The Angels finalized their buyout with Anthony Rendon shortly before the New Year. That was known to include some kind of contract restructure to defer his $38MM salary for the upcoming season, the final of his seven-year contract.
Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reported last night that it’ll be an even five-year deferral plan. The Angels will pay him $7.6MM annually between 2026-30. That’ll save them $30.4MM this year relative to what they would have paid had there been no buyout. Rendon will not play for the team again. He is not officially retiring but it certainly seems as if his MLB career is over.
Will the Angels reinvest any of their short-term savings? Sam Blum of The Athletic wrote this week that’s not guaranteed, noting that general manager Perry Minasian avoided a question about a potential payroll reduction. “I’m not going to make any statements. We’ll see where the offseason takes us. There’s still a lot of good players available. There’s still time to improve the club,” the GM said.
The Angels entered the offseason with $126.7MM in guaranteed salaries. They’ve added another $12.95MM via one-year contracts for Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano and Alek Manoah. Their arbitration class will cost roughly $20MM. That’d put them around $160MM before accounting for minimum salaries to round out the roster. Rendon’s deferrals drop that back to the $130MM range. The Halos opened the ’25 season with a $193MM payroll.
If they’re willing to match last year’s spending, they’d have the money to be involved on any free agent. Only owner Arte Moreno and the front office know where they’ll draw the line. The Angels are among the nine teams whose local broadcasting contract with Main Street Sports collapsed this week. That’s again an uncertain revenue stream. There has also been speculation that the Angels could be reluctant to make multi-year commitments with the likelihood of a lockout in December. A contract gap was reportedly a big reason that discussion with their preferred managerial candidate, Albert Pujols, didn’t result in a deal. They eventually hired Kurt Suzuki on a one-year contract, an atypically short managerial commitment.
The Angels continue to have glaring needs around the roster. Second base, third base and center field are all concerns on the position player side. Catcher is as well, though Logan O’Hoppe has enough of a track record that it’s understandable they’re sticking with him and Travis d’Arnaud for another season. They’re light at least one mid-rotation starter and would benefit from another high-leverage reliever, even if the bullpen market has essentially dried up.
What a bum
Calling him a bum is an insult to all bums everywhere.
Aren’t you guys being a tad harsh on Tony Two-Bags? Wasn’t he constantly and legitimately injured? Didn’t he have multiple surgeries and rehabs, implying that he was working to get back on the field?
I have an idea. MLB should adopt a rule that a team can fire a guy without paying out the rest of his guarantee. Here’s how it could work. The Angels hold a hearing at the stadium. Angel fans are the jurors and are admitted for free. Each side makes its case. Fans that pay insane prices for tickets and concessions can vote out a guy like Rendon who publicly admits he’s lost his passion for the game. See ya Anthony! You’re fired! Do not pass payroll. Do not collect your last 40 million.
BPax,
Incredibly bad idea. Do you think player salaries are responsible for the “insane prices for tickets and concessions?” No, the owners set the prices based on supply and demand, taking as much as possible from the public while doing all they can to keep costs down.
That sounds like capitalism, except they want the public to build them stadiums, and they artificially keep player costs down through through 6-7 years of control of MLB salaries and caps on draft and international signing spending. Owners want to have their cake and eat it, too, and they want A LOT of cake.
He was hurt trying to play. Some of his statements certainly hurt his public image but he really tried to play. As an Angels fan I don’t really blame him. It is just that the baseball-dumb owner decided Rendon would make him more money instead of pitchers the team really needed.
His statements reflect that he probably didn’t try as hard as someone who really wanted to play. That’s why his public image is less than stellar.
While with the Angels he had injuries on both hips, groin, hamstring, wrist, shin and back issues. All baseball related injuries. I doubt you would be able to even stand. He tried to come back from all of them.
Right, he had multiple surgeries just to avoid playing.
