rewrite this title Anthony Rendon restructure will end Angels’ $245M mistake

ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reported in late November that the two parties were working on a buyout of sorts regarding the final year and $38M on the seven-year, $245M 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 1,095 plate appearances. Of a possible 1,032 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 reigning World Series MVP after a sensational run in Washington; from 2017-19, Rendon had slashed .310/.397/.556 with the Nationals.

Everything fell apart from that point forth. 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 Rendon for any contributions from Rendon in 2026 anyhow, but the restructure and deferral of his weighty $38M 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, but with 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 $172M, which is roughly $34M shy of their 2025 level. Depending on how the new arrangement has been structured, the Angels could be anywhere from $40M-$70M 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.