Angels and Anthony Rendon agree to a contract restructuring

There may be another team looking for a big addition this off-season.

On Tuesday, Sam Blum of The Athletic reported that the Los Angeles Angels and Anthony Rendon have agreed to a restructuring of Rendon’s contract, buying out the final year of the contract and deferring it over the next three-to-five years. 

Entering the final year of his seven-year deal, Rendon was set to be owed $38 million in 2026. It’s unclear how the deferred payments will play out, but the Angels will have some additional money to play around with this off-season. Perhaps they go big-game hunting for a bat?

Hopefully, any signing that they make works out better than it did with Rendon. Signed shortly after he won the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019, Rendon’s tenure with the Angels was not good, simply put. His best season came in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, slashing .286/.418/.497 with nine home runs in 232 plate appearances for a 152 wRC+. The 2.5 fWAR he accumulated in the shortened season was the most for any of the five seasons he played with the Angels.

In 2021, Rendon slashed .240/.329/.382 with six home runs in 249 plate appearances, giving him a 94 wRC+ and 0.2 fWAR in 58 games played. Around this time, Rendon regularly started to get injured, spending time on the injured list in 2021 due to a groin strain as well as a hamstring strain. His season ended due to surgery for a right hip impingement.

When healthy in 2022, Rendon slashed .229/.326/.380 with five home runs in 193 plate appearances, giving him a 103 wRC+ and 0.9 fWAR. It was the last time Rendon had a wRC+ above 100, but his season was cut short due to wrist surgery, playing the final three games of the season.

Again, Rendon dealt with injuries in 2023. This time, his season ended in early July after fouling a ball off his leg, resulting in a broken tibia. Before that, Rendon was slashing .236/.361/.318 with two home runs in 183 plate appearances for a 96 wRC+. In 2024, Rendon dealt with injuries again, and slashed .218/.307/.267 with no home runs in 238 plate appearances. He also missed all of the 2025 season.

The Angels have already made some notable transactions this season. They agreed to terms with both Jordan Romano and Alek Manoah, two former Toronto Blue Jay pitchers. Moreover, they also acquired Grayson Rodriguez from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Taylor Ward.