Socalbball – Should have had his mouth wired shut while he was in in one of those surgeries, because that’s the issue people truly had with him. Stevie Wonder reads Shakespeare better than Holmes there could read a room.
wow, you are a complete moron
So, tell your kids they are less important than your job.
That job will serve his kids very well
That and when he grabbed the fan in the stands.
The problem is none of us know the true extent of his injuries. I know he had surgeries and felt pain. But we don’t know if the injuries were significant enough to warrant a surgery on other players. Meaning would other players have simply dealt with the pain. We just don’t know.
Lloyd: Can any doctor, trainer, or physical therapist corroborate your hunch, I wonder?
Hurt himself getting on and off his couch. On the IL so often that we all were surprised when he went on it again… never knew he came off of it.
He could have opened up his mouth. I wish he was on the Mets when he left D.C. Guy was seemingly cancer.
He’s a rich-bum
Because he has millions in the bank?
PMH,
Your accusation reads like an admission.
Professional Mozeliak Hater “What a bum”
I disagree. He’s a formerly very good player. He ended up having a series of legit injuries and I think it frustrated him more than anyone else…..and led him to make some tone deaf comments to the press that only made things worse.
It was a guaranteed contract. That means that the player gets paid even if injured. Teams don’t make guaranteed contracts because they are benevolent, they do it because it is often the only way to sign better players. Those that think Rendon should have given back money are being ridiculous.
Do you indignant folks realize that Mike Trout only made $510K his rookie year…..putting up a 10.5 WAR, finished second in the MVP voting (really should have won it) and won ROY? And the next season Moreno only offered him a $490K raise? Where was the indignation then?
Sealbeach Comber,
Great comments. Many fans rarely acknowledge the massive savings teams make on players their first 6-7 years while being more than happy to rail on players who decline later in their careers.
I think much of this stems from fans cheering for their team over any particular player (with very rare exceptions), so they want what’s best for the team over the players.
Living the dream
Damn deferrals.
Tucker.
That contract is the gift that keeps on giving…
Now that the Rendon era is said and done for the Angels, who’s the next guy they’ll sign to a big contract only to get burned?
No idea who, but it will probably be the next guy they sign to a big deal.
Arenado.
1. Trout 2. Schanuel 3. Zeto 4 Adell 5. Ohoppe 6. Lugo. 7. Moore 8. Grissom 9. Rada
Should be in the running for third place if things all break right.
Length of contract is what killed Pujols being named manager? I know no one wants a one year deal, but how much more cash does Pujols need?
At least we can all stop singing “How Can I Miss You if You Won’t Go Away.”
Thank God I don’t have to read stuff on Rendon anymore. It’s now 7.5 million a year…LET IT GO!!!! It’s over.
Why can’t everyone take solace in the fact Rendon took a dump on Arte Moreno while taking his money? Angels weren’t winning anything anyway. Rendon is what we should all strive to be.
sure, that’s a silver lining but Angels fans deserve better.
Good night, sweet prince.
Rendone. Beyond, Beyond stink!
Him, Bonilla, and Chris Davis should vacation together.
See
Both him and Strasburg mentally checked out after 2019.
Physically, yes, their bodies broke down. Mentally, they both tried to get back on the field for years.
Deferrals!!!!??? Omg the angels are ruining baseball!!!!
Retirement. I just wonder if he’s ever felt guilty for collecting on something he didn’t deserve.
I remember when players use to turn down money after injuries forced them to retire in the past, but now the agents, union and amount of money pretty much prevents that from happening.
I remember when owners paid for their own stadiums, but now the politicians gift them stadiums to make billionaires richer at everyone else’s expense.
Yeah they are totally playing off the dodgers model… Getting this guy off the team is a win no matter how you slice it.
Farte not smarte
you don’t have to like Rendon but you can easily see his frustration level regarding his injuries and that can create for his outburst on his relationship to his employment (baseball) and his family
2021: hip surgery.
