Alden GonzalezDec 30, 2025, 03:14 PM ETCloseESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.Follow on X
The Los Angeles Angels and Anthony Rendon have agreed to restructure the remainder of his contract, essentially ending the All-Star third baseman’s problematic tenure with the team, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Rendon was scheduled to be paid $38 million in 2026, the final season of a seven-year, $245 million contract he signed after starring for a Washington Nationals team that won the World Series in 2019.
Rendon has instead agreed to spread those payments out over what a source described as “a few years,” though the details of that payout are not known publicly.
Rendon will continue to occupy a roster spot for the Angels next season, the source added, though the team can simply place him on the 60-day injured list to free up space.
Rendon became the game’s highest-paid third baseman in December 2019 and will end up playing in just a quarter of the Angels’ games over the life of his deal, compiling a mere 3.7 FanGraphs wins above replacement (fWAR).
A first-round pick out of Rice University in 2011, Rendon established himself as one of baseball’s best all-around players with an emerging crop in Washington. He was a hitting savant and a gifted defender, and from 2016 to 2019 only nine position players put up more fWAR.
Rendon looked very much like his usual self during a 2020 season that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It 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 potential 648 games. Injuries to his left groin, left knee, left hamstring, left shin, left oblique, lower back, both wrists and both hips sent him to the IL.
The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014 and have not won a playoff game since 2009. The 2025 season marked their 10th in a row with a below-.500 record. Kurt Suzuki, Rendon’s teammate on the 2019 Nationals, has since been named the Angels’ manager — the team’s sixth in eight years.
The Athletic first reported that Rendon and the Angels had reached agreement on a restructuring.
CloseESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.Follow on X