on a HOF trajectory ruin their legacy more. Other than maybe Schilling
Technically, Anaheim. Dude thankfully signed with the Angels, because he hated the Hollywood “lifestyle”….
Jerry Hairston jr is my all time favorite player
Adjusting for MLB contract inflation, the Mike Hampton signing was pretty comparably bad.
Make haste with thy departure Felicia.
ifunny.co/picture/felicia-her-sails-unfurled-Bcora…
My current favorite version.
What is his $/WAR over the life of the contract?
This is exactly why $/WAR means nothing
Why is that?
It would have been amazing to see a healthy trout, Ohtani and Rendon with Pujols in support as well. Too bad it never really came to fruition
Great! Now they’ve freed up enough money … to trade for Arenado. Come on… it’s the Angels after all and while his stock is sliding, even the Angels weak farm system may be acceptable to the Cardinals if they can talk Arte into eating most of his contract.
The Cards would to pay almost all of his contract to get a very low level prospect.
Just releasing him would be simpler and less exhausting for all parties involved at this point. IMHO
Probably right. I doubt it happens though. It’s a respect thing. Cards said they wont. And who knows if his shoulder is truly healthy he could rebound some. Not hugely, but some.
Rendon is now free from the everyday rigors of being a professional athlete! I hear he’s renting-to-own a new couch to celebrate the occasion!
This is why people there will be a strike
Come on. Because of his contract? You’re dreaming.
Dude, it’s the deferrals. The Angels are killing baseball, obviously.
Hahaha good one.
The deferrals are in no way an issue. Fans being financial illiterate does not make something bad…
There will not be a strike. There may be a lockout by team owners. They lost tens of millions each because of schedule changes last time even though no games were canceled, so they will think long and hard before making that mistake again.
The leech is gone
WOOHOOOO!!!!!
$245 Million contract, 257 games appeared in, 1095 plate appearances =
$953,000/game or just under $224,000/PA while “with” the Angels.
Put another way: 3.9 WAR = $62.8 M/1 WAR
How rich do you have to be to be able to spend money like that and still keep the team?
Why doesn’t anyone ever figure this for his time with the Nationals?
The Rendon signing was perfectly reasonable at the time. It just had about the worst possible outcome.
Nats won the Series with him. That trumps any “calculated” value.
Even though his performance hadn’t yet deteriorated, Rendon had already shown signs, in my opinion, of “checking out” before he left Washington.
k
“Nats won the Series with him. That trumps any “calculated” value.”
I’ll ask again, since you responded but didn’t come anywhere near addressing my comment
Why doesn’t anyone every figure out how much Rendon provided to the Nats vs how much he got paid. Feel free to include whatever value you feel appropriate for the world series win.
That is irrelevant to me. If it is important to you, I am sure you are smart enough to figure it out yourself.
kodion
LOL
That’s the point
Why is one side of the equation relevant to you and the other side irrelevant?
Okay. I’ll give you my One Rule:
World Series Wins are the ONLY thing that matters, outside of the entertainment value, for me.
Even though I support a team, I am a fan of all of them. If you can’t understand, or appreciate, that perspective, I will have to Mute you.
kodion
“Okay. I’ll give you my One Rule:
World Series Wins are the ONLY thing that matters”
This you?
“$245 Million contract, 257 games appeared in, 1095 plate appearances =
$953,000/game or just under $224,000/PA while “with” the Angels.
Put another way: 3.9 WAR = $62.8 M/1 WAR”
Funny, that you don’t mention world series wins at all when you say that it’s the only thing that matters to you.
Either you’re a liar or you don’t know what you’re talking about.
I am sorry. I communicated that poorly. I put the emphasis in the wrong place. The bit you chose not to quote in my statement was the important bit.
kod
The part about being rich enough to keep the team?
That’s not really related to world series wins either.
The Rendon contract didn’t work out. That’s pretty obvious. But whether or not it worked out, has all but nothing to do with Moreno being rich enough to own the team or not. He’s rich enough to pay the salaries either way.
No, the other bit.
You know, what this isn’t now that I recognize the game.
Good bye.
kodion
You’re not very good at expressing thoughts through writing, are you?
kod, obviously you don’t get it. The point went over your head.
So Ted Williams play wouldn’t matter? It would have zero value to you? Please mute me. I really hate conversing with people with absolutely no clue.
bc this is the Angels and the Angels got no benefit from the Nationals winning the WS?
How did Rendon show signs of checking out in WAS? His last season there was best of his careerand finished 3rd in MVP voting. That was his 4th top 10 finish and had a 5th season he came in 11th out of 6 full seasons there.
Any notion that he had shown signs of checking out is ridiculous and is a hindsight judgment you are making based purely off his time with the Angels.
T3232
He once said that baseball isn’t as important to him as his family, so it’s fine to say whatever negative things you want about him
The truth means nothing to Tigers3232. The only thing that seems to matter to him is making hateful comments about players. That is why he is muted.
They are one of only have 6 people I have muted and those 6 accounted for 83 comments on this thread alone.
