Kent Bewley

On a sunny bright day six years ago, the Los Angeles Angels held an introductory news conference for Anthony Rendon. The then 29-year-old third baseman had just come off a career year with the Washington Nationals, who drafted him in the first round of the 2011 MLB amateur draft. Rendon was signed with the expectation of continuing to maintain his status as a great player for a franchise with only one World Series title, but instead he ended up becoming a burden to a team who invested too much time and money into him.  

Having played seven seasons for the Nationals and helping bring a World Series championship to the nation’s capital for the first time in nearly 100 years, Rendon was allowed to sign with another team in free agency in the 2019 offseason. He signed with the Angels, who invested in him to the tune of $245 million over the next seven seasons. However, that timeline would be both bumpy and frustrating to a team that expected bigger things from a star-studded roster.  

The following MLB season was shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic and the unusual ramp-up period for players who opted to play in the 60-game regular season was a big risk when it came to their overall health. Rendon was an early victim of this paradigm, as he missed the first few games of the shortened season with an oblique injury. But he managed to produce good offensive stats in the 52 games that he played in, as he hit nine home runs, had 31 RBIs and drew 38 walks.  

The 2020 season was the only real “full” season Rendon played in Angels colors, as he endured injuries to his groin, knee and triceps in the 2021 season before suffering a left hamstring strain halfway through the regular season that led to him undergoing left hip surgery. Only playing 58 games in 2021, Rendon missed more time in 2022 due to two separate stints on the injured list with a right wrist ailment that required surgery midway through the season. 

In 2023, Rendon went through his first normal spring training with the Angels and he suffered another severe ailment to his left groin barely 40 games into the season. He came back only to hit a foul ball off his shin on July 4, 2023 at Petco Park in San Diego that ended his season in a very painful fashion with a broken left tibia.  

When he arrived to spring training in Feb 2024, Rendon had a press conference with the media reporters present at the Angels’ facility in Tempe, Ariz, where he stated that baseball had “never been a top priority”. He elaborated further by saying “This is a job. I do this to make a living. My faith and my family come first before this job. So if those things come before it, I’ll move on”.  

It now appears that Rendon is moving on after only playing in 57 games in the 2024 season, when he missed more games because of a hamstring strain, back inflammation and an oblique strain. Last season, the Angels decided to not include Rendon’s locker in the clubhouse due to his lack of presence around the team and he underwent long-term hip surgery on Feb 12, 2025. The team’s front office and the embattled 35-year old third baseman are now currently in contract buyout talks for the final year of his contract in 2026.

The downfall of Rendon is another rough chapter in the history of a franchise that has endured many unfortunate events. In a period of six years, Rendon turned into the biggest cash bust free agent signing in Angels’ history and one of the largest blunders of a contract in the 50-year period of free agency in MLB. That will be his enduring legacy in spite of his earlier success with the Nationals, as he is reportedly considering retirement from professional baseball altogether after 12 seasons of playing in the hot corner.