Anthony

Rendon

Technically, Rendon isn’t officially retired and hasn’t been released after reportedly agreeing to a contract buyout during the offseason that will pay him $38 million over the next five years. The 35-year-old third baseman’s career appears over after undergoing hip surgery last spring.

Rendon would have gotten all that money this year in the final season of a seven-year, $245 million contract, but that would have meant going through the motions of trying a comeback from hip surgery. Instead, now, he won’t be under any obligations with the team. He remains on the 40-man roster, and he’ll be placed on the 60-day IL once spring training starts.

Rendon, coming off hip surgery, was due $38 million in the final season of a seven-year, $245 million contract. The buyout figures to allow him to collect all that money over a longer period of time, and in return, Rendon won’t have to show up to spring training for rehab and pretend that he wants to play. Rendon will finish his Angels tenure with a .242/.348/.369 line in 257 games played.

Rendon is due $38 million in the final season of a seven-year, $245 million contract that is on the very short list of the most ill-fated deals of all-time. The first six seasons saw him play in a total of 257 games, and he missed all of 2025 after hip surgery. Rendon, 35, is actually just a one-time All-Star, though he had three top-six NL MVP finishes during his time with the Nationals. It’s hard to remember now, but he also finished 10th in the AL MVP balloting in his initial year with the Angels, when he hit .286/.418/.491 during the shortened 2020 season. He’s since batted .231/.329/.336 with 13 homers in 863 plate appearances.

Rendon is now officially out until May 27, but hip surgery will likely keep the 34-year-old unavailable well beyond that point. Yoán Moncada is officially under contract and will get the reps at third base with Rendon unavailable. Again.

The expectation is that Rendon will miss “a long amount of time.” The surgery will occur after Rendon suffered a setback during his rehab from his hip injury, and now there’s at least a chance that he’s played his last game as a member of the Angels. Yoan Moncada will be the regular at third base for the foreseeable future.

Nothing from the Halos yet since Moncada’s one-year, $5 million agreement hasn’t officially crossed the finish line. The 29-year-old will attempt to revive his career in Los Angeles with his arrival seeming to signal that the ill-fated Anthony Rendon era is coming to an end. We’ll see.

Blum mentioned that, based on comments from Angels’ management, “it seems more likely for a backup first baseman to come in the form of a more versatile infielder.” That means Niko Kavadas and Ryan Noda are less likely to win the job. Blum suggests that Rendon, “who isn’t likely to get everyday reps at third base,” could serve as a backup at both positions, potentially starting versus left-handed pitchers. Maybe this part-time role could keep him healthy all season, but it’s hard to see him having much fantasy value outside of the deepest formats.

With only a few weeks left in the season, Rendon is hitting the injured list after he told reporters he expected to play Tuesday. If this is it for Rendon, he hit .218 with no home runs and 14 RBI in 57 games on the year. Which is more depressing, the lack of any home runs or that 57 games is the most he’s played since 2021? Either way, Rendon hasn’t played more than 58 games since 2019, his last season with the Nationals. With two more years remaining on his contract with the Angels, Rendon is putting together a nice resume for one of the biggest free agent bust signings in MLB history.

Rendon’s day off Sunday was just supposed to be a day off, but it was likely related to this. Michael Stefanic got a second straight start with Rendon out tonight.