SF
I’m in agreement with Tigers on this one
@Skip Thats one way to try and walk down being caught in an outright lie is to just mute someone. Meanwhile I ll just keep on pointing out how blatantly full of it you are.
And do you mind telling me what exactly I said that was hateful?? Describing on detail different types of hip injuries and the difference between them is in no way whatsoever hateful….
Maybe I don’t understand this fully but I don’t understand how a player can just quit on his team and still be paid anything.
Think of it more like the Angels told him to go away rather than him quitting.
Think of it more like this
Rendon wasn’t physically able to play. Instead of forcing him to go through the work, they just told him he could retire and still get the money due to him.
Look at it this way: Rendon was under no obligation to step away. As long as he was working out and rehabbing and trying to make his way back to playing for the Angels, they have to pay him. MLB contracts are guaranteed, he was getting this money any way you slice it. The Angels came to him instead and offered a deal: split this final $38 million up into payments over 3-5 years so we have more financial flexibility and in exchange, you don’t need to move a muscle, no rehab, no nothing.
CONTRACT You are bound by the contract you signed. You have a legal duty to follow agreed upon terms. Meaning the Angels have to pay Rendon unless there are clauses that say otherwise. The term “Quit” is your interpretation. Rendon never said he quit.
This doesn’t make sense.. especially if it has interest.. it would be one thing if the Angels are over the luxury tax and this helps them with a signing but geez… just pay the final year and learn and move on.. to drag out this monstrosity for more years is just a constant reminder of the headache this contract is/was.
The Angels will have to fund the principal on any of the deferred $ this year. They ll be able to do so and save some odd million$ depending on length of the deferral. Its not a windfall by any means but it is some savings.
Just speculating here, but the Angels ultimately had little leverage. This allows them a shred of savings and closure. Paying out a deferral thats accruing Is not really dragging it out, he wont be in roster or seen in clubhouse.
Of course it means nothing in Rendon’s case, that was the point.
Any time you want your team to sign a big free agent – “just spend whatever it takes! Its not my money! don’t you care about winning??”- remember that this is one of the possible outcomes.
If anyone tells you that a bad signing cant hurt a team, because the owners are billionaires… remember this can happen.
I lived through Jacoby Ellsbury. I still want the Yankees to go out and spend and do whatever it takes to win.
2026 comeback player of the year in SEA
Hallelujah!
Legend
With some other bad contracts, at least those involved significant injury or rapid decline in skills. Rendon just decided he didn’t want to play anymore. He gave up. That bothers me. We all have jobs we get sick of or are unhappy at every now and then. We have to keep grinding or we get fired. This clown gets his full pay. He shouldn’t get a dime.
This deserves a mute
@ Mr Papa When you sign a contract you have to honor it. What if Rendon got beaned in the head and couldn’t play anymore.? Unless the Angels took out a insurance policy. They have to pay it regard les how many games he played or did not play.
Getting beaned is completely different from Rendon’s case. He should be paid a pro-rated portion of the contract for getting injured, but not all of that guaranteed money. Certainly not $38 million this season. Maybe say $5 million. That is still a lot of money. These guaranteed contracts are insane.
No player will agree to that. He gets hurt because of a opposing player and he has to take less money? Why should he?
If you were hurt while you were doing your job you would be perfectly ok with workers comp paying you just 12.5% of your salary? Gtfoh.
It already has been explained to Skip that Rendon had a hip infringement procedure and it was not a trauma related injury. He doesnt want to hear that tho, he’d rather ignore reality if it doesnt align with his preferred narrative
Rendon did not have the type of hip injury that typically ends careers, again tho he does not want to hear the truth.
Rendon had not one, but two hip injuries that are typically career ending. He also had a broken leg and a two wrist injuries that were from HBP.
It bothers me far more that you know nothing about the situation but feel that you should comment.
If Rendon is still technically active and if he then agreed to waive his no trade clause, perhaps the Angels could use his deferred contract in an NBA-style trade for another team’s short-term bad contract.
Highly unlikely, but possible and potentially beneficial for both sides if there’s a team that could save luxury tax money in 2026 and/or 2027 by taking on a similar-value 3-5 year Rendon deal (and then releasing Rendon).
Rendon is still technically active because that means the Angels can collect on his insurance policy at the end of the season as long as he does not play at all in 2026. If he retires, they get nothing from insurance. This way they lose a roster spot until opening day when they can place him on the 60 day IL, but they gain a portion of his contract being paid by insurance later on.
Skip doesnt realize Rendon’s contract was not insured. This is typical of Skip, presenting his assumptions as facts. If you challenge said assumptions Skip also likes to lie. An example of such lie was when he claimed to have had a surgery that had yet to even exist that ended his baseball playing at the AA level.
Angels Don’t Have Any Insurance on Anthony Rendon Contract: Report share.google/LPo3Mwpr0FHuIvv55
The CBT calculation remains the same, but this definitely provides greater cash flow.
Moreno has always been a “no debt” owner (the only one in baseball), so cash flow matters.
Now the question becomes – does this savings go to the on-field product, or the Skaggs family?
