The Big Lead

Anthony Rendon's bad contract keeps haunting Angels with latest injury

By Joe Lago

Aug 9, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) acknowledges the Washington Nationals fans being introduced prior to his first at-bat in Washington since leaving the organization during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Aug 9, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) acknowledges the Washington Nationals fans being introduced prior to his first at-bat in Washington since leaving the organization during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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With the Los Angeles Angels' sad history of shelling out tens of millions of dollars on Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols, it takes an extraordinary level of disappointment to top those bad contracts.

Anthony Rendon's horrible deal is a curse that keeps on punishing.

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On Wednesday, Angels general manager Perry Minasian announced Rendon will have hip surgery and miss an extended amount of time (again) to continue his injury-marred tenure in Anaheim.

“He had a setback late in the offseason with his rehab,” Minasian told reporters. “He's going to have hip surgery here in the very near future. I don't put time frames on it, but it's going to be a while until he's back.”

Since signing a seven-year, $245 million contract after helping the Washington Nationals win the 2019 World Series, the 34-year-old Rendon has not played more than 58 games in his five seasons with the Angels. That includes the 2020 pandemic campaign in which he played in 52 of 60 contests.

The Angels opted to pay an exorbitant amount of money on Rendon despite their glaring need for pitching. Then-GM Billy Eppler — at the behest of owner Arte Moreno — splashed cash on Rendon instead of outbidding the New York Yankees for prized right-hander Gerrit Cole, an Orange County native.

Rendon hasn't come anywhere close to duplicating his numbers with the Nationals in 2019, his lone All-Star season in which he led MLB with 126 RBIs. He's driven in 125 runs in 257 games with the Angels, hitting only .242 with 22 home runs and an OPS of .717 — far below the .859 OPS he posted in his seven-year tenure in D.C.

Two years remain on Rendon's deal, which will pay him $38.5 million this season and in 2026. After hitting a career-worst .218 in 216 at-bats last year, Rendon was slated to have a bench role. Now he'll begin Year 6 with the Angels on the 60-day injured list.

After hearing about Rendon's latest fitness issue, manager Ron Washington tried to contact him. He remains a "believer in Rendon," according to The Athletic's Sam Blum.

"Anthony is dealing with some things, and I know at some point he'll get back to me," Washington said.

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