Angels' Anthony Rendon Might Retire, Says ESPN Insider

The Los Angeles Angels chapter of Anthony Rendon's MLB career has been lackluster, to say the least.

As frustrating and unfulfilled Rendon's tenure in Anaheim has been, there is a very grim reality as one of baseball's top insiders purported.

Fans and pundits alike have looked back at the enormous seven-year, $245 million contract that was inked before the start of the 2020 season and pondered how it came to be. In Dec. 2019, the expectations for Rendon, and the world as we know it, were both very different.

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The 2019 season saw Rendon earn his first All-Star selection, his second Silver Slugger award, and lead his Washington Nationals to the World Series. Down 3-2 in the Fall Classic to the Houston Astros, Rendon slugged a home run in Games 6 and 7 to help Washington win their first-ever title.

The third-place National League MVP runner-up then signed a deal with the Angels months later as nobody would be able to predict what would happen next.

As the COVID-19 pandemic changed the global landscape, MLB made its return with a shortened season. Rendon did fairly well only missing eight regular season games and hitting .286/.418/.497 with an OPS of .915.

His nine home runs and WAR of 2.2 in that first, albeit shortened, season in L.A. would be the first and final time he would hit those marks in an Angels uniform.

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Rendon hasn't played more than 58 games in a season since 2020, and with the latest news that he islikely missing the entire 2025 season, the baseball world wonders if the last we saw of Rendon was his abysmal 2024 showing.

On Buster Olney's Baseball Tonight Podcast, MLB insider Alden Gonzalez gave his grim prognosis.

“Talking to people who know Anthony Rendon, the thought is he might just retire," Gonzalez said. "Hip surgery is a huge undertaking, he’s got only one year left on his contract after this season, I gotta think this is the end. I don’t think he plays another game with the Angels.”

Rendon will be 35 years old in June. Given his injury history, Gonzalez may be correct in his assessment.

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