Ouch
@johnnyangel. Probably the skaggs family. I would’ve just released him, and bit the bullet this year
2019 The year that will live in infamy in baseball history. So many players made bank on the fixed baseball. Then baseball embraced gambling. Wow, you can’t make this stuff up.
Wish I got a guaranteed paycheck. My love for my job is gone. Oh wait….i still have to go…
Baltimore is going to find this out with their ridiculous five year deal with an obese player, with no range, no arm and no running ability. Oriole fans are going to cringe when Plumy falls on a ball and they see his fat legs bend backwards due to kinetic energy. You see, Plumpy doesn’t dive for a ball he falls like an oak in the woods. It’s a back injury waling to happen. Oriole fans are going to cringe when they see Plumpy stretch for. throw seeing clearly that Plumpy’s tight things are eventually going to pop a hamstring. Lastly, when they see Plumpy bat .178, 28-156 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI’s in a forty game stretch like he did last year, you will realize Plumpy pads his numbers on bad pitching and blowout games. You can kiss $150 million goodbye.
So you don’t like Pete then?
Most sluggers feast on bad pitching and blow outs.. It’s the name of the game.
How did he personally offend you so much?
Pete Alonso has a .1000 OPS in the postseason. I think we’ll likely catch a bad year during this contract. But you can’t say he wilts when it matters.
16 post season games .278/.429/.574/1.003! Very nice
So here’s Pete’s leverage OPS stats for 2025:
Low leverage 0.799
Medium leverage 0.782
High leverage 1.205
According to FanGraphs, Pete was #22 out of 145 qualified batters in clutch stat
Harry LIme comments are a bit off IMO
Obviously this idiot lost money betting on Alonso or Senga’s numbers last year. Seek help, loser.
Nice prediction for injuries for a guy who has missed 22 games total in 6 non Covid season (and 3 games in the COVID season). 324 games played in the last two seasons.
Slept with his mom?
“ Plumpy”? Grow the F up
“Plumpy” is a 6’3 245 pound professional athlete who would squash all 5’7 130 pounds of you. Then proceed to hot 50 HR’s the following season. Being disrespectful doesn’t prove any of your “points” further.
So does this free up a spot on the 40 man or do they have to officially release him?
The article states that since he’s not officially retiring…the Angels will need to release him.
They are not releasing him at all. He will stay on the roster until opening day when he will be placed on the 60 day IL. That way the Angels get the benefit of collecting on his insurance policy when he does not play at all in 2026.
Rendon was a joy to watch on the Nats and seemed like he was having a good time with them. He was like an entirely different person after the COVID season. The curse of the Angels, lol!
I’m not sure when 100% guaranteed player contracts became a thing in baseball, but that has turned into a massive misstep for the owners. I’m sure it became a thing in one of their bargaining agreements and of course the players will never give it back. And why should they? 100% guaranteed is an awful way to run a business.
Sp
Finally. Someone is going to bat for the billionaires
Who?
Sp
Seems like you
Oh ok. I was really just saying what a horrible idea it is to hand out contracts that are 100% guaranteed no matter what. You really don’t have to be that smart to figure out that’s a bad idea. No matter what side you’re on.That’s all I was saying. Sorry if I gave you too much to think about.
Sp
Your attempt at an insult is noted.
Do you understand how collective bargaining works? The owners traded guaranteed contracts for something else. If the contracts were not guaranteed, the players would have gotten something else of value.
Assuming that you don’t know what that tradeoff was, there’s no reason to think that you know if the owners made a good or bad deal.
Maybe you should think more instead of saying that others aren’t thinking enough.
I really don’t care about this enough to keep this going. You took this way too far. Classic overthink.
Sp
In my experience people who say the word “overthink” are almost always underthinking.
You’ve been brainwashed by capital to think that workers don’t deserve their pay.
You’re probably a worker
@Shadow no buys a ticket to see a umpire
Not sure where that came from but OK great. I’ll say again that all I was saying is 100% guaranteed contracts with no way out is a bad way to go for anybody giving the contract out. I’m not sure why you felt the need to say nobody buys a ticket to see an umpire play but sounds great.
Good Idea. You certainly wouldn’t be a good agent
So let me get straight Shadow
If a Owner offered You a guarantee contract $345M
Would you turn it down?
Btw I said “No one pays to see a umpire “
Because the players have all the power. Through all the labor contracts between the MLBPA and Owners , The players have gotten just about everything they’re asked for. They had a great Union leader in Marvin Miller.
Besides being paid very very well
They get to stay at 4 or 5 star hotels
They fly private jets
A few hundred dollars per diem
After every game a full spread of food in the clubhouse
The best doctors
Everything is 1st class for them.
And they have a great pension that pays them at least 6 figures a year on top of their massive salaries
The Angels have made some really bad signings. Pujols, Hamilton, Upton, Rendon, etc.
BMD
The Angels have made some reasonable signings that worked out about as poorly as possible.
My guess is that Arte pockets the savings instead of reinvesting in the roster.
Does he get paid every July 1st?
Our long national nightmare is over.
Congratulations to Rendon on a solid career and for being extremely well compensated. He had a job, did as well as he could when healthy, and didn’t put his job before his family and health.
