End Of An Era: The Angels And Anthony Rendon Have Agreed To a Buyout That Will Mercifully Conclude His Time With The Halos After Years Of The 3rd Baseman Robbing Them For Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars
Ronald Martinez. Getty Images.The baseball offseason has somehow progressed even slower than normal. Nothing is happening. As of typing this sentence guys like Cody Bellinger, Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, Framber Valdez, and Zac Gallen remain unsigned with little to no smoke currently around any of their names. Hell, even highly toted Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai has just days to sign and there's no buzz besides the White Sox possibly showing interest. It's been brutal. Well, at least today we can laugh about someone —Anthony Rendon. Finally, his tenure with the Angels has come to an end as the two sides have reached an agreement to send him away for good.
(The Athletic) The Anthony Rendon era in Anaheim has officially come to an end. The Los Angeles Angels and their much beleaguered star have agreed to restructure the remainder of his contract, a league source told The Athletic.
The 35-year-old is owed the $38 million for the final year of his seven-year, $245 million deal. The Angels will pay out that money over the next three-to-five years, freeing up significant cash for the team to pursue high-profile free agents in 2026.
Rendon will technically remain on the Angels roster for the 2026 season, and is likely to be placed on the 60-day IL at the outset of spring training.
Now you may wonder why on Earth Anthony Rendon would feel any sort of pressure to agree to the Angels' terms. He already doesn't play baseball, operating under the constraints of a buyout as it is. Well, this agreement seems to allow him to stay home in Texas and totally forget about his responsibilities with the Angels while still receiving his money. What a dream.
The exact terms of the restructuring are not clear — though this move will allow him to remain in his native Houston rather than being with the team in Anaheim.
Rendon serves as an inspiration to many that you really don't need to do your job to get paid. I imagine the Somalians up in Minnesota have a giant mural of Rendon as they chase a similar dream. The former World Series champion's stint in Los Angeles is really something to behold. During his time with the Nats he averaged 130 games a year with an .859 OPS. He finished top 10 in MVP voting three times. As an Angel he never cracked the 60 games played plateau. SIXTY GAMES. Never happened. Funny enough, the highest percentage of games he played came during the covid shortened season, as I guess the 60 game season didn't seem like such a daunting task while making over $30M. For fuck's sake, Ted Williams, while also participating in WWII, played more games in a five year span than Rendon did with the Angels.
Rendon should obviously be used as caution to every team in the league to make sure the guy you're about to pay a lot of money to actually likes playing the sport and doesn't view it as a punishment. In theory who would view playing baseball for hundreds of millions of dollars right? Anthony Rendon stood tall and refused while everyone else looked on in amazement.
Well, that should put a bow on his roller coaster of a career. I'll take us out of here with the only two Angels highlights of his career. Fighting with a fan…
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and swinging left handed and blasting a homer with a position player on the mound
$245M spent in probably as bad of a way as you can think of.