Sometimes the best moves that take place in the offseason have more to do with money than actual baseball, and that’s definitely the case with the Los Angeles Angels after the report that they’re entering into talks to buy out the last year of third baseman Anthony Rendon’s seven-year, $245 million deal.
The move was reported by Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, and the contract as a whole will go down as an all-timer when it comes to bad deals. The Angels signed Rendon in the 2019 offseason, making him the highest-paid third baseman in MLB based on Rendon’s extended star turn with the then-World Series champion Washington Nationals.
Rendon’s stats immediately took a precipitous drop, and he went from bashing 103 home runs during his last four seasons in Washington to hitting just 22 over the course of his entire five-year Angels career. This past season was especially painful, with Rendon hitting just .218 with no home runs and just 14 RBIs as he struggled to come back from hip surgery.
The 35-year old is owed $38 million this season, and his agent is Scott Boras, so it might be wise not to put this one down in the books as a win for the Angels just yet. According to Gonzalez, Rendon is expected to defer at least part of the money, which will give the Halos the freedom to get players who can actually stay on the field and want to play for new manager Kurt Suzuki. Suzuki was Rendon’s teammate in Washington in 2019, coincidentally, but now he won’t have to deal with the third baseman's ongoing absence.
Washington fans will remember him fondly for the most part, although he did publicly state his disinterest in baseball after his MVP season in 2019, adding that it’s merely a job and he doesn’t care for the accolades or attention.
Nationals rooters found those statement oddly endearing, but Angels fans not so much. Rendon's body quickly began breaking down on him, with injuries to his groin, left knee, left hamstring, left shin, left oblique, lower back, both wrists and both hips that made him a staple of the Angels injury list. Given his lack of dedication, it’s fair to wonder if lack of conditioning and body maintenance helped turn him into a surgeon’s dream.
Rendon spent the entire offseason at his home in Houston after the February announcement about his impending hip surgery. His albatross contract coincided with the start of star outfielder Mike Trout's struggles with injuries, and the two former stars came to symbolize Angels failure despite the emergence of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.
Now Rendon is gone, and the Angels are starting over. The settlement numbers still need to be figured out, and there’s a big question about whatever financial relief the Angels might get as part of the settlement. Beyond that, this is by far the best news of the offseason as the Angels start making actual baseball moves.