Celebration time for the Angels.
Would have rather gave him the 38 million up front if fans were allowed to throw it at him in pennies
Muted
Juan-only word you know?
He always has to one up someone.
Favorite Rendon memory, the time in a blowout game, he went to the plate lefty and hit a home run. Amazing!
For some reason I feel for Mr rendon. At least deferred payments help the team. Love the Kirby signing. He can pitch.
Hindsight is great, but the guy was coming off a 7.1BWAR season, and ould play the first year of his contract at 30… It was unquestionably an overpay, but expectations were not totally irrational. You do kind of wonder
he says he isn’t retiring – I wonder if he is going to try to go overseas or something because I can’t imagine a team signing him here
Fans pay salaries. Owners are just the middlemen. It would be nice if the fans could have some protection and take some of these ridiculous contracts to court for breach of contract.
If a person had integrity, he would return money not earned.
NNW
“If a person had integrity, he would return money not earned.”
Imagine being this dude.
Did you look at how much Rendon made with the Nationals? Did you see how much he got paid? How about the integrity of the owners? Why shouldn’t they have to pay up?
“Imagine being this dude”
I have, that’s why I would return at least 50% of the fans’ money. The owners are risking very little.
So, you are painting this guy as a “victim”?
Interesting
NNW
I’ll ask again
Why don’t people ever look how much he was paid per game, or hit or home run, or RBI or whatever during his time with the Nationals?
Apparently you care very much about the Nationals. That’s your prerogative, but not the story here.
I looked it up and Rendon made about $33 million with the Nationals.
Again… he’s not a victim.
NNW
This entire idea of “victim” comes only from you, not from me
Why do you think I “care very much about the Nationals”?
What I actually care about is people thinking about things reasonably.
A certain type of “fan” likes to complain about “overpaid” players, but they never talk about how player salaries are restricted for the first part of their careers
So maybe some players are “overpaid”. But nearly EVERY player is underpaid.
There isn’t a more fawning, bootlicking stance to take than “the player should return money to the owner if he doesn’t meet my expectations”
“This entire idea of “victim” comes only from you, not from me’
Sorry, you are the one trying to portray a man who will collect over 200 million dollars for doing basically nothing… as sympathetic.
“Why do you think I “care very much about the Nationals”?”
Because you are the only one who has mentioned them repeatedly. They are not the subject. You feel the need to live in the past in order to justify Rendon taking $200 million from the fans in CA.
“So maybe some players are “overpaid”. But nearly EVERY player is underpaid.”
Hahaha…. are you an agent?
“Sorry, you are the one trying to portray a man who will collect over 200 million dollars for doing basically nothing… as sympathetic”
How so?
He signed a contract. He fulfilled his part of the contract. The Angels fulfilled theirs. He was injured on the job and was unable to play.
“Because you are the only one who has mentioned them repeatedly. They are not the subject. You feel the need to live in the past in order to justify Rendon taking $200 million from the fans in CA.”
I only bring that up to point out people’s hypocrisy.
So many people care when a player is “overpaid” but don’t care at all that almost every player is underpaid at the beginning the careers.
“Hahaha…. are you an agent?”
No. Just a person who understands basic economics and who supports labor over capital.
“He signed a contract. He fulfilled his part of the contract. The Angels fulfilled theirs.”
I understand contract law. This is an issue of character and integrity.
Let’s compromise… Rendon should donate half of his salary with the Angels to a children’s hospital near Anaheim.
Sound good? Happy New Year.
There are exceptions to every rule. Rendon’s contract is one of them.
Sorry you are so defensive, but the world isn’t always black and white.
“Fawning and bootlicking”? You’d never use this kind of language if you were having a discussion with someone face to face.
NNW
“Rendon should donate half of his salary with the Angels to a children’s hospital near Anaheim.”
Why?
Should Ohtani also donate half of his salary?
How about Vlad Guerrero? How about Jorge Soler? How about you?
Should teams also donate half of their income to “a children’s hospital near Anaheim”?
If not, why not?
Maybe just the ones who don’t win the world series? Make the playoffs? Win their division?
Does this integrity only go one way?
NNW
“There are exceptions to every rule.”
Why do you believe this?
“Rendon’s contract is one of them”
Which rule? Why do you believe that?
“You’d never use this kind of language if you were having a discussion with someone face to face.”
And I think it’s pretty unlikely that you’d tell Rendon to his face that if had any integrity he’d give up half of his salary.
No Neck, Rendon fulfilled his contract. He played when healthy.
2020- Excellent production in first year of deal
2021 – Hip injury and surgery. An injury that ends most careers.
2022 – Returns from hip injury. Wrist injury requiring surgery.
2023 – Broken tibia from fouled pitch. Requires surgery.
2024 – Left hamstring strain (grade III*), lower back inflammation, right elbow issue, left oblique strain.
2025 – Hip injury. Requires surgery
He was injured on the job and should be paid 100% of what his contract indicates.
*From the Cleveland Clinic – Grade III. If you have a severe muscle strain, your muscle has torn all the way through. A Grade III sprain can take three months (12 weeks) or longer to heal.
