Angels and Rendon: Negotiations to finalize contract
The Los Angeles Angels and third baseman Anthony Rendon are in talks to terminate the final year of his contract, a seven-year, $245 million deal that did not meet the team’s expectations. A source close to the situation revealed the details. Rendon, who spent the entire 2025 season recovering from hip surgery, is expected to retire. At 35 years old, he is still owed $38 million in 2026. Although the contract purchase has not yet been finalized, it is anticipated that Rendon will defer at least part of that money, which would provide the team with greater financial flexibility to address its needs in the offseason.
In December 2019, the Angels made Rendon the highest-paid third baseman in baseball, following his outstanding performance with the Washington Nationals, World Series champions at the time. If the Angels and Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, manage to finalize the contract termination, Rendon will have participated in only a quarter of the Angels’ games during the term of the agreement, accumulating 3.7 wins above replacement (fWAR) according to FanGraphs.
Rendon, selected in the first round of the 2011 draft by Rice University, established himself as one of the most complete players in baseball during his time in Washington. He was an exceptional hitter and a talented defender, and from 2016 to 2019, only nine position players accumulated more fWAR than him. In that four-year period, Rendon batted .299/.384/.528. In his last season with the Nationals, he finished third in the National League MVP voting, with an OPS of 1.010, 34 home runs and 126 RBIs, leading the league and starring in an outstanding postseason performance that culminated in the franchise’s first title. Despite the media attention, Rendon’s limited interest in baseball, admitting it wasn’t his main priority, became part of his personality. Over the years, this became a reflection of his low productivity. In 2020, Rendon showed a performance similar to his best, but that was the last time the Angels experienced anything close to his best level. In the following four years, he batted only .231/.329/.336, participating in 205 of 648 possible games. Injuries to his left groin, left knee, left hamstring, left shin, left oblique, lower back, both wrists, and both hips sent him to the injured list. The final blow came on February 12, 2025, when the Angels announced at the start of spring training that Rendon would undergo hip surgery and miss the season. Rendon spent the entire season away from the team, mainly rehabilitating near his home in Houston. His last home run with the team was on July 1, 2023. He never played in more than 58 games in a season. The expensive Rendon contract coincided with a series of Mike Trout injuries. The absence of these two players, the team’s highest paid, along with a general lack of depth in the squad, only worsened the Angels’ situation despite the emergence of Shohei Ohtani as a two-way phenomenon. The Angels haven’t reached the playoffs since 2014 and haven’t won a playoff game since 2009. The 2025 season marked their tenth consecutive season with a sub-.500 record. Kurt Suzuki, Rendon’s teammate on the 2019 Nationals, has been named manager of the Angels, the sixth in eight years. Soon, at least, they will be able to advance to third base.