2022: right wrist surgery
2023: fractured tibia.
2025: hip surgery again
getting cut on is something much more that i’m sore and can’t play or not trying. one can certainly see that his injuries could have sapped his abilities and desire
Like others, I grew to dislike him because almost every time he talked it sounded like he didn’t care to be a baseball player anymore. Maybe the injuries had something to do with how he spoke. But maybe his lack of interest led directly to all the injuries.
I watched him come up. He was a great player for a time. Glad I didn’t have to watch him as an Angel.
Honest question, and I didn’t see it in the full article either, but why would Rendon or his agent agree to this, unless he’s also getting paid interest in the deferred payments? Doesn’t seem to be any incentive for him, otherwise.
He is getting paid to literally do nothing. He doesn’t want to suit up anymore, probably hasn’t since he signed the ludicrous contract. Once he laid hands on that one fan he should have been banned.
You’re right, that fan should be banned for life.
Rendon tried to play with a broken leg but go ahead and believe he didn’t want to “suit up “ after he signed his deal.
@fansince By broken leg, do you mean the fracture that 4 doctors(2 of which were his) deemed a bone bruise??
It was a fifth Dr Rendon found, who knows if that was the only one or if he went to numerous. But lets not act like he was suffering through a compound leg fracture or anything remotely close to a break. Thats if it was even a hairline fracture…
@tiger3232
That’s a statement that ignores the fact MLB has to approve any player IL placement but why let facts get in the way of your hate for him because doesn’t have the obsession to play baseball that you think he should have.
Maybe there’s some tax advantage to it where in long run he doesn’t have to pays much in taxes by stretching it out.
Maybe this way he isn’t contractually obligated to put in effort to get into shape to play.
@halo Wow. You need to read more, you are so confidently ignorant. Subsidizing isn’t socialism? When auto manufacturers were going bankrupt taxpayers bailed them out. Socialism exists on the idea that individuals don’t work independently, rather it’s a cooperation. What was the main point of the automaker bailouts? It was they are “too big to fail. They employ too many people and the effect would be too enormous”. How is that not socialism? Capitalism in its true form would say that business should fail because the market dictated it.
We don’t import all our drugs from china. We are a cog in the international trade machine. Why make some weird statement that will never be true?
No it’s not. You need to read things that are actually accurate. Congress voted on subsidizing healthcare this week, are you now saying we have socialized medicine?
No wonder you voted for the guy, you don’t know what you are talking about.
I honestly can’t believe you are so dumb. Medicare is a socialist program. It is not socialized medicine. We could have single payer healthcare for what we pay for Medicare but private insurance fights this. It’s also against US capitalism because we sure as heck aren’t looking to lower gdp by cutting revenue for the largest insurance firms. UnitedHealth was a top 10 most profitable company in the world, but they only operate in the United States. Weird huh? More profitable than multinational megacorps.
We socialize the debits of companies and privatize profits. Why is Tesla so overvalued? Because taxpayers subsidize them or provide all their revenue. That’s socialism in a capitalist society. It doesn’t work for the Everyman because it was tainted by capitalism.
The fact to reference AOC shows you are a scumbag. You have to force political affiliation into it to get people against my idea. Sorry you hate the working class.
No it’s not. I can’t believe you have fallen for talking points. Anyway, when New Your takes even more steps back, you’ll be too brainwashed to see it.
What a boomer response. “No, you’re wrong”. Go watch Gutfeld or whatever, the world has passed you by
You don’t know what socialism is…got it.
Well, it hasn’t worked anywhere, even when you massage the definition it doesn’t work.
You’ve been brainwashed. Maybe you’ll wake up, maybe you won’t.
You didn’t answer any of my questions. You don’t know what socialism or even capitalism is. I answered what it is and responded with questions of my own, but you just respond as such.
When was the last time you read a book? Honest question, because I don’t think you have in decades.
Spaghetti: Isn’t that bigoted and defamatory, calling someone a blanket-name like that??