My business partner just read this thread and said you should donate your brain to science since you are not using it.
“Rendon should donate half of his salary with the Angels to a children’s hospital near Anaheim.”
“Why? Should Ohtani also donate half of his salary?”
You obviously don’t understand issues of right and wrong and human decency. That’s okay, situations like this will just make December 1, 2026 even more impactful.
“There are exceptions to every rule.”
“Why do you believe this?”
Were you raised in a cave? That’s been common knowledge for centuries.
“And I think it’s pretty unlikely that you’d tell Rendon to his face that if had any integrity he’d give up half of his salary.”
Actually, I’d love to tell him to his face. He’d probably agree.
This isn’t a technical issue of contractual law. Everyone knows that Rendon is entitled to the money. I’m just saying that if Rendon has a soul, he should use a significant portion of that insane amount of money to help the community that provided it.
My suggestion: The Rendon Center at a children’s hospital in CA.
NNW
“You obviously don’t understand issues of right and wrong and human decency”
Your attempted insult is, again, noted.
This would go a lot better if you would answer direct questions. But, you obfuscate by not doing so.
“This isn’t a technical issue of contractual law. Everyone knows that Rendon is entitled to the money. I’m just saying that if Rendon has a soul, he should use a significant portion of that insane amount of money to help the community that provided it.”
Why should Rendon donate half of his salary?
Should Other high paid players also donate half of their salaries? Should you donate half of your salary?
Or are you singling out Rendon? Why?
“Were you raised in a cave? That’s been common knowledge for centuries.”
It’s been a saying for I don’t know how long. That doesn’t mean that it actually holds any merit. If you believe that it does, please support that opinion.
As Voltaire said, “a witty saying proves nothing
“Actually, I’d love to tell him to his face. He’d probably agree.”
Right…
No Neck. Its obvious you have no human decency nor do you understand any part of what it takes to rehab from an injury.
Do you donate half your income to a charity? Then I guess you have no soul?
Skip
Come on!
You only have to care about helping others if…
…you’re injured and can’t work?
…some losers on the internet think you didn’t live up to your salary?
I don’t know
A good number of fans would be fine earning the league minimum (or less) to play baseball for a living.
Couldn’t the Angels find another job for him since he’s getting paid well anyway, like, he could intervene between fans vs players at home only or he can be an advance scout to their next series. Not too much for him because he is hurting
Why should he return the money? If he went out and played every game hit 70 HR’s and drove in 200 runs every year does he get more money?
Only if his contract stipulated.
So why should he have to forfeit money if gets hurt?
Dimn
He doesn’t need to do that.
Rendon had a 6.4 fWAR season in 2014 for the Nationals when he was making the MLB minimum and no one here saying that he was stealing from the Angels or whatever was saying that the Nationals were stealing from him back then.
So, it’s obvious that they have been brainwashed by capital to think that labor owes capital but not the other way around.
Juan, Rendon made $1.2 million that season because he was one of the few that signed a major league deal when he was drafted. It was a $7.2 million deal that paid him a $6 million signing bonus and $1.2 million in 2014 with a $2.5 million team option for 2015. Players can no longer sign major league deals straight out of the draft.
Your point still stands. In 2014 a point of bWAR on the FA market was worth $8 million. His performance on the field was worth approximately $52 million and he was paid $1.2 million. None of the people whining about Rendon’s contract now were complaining about the Nationals paying him that little at that time.
Rendon was hurt on the job. If you get hurt on the job, you still get paid whether its by workers compensation or your union CBA. So did he. What shows a lack of integrity is you questioning his.
Not really Let’s take the Covid season. No fans were allowed at the games. The owners had to pay with no cash flow from the fans. The owners are not the middleman .
TV revenue is far greater than ticket sales. That’s why NY and LA have so much more to spend than Pittsburgh or Kansas City.
Besides, Covid was a one-year outlier… why would you attempt to use the exception to prove the rule?
Guess the Nats made a good call letting Rendon walk away the 2019 WS Victory….. though they decided to re-sign Stephen Strasburg
If Celebriry Deathmatch were still a thing, Anthony Rendon vs Chris Davis would be a featured match for the winner of worst free agent contact ever.
To quote the late great Harry Doyle
Anthony Rendon retiring filling a huge hole at third base
Artie. I would be ok if his final check bounced
257 games played as an Angel, will have made well over $200MM in the process.
It’s hard to beat $778,210.12 per game.
gwa
Now do his time with the Nationals
2011-2015 (rookie): $7.2MM + $6MM signing bonus.
2016: $2.8MM
2017: $5.8MM
2018: $12.3MM
2019: $18.8MM
Total: $52.9MM.
Games played: 916.
$52.9/916 = $57,751.09 per game.
Not that bad.
The $6 million signing bonus was part of the $7.2 million major league contract he signed in 2011 to cover 2011-2014. There was a $2.5 million option for 2015. The total earned with the Nationals was $46.9 million.
I believe that with the $2.5 million team option in 2015 his earnings with the Nationals comes to $49.4 million. The team received 30.3 bWAR in on the field performance or about $250 million in value and paid about $1.63 million per bWAR.
