The signing hasn’t panned out at all so far…
A few years ago, the Los Angeles Angels shocked the baseball world when they signed free agent third baseman Anthony Rendon to a seven-year contract that was worth $245 million. Rendon was coming off one of his most productive seasons, and he had helped the Washington Nationals win the 2019 World Series.
He was seen as the missing piece for this Halos squad alongside Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, but fast-forward a few years, things just never panned out. Rendon has yet to play in more than 58 games in a season due to injury, and his four years with the Angels have been a disaster.
Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report believes that the Rendon signing has doomed the Angels, and that it could be the worst in baseball history.
“Anthony Rendon might end up being the worst free-agent signing in MLB history.”
Per Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report
The Angels are still on the books for three more years with Rendon, so they are hoping that one day he can put things together. If they could get any sort of positive results from him, it would be seen as a win for this contract.
Nobody envisioned this to happen, and Rendon himself has been frustrated by all the injuries. But his lack of availability has hurt the team, and even when he has played, it hasn’t been spectacular.
“The 33-year-old has played 200 total games over the first four seasons of a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, and with a 109 OPS+ and 3.1 WAR during that time he has been a slightly above-average performer even when he has managed to take the field.”
Per Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report
Maybe 2024 will finally be the year that Rendon stays healthy and produces for this team. The Angels will look very different next season, and Rendon could be one of the few veterans on the club. His offseason should be spent finding different ways to stay healthy, and at this point, he can just hope for the best moving forward.