Also, the world always passes everyone by after they hit 40 or so. That’s how culture is incessantly designed: to render all older people irrelevant, so that all that’s left is impressionable younger people to brainwash into the cesspool culture of the day.
Boomer is bigoted and defamatory? That’s literally the what the generation is called. I don’t think saying the person embodies the selfishness and dismissiveness of the “me generation” is either of those. There’s a large amount of Boomers who love to think they are marginalized in some way, act like they are somehow a victim. All the while they are the first generation to leave the world a worse place for their descendants.
If that offends people in that age group, then maybe they should look in a mirror.
Halo: No one actually voted (or votes) for anyone. Ever. You just pick the least-objectionable person, and they tally-up all of the picks for research purposes, just like grocery stores do with your purchases when you use a customer ID card.
I hate talking politics on baseball threads.
We can see how it works out. And from there, people should be honest and adjust their opinions accordingly.
Halo: YOU were talking about socialism, etc. I simply commented.
Actually he was originally talking about how supporting mamdani made you a socialist antisemite, parroting corpo news bs. Then the thread was deleted and my last comment became its own thread.
But, “he hates talking politics”
Well he is an admitted socialist, and he immediately repealed the IHRA definition antisemitism in NYC so he wouldn’t qualify as an antisemite, so there is that.
I guess if the CDC can change the definition of vaccine so the Covid shot qualifies, he can change the definition of antisemite so he doesn’t.
And by the way, the subway system in New York qualifies under the definition of Socialism.
@Olespaghetti The automakers had to pay back the $ they received, that is what we call a loan. The banks were the ones who were bailed out…
False. It was an interest free bailout for over $80 billion and $14 billion wasn’t paid and written off by the govt.
Spaghetti: You do possess some wisdom. Every loss by all huge companies is written-off, including sports teams and the companies that insure their players’ contracts.
We all pay, via treasury r**e (rhymes with tape) coming in from all sides, sunk contracts like Rendon’s.
The California Angels are cursed. It’s harder to have as much bad luck with major free agent contracts than putting together a good farm system; yet, the Angels get scalped on both fronts. Then there’s the way they lose players in ways that are unthinkable; see Lyman Bostock, Nick Adenhart, and Tyler Skaggs. It’s odd.
Then they have to pay Skaggs’ family a multi-million settlement for some unknown reason. They didn’t give the addict the drugs.
No Arte didn’t put the drugs in Skaggs hands.. But I’m sure the jury was going to rule in favor of the Skaggs family.
They defense argument was Arte didn’t have mechanisms in place in the Angels FO that could of have prevented Skaggs obtaining the drugs.
@Johnny Bravo- Yeah Donnie was tormented by the way Angel fans treated him for giving up that homer to Dave Henderson.
I’ve often wondered why Eckerlersey never got roasted that way from A’s fans for giving up the HR to Gibson in Game 1 of the 88 WS..
I’m thinking it was not deciding game.
Check that it the Plaintiff argument (Skaggs Family)
DolemiteisMyname
Donnie Moore did give up the infamous home run to Dave Henderson in Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS, and while the Angels did tie the game in the bottom of the 9th, they ultimately lost in extra innings. Moore tragically died by suicide in 1989, but attributing it solely to that game oversimplifies a much more complex and painful personal history.
What employer has protections in place to prevent their employees from obtaining drugs? I don’t think that’s the responsibility of the employer. The family seems upset to have lost their golden goose
Well, a longtime employee of the team sold him those drugs.
Not protections. Things like Protocol
Let it be known you can report something without fear of retribution.
WhatI’ve read is that Eric Kay whom was employed by the Angels was supplying these drugs to the Angel players.
I’m sure some players or FO people saw or knew what going on.
Did the Angels have a system in place that employees report things without fear of losing their job?
Great questions. There could have been mechanisms in place to stop this. Obviously some players knew, maybe some employees knew. The fact is, I think Arte is a little responsible for this employee.