The Nationals are immoral since they didn’t donate $100 million to build a Anthony Rendon Children’s wing at Walter Reed with the $200 in free production they stole from Rendon
/[bad] logic
Cue the “ding dong the witch is dead” music.
What would be the biggest story Rendon signs with another team smashes 30 homeruns gets a ring all on the Angels dime.
Could be what he’s thinking. As I’m sure (in an effort to rehab his image) he could say he just didn’t enjoy playing for the Angels.
It’s not him not wanting to play for the Angels
More like Rendon’t…amiright? This thing on?
D.B. Cooper is jealous of Anthony Rendon.
LOL
Finally…RenDON’T is ReDONE!
He pretty much done just not going to play anymore since there too many games..
Pirates…. Ole Bob needs to bust out the check book again and pay a whopping 1 mil minor league invite to ST. I think he’d make great insurance at the hot corner given the current climate at the position
For the sake of argument… lets say he was actually injured to the point where she shouldn’t be playing… and miraculously gets healthy in the next few days… would anyone sign him?
Doubt it. He’s turned himself into a circus which I don’t think any team would want any part of.
This is what happens when Owner Artie treats his MLB team as a fantasy league game.
Wells, Hamilton, Pujols, and Rendon are few of his must have players that have ended in disasters.
Like Ron Washington said “Sometimes you’ve got to make chicken salad out of chicken s—.”
Perry is doing his best.
$245 million mostly wasted dollars
Let the Rendon saga be a lesson for the Angels and the rest of MLB.
Angels are ruining baseball by deferring money……
Haha underrated comment
While yes it’s the worst contract ever, it’s for actual obvious reasons. The guy unfortunately was never healthy with some major injuries amongst a litany of others. I feel bad for the guy for having to deal with that. Of course the cynical fans will say well he still has 245 mil, but it’s not like the dude stayed home and collected checks. TBH going through injuries, surgeries, and rehab is more work and more frustrating than merely just playing the game. But yeah I get it, glad they worked it out finally and I understand why Angels fans are happy today. Ding d9ng the witch is dead and all that.
Uh, the “reigning World Series MVP” statement is incorrect. That statement applies to the other 7-year mistake, Stephen Strasburg… Rendon was not WS MVP.
Too bad Rendon was not more like Gil Meche.
Wonder how many will get that reference. Meche was a stand up guy.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
The Germans?
@prov: Lol. Movie quote. Bluto (John Belushi) in Animal House.
Forget it, he’s on a roll.
Jeff – I know. That’s the next line in the scene.
It’s not over until WE say it’s over!
Seriously what team would want to sign this loser
Feels like a 1-year Angels bounceback candidate once his original deal is over.
Ham
no one
which is why you are not on a team
I know everybody likes to crap on Rendon and the Angels, but honestly what a pity. I wouldn’t say he was on a Hall of Fame trajectory but he was a standout third baseman on his way to a very fine career and injuries just decimated him. I know people like to bring up his past comments he made regarding hit commitment to baseball but I think we’d all do well to remember that being a baseball player was his job, not his life. I just hope he’s able to get healthy and pain free and enjoy time with his family.
KZ
100
It’s quite an obersvation of the human species to read your comment and the next one on the page
“Bust, Waste, wasted materials to make a human brain!”
Bust, Waste, wasted materials to make a human brain!
Should always consider the character and desire to play
That he came back after what is normally a career ending surgery and tried to play is testament to his desire to play.
Very True
I really don’t have anything against Rendon as a person. But in the world we live in. He really just needs to go away. He’s a black eye to the game and the notion of disconnect between fans and professional athlete. Though lawfully owed the salary. He did very little to earn any of it. And I think questioning his motives during his time with the Angels is entirely fair.
As a fan of a team that doesn’t do referrals I have a question. Since the $38 million for this season is now deferred over the next 3-5 years, do the Angels get all of that money wiped from the luxury tax number for 2026? Or is it some BS made up number like the other LA team has for the big referral contract they have?
BHIA
Ahh…a person who hasn’t passed econ 001
First, it’s “deferral”, not “referral”.
Second, the exact same rules apply to all teams.
Third, you seem to contradict yourself. It seems like you want the Dodgers to have to pay CBT on the non-deferred amount and want the Angels to not pay any tax? Why should there be two different rules?
Ahhhh a complete d*ck whistle. There you are!
Imagine being so toxic that they someone will pay you 30 million to stay away.
After the visit from the ghosts of Angels free agent signings past in the comment section, it would not fill me with confidence thinking that the Angels might use the money they save on another free agent signing.
