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Alden Gonzalez
Los Angeles Angels and third baseman Anthony Rendon A source told ESPN on Wednesday that he is in talks about buying out the final year of his contract, potentially bringing resolution to a seven-year, $245 million deal that didn’t come close to paying dividends for the team.
Rendon, who spent the entire 2025 season recovering from hip surgery, is expected to retire, a source said.
The 35-year-old is due $38 million in 2026. A potential buyout of that remaining money has not been finalized, and situations like this can often be complicated, but the expectation is that Rendon will defer at least part of that money, giving the team more financial flexibility to meet needs this offseason.
After seeing the star for the reigning World Series champions, the Angels made Rendon the game’s highest-paid third baseman in December 2019. Washington NationalsIf the Angels and Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, are able to finalize a buyout, he will play in only a quarter of the Angels’ games during the life of that deal, compiling 3,7 FanGraphs wins above replacement (fWAR),
A first-round pick out of Rice University in 2011, Rendon established himself as one of the game’s best all-around players with a rising squad in Washington. He was a hitting specialist and talented defender, and from 2016 to 2019 only nine position players put up more fWAR.
Rendon slashed .299/.384/.528 over that four-year span. His final season with the Nationals saw him finish third in National League MVP voting after putting up a career-high 1.010 OPS with 34 home runs and a major-league-leading 126 RBI, while turning in a star turn in a postseason run that ended with the franchise’s first title.
With the spotlight on him, Rendon’s publicly stated limited interest in baseball – he often admitted that it is not his biggest priority, that it is only a job, and that he does not care for praise or attention – became an endearing part of his personality. As the years passed, it became a referendum on his lack of productivity.
Rendon looked just like his normal self during a 2020 season that was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This proved to be the last time the Angels experienced anything close to Rendon’s prime. Over the next four years, he slashed just .231/.329/.336 while appearing in 205 of a possible 648 games. Injuries to his left groin, left knee, left hamstring, left shin, left oblique, lower back, both wrists and both hips put him on the injured list.
The final blow came on February 12, 2025, when the Angels announced at the beginning of spring training that Rendon would undergo hip surgery and miss the season. Rendon spent the entire season away from the team, spending most of the time rehabbing near his home in Houston. His last home run with the team came on July 1, 2023. He never played more than 58 games in a season.
Rendon’s Albatross contract happened by accident mike trout Facing a similar blow of bad luck. The unavailability of those two players – by far the team’s highest-paid – coupled with the lack of depth throughout the roster, only furthered the Angels’ decline despite their emergence. shohei ohtani As a two-way event.
The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014 and have not won a playoff game since 2009. The 2025 season marked their 10th consecutive season with a sub-.500 record. Kurt Suzuki, Rendon’s teammate at the 2019 Nationals, has since been named the Angels manager – the team’s sixth in eight years.
Soon, at least, they may move to third base.