Moreno screwed up, but it wasn’t gross negligence and there was nothing nefarious about.
It’s the Walter O’Malley curse
2020
Lyman Bostock-Murdered
Nick Adenhart- Killed by a Drunk Driver
Tyler Skaggs- Self Inflicted
Dont forget the closer Moore killed himself after losing a shot at world series to the red sox.
And Bruce Heinbeckner or Mike Miley, auto accidents.
Just out of the organization, Chico Ruiz, auto accident, Luis Valbuena, murdered, Or more distanced, Jim McGlothlin who died of a brain tumor at 32.
Agreed. Mamdani is great
Wow Rendon gets paid to do nothing for 5 more years, just like last year.
That scene from Seinfeld with George getting his severance from the Yankees (“the Summer of George”) came immediately to mind.
Frolf, Jerry, frisbee golf!
But at least Rendon wasn’t a 40 year old man picking his 17 year old girlfriend up from high school to go on a date, like Jerry Seinfeld.
Yeah but he’s an actor and that’s apparently ok. If you or I did it, we go to the pokey.
$245mill for 1095 plate appearances .. has any player been paid more and done less ?
alstott40-Well there was his teammate pitcher from the WS. Pretty close to the same amount of money, but he played less. Can you imagine if the Nationals had resigned both?
Kris Bryant is competing for that title.
Should’ve just ripped the band aid off. Even if the Angels took the full savings and signed Eugenio Suarez and Zach Littel this is still a bad team with no depth.
1992, during an East Coast road trip, the Angels were traveling by bus from New York to Baltimore when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed. Thirteen members of the Angels’ traveling party were injured, including manager Buck Rodgers, who spent three months in the hospital recovering.
Let’s not forget about Donnie Moore shot himself and his wife
Tendon’s health and contract are classic examples of why owners dont want long term contracts.
If the contracts are insured then that money shouldn’t count towards the salary number.but the team should have to spend that much more..
Healthy Tendon’s are classic. Let’s insure all contracts.
I’m sure some of it was insured
Dang, looking at this makes me realize: 1. The Angels spend money 2. Angel fans are strong and loyal (trust me, I have some in my family and they make me go bonkers when they root for them while still living in LA 3. The ownership and front office are incompetent, they just can’t put a good team together (this is the most important point)
The career of Anthony Renbum is finally over. And now his watch has ended.
This was not a Gil Meche move from Anthony Rendon.
The Angels just settled a wrongful death lawsuit that will cost Moreno around $100 million. They have no money to spend even after saving $30 million by deferring part of Rendon’s salary.
Angel owner is a billionaire. How do they not have money to spend.?
Hw owns the radio station that broadcast the games.
The team still gets money from the Network TV packages. !/30 owner of MLB Network
Do you want to start a go fund page for Arte? Be my guest.
Turn the page on Rendon. They now have an xtra 30 mil to either spend or sit on their hands. or Go get a real 3rd baseman.
The Angels Are Broke and Arte’s to Blame
Let’s stop pretending. The Angels aren’t spending because they can’t. No cable deal. No Bally Sports. No streaming partner. No money.
Bally Sports West is bankrupt. Arte Moreno didn’t secure a new TV contract. That’s $100 million in lost revenue gone. And without that cash, there’s no budget for free agents, no upgrades, no hope.
Meanwhile, Arte’s still hiding in the shadows. No press conferences. No plan. Just silence while the franchise crumbles.
We’re not just broke we’re invisible. No big free agent signings No spending. No way to watch the games. Arte Moreno has officially run this team into the ground.
MLB will step in and make sure we get televised games. Arte will get revenue from that.
Bobby Bonilla had more WAR for the Mets than Rendon for the Angels. Got to be the worst contract ever.