I know Angel fans have a reason to be pissed about the contract, attitude and lack of production in the small amount of games Rendon participated in as would I. That said, in looking at all his injuries I can understand Rendon’s attitude about baseball a little bit. His list full of injuries is pretty extensive and probably led to him getting frustrated about injuries, surgeries and constant rehabbing knowing himself that he’d never be back to his pre-Angels self again. Probably discouraging to any player knowing you’re never going to live up to a contract partially due to injuries but keeping your mouth shut and being a teammate who does everything in his power to get back on the field for your team and producing at any level should have been his attitude. I think not doing those things shows he’s got no heart for the game at all. Unfortunately teams can’t really know what’s going on in a free agent brain before and after a huge contract is given out. He kind of destroyed what people saw in him and the damn shame about it is he doesn’t really care what anyone thinks. That’s the difference between a multi-millionaire vs. a multi-hundredaire like most of us. Angel fans can now start looking ahead again. Rendon is history and the Angels have improved themselves this winter with some good moves. I’ve been a Giants fan for 60 years but always hoped the Angels could turn things around. I think they’re on their way now.
“Angel fans have a reason to be pissed about the contract,”
Imagine being pissed off about baseball
Then retire? You don’t HAVE to scam a team and moreover their loyal fanbase by drawing money you cabt rightfully earn. Thats the class thing to do. Its what Gil Meche did for the Royals and they used it to oay for a James Shields. The man had life changing money before the deal. Sure its a gamble for both parties in free agency. But Rendon 1000% never handled himself properly publicly. No one faults injuries. But he was his worst enemy.
No one scammed anyone. Rendon signed a contract to play. He did so. He got injured doing so. He kept rehabbing to come back from those injuries. If you don’t think rehab is tough, try it sometime. Rendon did 100% of what he was required to do. He got paid what his contract stated he should get paid.
The person with the issue, is you. Rendon did what he was supposed to do to get paid what the team agreed to pay him. The injuries were unfortunate, but they happened while he was working. He deserves every penny of what his contract called for.
Meche continued to collect his pay through 4 other major injuries. One that cost him an entire season. It was just the final one that per his own words he was not willing to rehab through. If he had not quit, he would have deserved to get paid. He quit rather than rehab because REHAB IS HARD. Rendon continued to rehab.
Skip- get over yourself. Im on a website having basic simple conversation…not living my life for Rendon or any other player. If you have a point thats fine. I learn and I grow. I dont disagree. But I do question his desire period. My own career was also ended by the same back issues.
I presented a thought. Thats all
Dock, you are illogically hating on a player. Spewing negative garbage about a player that has no basis in reality. That you have so much hate for Rendon shows that he lives rent free in your head.
As you are, I am on a website sharing my opinion. My opinion is that either you have never learned how to get past elementary school level of logic or you simply have no experience in life with things like injuries or rehab.
What I presented in my comment was a complete, logical thought based on what actually happened.
Cliche much. Might want to write your own stuff and leave CHATGPT out. Bare in mind I came at you for how you were dealing in another conversation. Youre an easy wanna be spot. Bare in mind you have some people around here with actual professional baseball background and knowledge. I just engaged you for the fun of it. Thats over. Im off to the gym and book some travel hotels..maybe have a nice dinner with my wife. I forgot you once…so I have some practice at it. Enjoy your pseudo page expert rude self.
Well, bye.
As long as Rendon does not play, the team will get the benefit of insurance paying a portion of his salary along with the benefit of paying that $38 million over 3 to 5 years.
Rendon still gets his money and the team saves some. They need to save all they can based on the $100 million or more Moreno has to fork over to the Skaggs family and their attorneys.
I thought that insurance only covered chronic, career-ending injury and disabilities.
The hip injury he had is a career-ending type of injury.
MLB teams get insurance to cover the salary they have to pay the player for any given year, but can only collect if that player didn’t play at all that season.
Players can take out insurance that protects them against loss of income in case of career-ending injuries. I don’t believe that teams can. I know an employer cannot.
Best, is insurance year by year or does it cover the entire contract? If Rendon had been told by the team doctors that he was unable to physically perform ever again after the first hip surgery, would the team have been able to collect on the insurance for the next 5 years? Or just the following season?
From what you said, it sounds to me like they would have to keep him on the roster and put him on the 60 day IL at the start of the regular season to collect any insurance and then only at the end of each season. Do I have that right?
Got hurt getting on and off his couch. Went on the IL so many times, that we did not realize he actually came off of it … until he went on it again, and again, and again. Toss up between Rendon and Strasburg for worst FA signing.
Got to love a “BaseballGuy” who seems to hate baseball players
Every day is Bobby Bonilla day with that settlement.
The fans should sue him for fraud.
did his tenure with the angels ever start ? the most at bats in a season was 217 .. Angles paid(ing) 245mill for a total of 946 at bats .. angels should never sign another high priced free agent ever again
That was in the shortened 2020 season, his first with the team.
Like Skip said it was a short season because Covid
Injury prone coming out of college. Injury prone but talented hitter in Washington.
Injury prone and ambivalent to the sport in Anaheim.
His baseball tombstone.
Anyone else think deferring the money is a bad idea? Why not just soak it up one season and be done with it? To defer essentially means you think you can compete this season and their 70 wins tells me, that is simply not the case.
Moreno just had to settle the Skaggs wrongful death lawsuit against the team. He can use all the cashflow flexibility he can get.
Literally the living embodiment of Roger Dorn
What about my buyout? I can’t play baseball either lol.