If we are going by WAR, Rendon has several more with the Angels than Kris Bryant does with the Rockies. I guess Bryant’s awful contract gets less attention because he hasn’t made any comments that lead people to think he isn’t working hard to contribute.
MrLOLMet: It was a solid signing, but because of never-ending injuries that could not have been anticipated, it ended up being a major bust. That’s not what “Worst contract” means.
Strasburg was MUCH worse, because it was a significantly stupider decision.
How “sporting” of him.
Do we get to celebrate every year like we do Bobby Bo’s?
It says a lot how BADLY they wanted him off the roster that they’re willing to fulfill their contract obligations using lengthy means (and a lot of interest included!!!)
No interest is included, which is significant. The five years of payments exactly equal the balance of his contract. Strangely, nobody is asking why Rendon would agree to this, when the Angels are contractually obliged to pay it off now. Some other arrangement must have been made off to the side of this deal. Otherwise he has zero incentive to take it.
How do you know what provisions are in the contract?
You don’t.
I don’t
The MLBPLA must of been okay with it. I don’t hear them complaining about it.
Not sure what you mean by provisions, but we do know his 2026 salary and that it will now be paid out over five years, with no interest on the balance, as far as has been reported. The point is, we don’t know why he agreed to this deferral deal when he could have insisted on payment in full now. This tells me a significant part of the story is missing from the reporting. I suspect he’s being paid interest per the terms of the CBA, but we don’t know because nobody reporting on this story is asking. They are just assuming he made an interest-free loan to the team, which seems unlikely.
Dolemite: Isn’t that precisely what BlueSkies said: that he doesn’t (none of us do) know what the provisions are??
@ Blue-I don’t know. I assume there must be some advantages to stretching out that he liked and agreed too. Like I said before, maybe less taxes taken out.
Any lawyers here on MLBTR?
Financially, there aren’t any advantages to waiting five years to receive money you could be paid now. The discount on this is around 20%. Because the CBA is very clear about the terms of players making loans to teams, including the amount of interest to be paid, I feel pretty certain this is how it is being handled, and that the reporting simply isn’t correct.
BlueSkies: Maybe Rendon, his agent, and the union agreed to the deal on the condition that Tony would not be required to report to spring training.
If they’d simply released him, as is the usual practice, he’d be a free agent and would not have to report anywhere — and technically at least he’d be eligible to be signed by another team at the MLB minimum. Why they didn’t do this in the normal way is unclear. Most likely, he’s being paid interest on the deferral, consistent with the CBA. My curiosity about this is due to the unusual way this situation is being handled. I can’t recall another one like it.
Or rehab for absolutely no reason.
I’m not sure, but it seems like a Carl Pavano- situation.
Yankees players were getting so frustrated that he was out all the time and not showing interest in helping the team win.
The statements weren’t great but i can understand that a player is losing motivation if several years in a row he is hurt and having constant pain.
Maybe he never loved the game and played for money or he got good because his dad forced him to train but maybe injury and pain over years robbed his desire.
Still of course he should have voiced it differently
I guess it was silly of me to ask a question here and expect even an educated guess of an answer. But at least I know several people’s stances on the American economy and healthcare system.
I’ll just guess Rendon is getting a little extra pay in interest for agreeing to this, because he’s clearly not a selfless person and wouldn’t do such a thing for free. And he’s also not as good of a person as Gil Meche.
According to the publicly disclosed terms of this agreement, the payments exactly equal the balance of his contract. So, with no interest paid, it amounts to a free loan to the team. We don’t have to characterize the man as good, bad, or otherwise to wonder why he accepted these terms. The Angels have been pretty cagey in describing the details, so this suggests something undisclosed is involved. Maybe some heads-up sportswriter will decide to dig in and try to find out. But I doubt it, since sportswriters are not very heads-up when it comes to financial issues.
Can he still play though? Or he seriously injured?
Now, if someone would buy out Arte’s contract, that would be something.
Kris Bryant next.
What a flat out turkey.