Didn’t rendon say something to effect he has no interest in baseball while injured and playing golf. That would be grounds for release with but 100% of contract not paid
He said Baseball is just a job. Yeah release a guy you owe millions to because he said something
Release a guy because he was paid 200 million to play in 200 games . 1 million per game for a guy is ridiculous and should be nowhere near this game .
Ron gant, formerly of the braves, broke his leg off season in a dirt bike accident because it was in his contract to not preform hazardous activities. rendons statement could be contradictory to being enthusiastic to play baseball for the angels.
Dodger fans grateful he missed out on that “Hollywood lifestyle”
Worse than Chris Davis contract
I attended his widely anticipated first home appearance as a National, in which he struck out at his first at bat. He was OK that year, 2013. The following Spring I happened to go to Spring training and he was doing 0ne-on-one batting practice with Levon Hernandez. He had an excellent year in 2014. Despite his later behavior and his claims to just view baseball as just a job that he wasn’t particularly into, I will always appreciate his contributions as a Nat. He came across as relaxed and down to earth with them. The Nats still haven’t succeeded in replacing him at third base since he left after 2019. It’s sad to see his time with the Angels be so disastrous.
Welcome to the Angels, Nolan Arenado
A Steve Miller Band song comes to mind…
I love Fly Like an Eagle
Pick up ramon Urias’, who is cheap and was worth around 3 war on a fulltime basis but never rarely got fulltime at bats, stuck behind Westburg and Holliday.
And you wonder why team owners don’t wanna pony up big money . The most greedy athletes in the world are baseball players . Lockout can’t come soon enough
Angels have done this before, they basically paid Josh Hamilton to play for the Texas Rangers, now they will pay Rendon to play somewhere else.
Rendon is not going to play elsewhere for a couple reasons. He doesn’t really like baseball anymore, but most importantly his body just won’t do it anymore. And I don’t blame him at all. Lot’s of tough injuries especially hips. His body just broke down. A hypothetical: If Rendon was offered the same contract by the Nationals and stayed there and the outcome was the same as far as injuries Nats FO, players and fans would have felt really bad for Rendon for not being able to play the game productively anymore and what could’ve been. But he signed with the Angels and there is bitterness and hateful reaction because his body broke down with Angels. But because his attitude sucked few feel bad for him. I definitely don’t condone his attitude but I’m 68 and I’m paying for all my injuries in sports and no amount of money would change that at all. Rendon is headed in that direction I’m sure.
Tendon took the Angels for a little less than $237,000 per at bat during his contract and playing time. Considering how badly he played with them, this goes down as the worst signing in the last 15/20 years, easy.
He didn’t play that bad when he did play. He was good on defense Average at the plate
If he were a decent person, he’d just retire and be content with the $200 million he’s already taken. But he isn’t.
Don’t start with the “they signed the contract, blah blah blah”. He also agreed to render services for said contract and clearly hasn’t. $200 million is more than enough for all the nothing he’s done.
20 million per home run …
The person that is not decent is the one staring you in the face in the mirror.
Rendon did everything he was asked to do. He earned his contract. Not on the field as he and the Angels would have wanted, but instead in rehab from injuries. None of which any sane person would prefer over playing and two of which are career-ending type of injuries that he tried to come back from.
If he had quit. If he had refused to do any more rehab, then maybe he should have retired. Instead he continued the extremely hard work of doing the rehab to get back on the field. He performed his half of the contract. He deserves to be paid.
I assume this is Anthony Rendon’s account?
As is usual, assuming things has just one outcome.
Rendon signed his big deal and checked-out. Dude never wanted to play.Period. At least Stras hoped to be able to return, Rendon never tried to get back on the field in a meaningful way.
@Empire okay glad you read peoples minds. SMH
At least that’s over ……… well …… sort of
@Davey- You want to explain that comment
Really, restructure…he should pay the Angels!
Rendon is a scumbag.
“ Rendon will not return to the team “ and what in this quote is any different than what he “ returned “ in the last 5 seasons?
The best news this cat got every year was that he’s out for the season. He just didn’t want to play ball.
December 1, 2026: Irresponsible contracts like this one will become a thing of the past.
All MLB salaries are paid indirectly by the fans, and they deserve better.
Disrespectfully, eff this guy
This article really drew out all the people with so little character that they would prefer to hate than learn about a situation, that believe team owners should get all the benefits, and that don’t realize that no one has surgery just to not have to play and further don’t realize that any sane person would rather be doing just about anything other than being in the rehab room. Rehab is hard. Much harder than playing.
Rendon had severe injuries that required surgeries. He also had a broken leg. You don’t choose those things. continuing to do the rehab from those injuries shows an incredible level of commitment to your team. That is what Rendon did.
He deserves for the team to honor their contractual commitment to him.
Scott Boris does it again!!!
QUICK
Before this kicks in,
Move to a state with no individual State Income Tax !!
Don’t Take on any more income in 2025 !!
Just because contractual law makes something legal, doesn’t mean that it is moral and ethical.
By denying that this situation is the exception to the rule, some people here are implying that MLB would be better with more contract situations like Rendon’s.
Complete insanity.