Rendon's Angels tenure comes to end with restructured contract (source)
ANAHEIM -- The Angels and third baseman Anthony Rendon have agreed to restructure the last year of his contract and he won’t play in 2026, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Tuesday.
Rendon, who signed a seven-year deal worth $245 million before the 2020 season, is owed $38 million in ’26 but it will now be paid over several years. The actual terms have yet to be disclosed and the Angels have yet to officially announced the restructured contract.
General manager Perry Minasian said at the Winter Meetings that the club was exploring the possibility of gaining short-term flexibility by deferring the last year of Rendon’s deal. But at the time, it still had to clear hurdles with Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, MLB and the MLBPA.
But it’s been worked out and Rendon will miss his second straight season after undergoing hip surgery before the ’25 campaign. He’s not retiring yet and will remain on the active roster but can be placed on the 60-day injured list before the season to clear a 40-man roster spot.
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It marks an end to a disappointing tenure with the Angels for Rendon, who battled injuries over the past five seasons and saw his production decline from his time with the Nationals. He played in just 257 games over five seasons with the club, batting .242/.348/.369 with 22 homers and 125 RBIs. He hit .218/.307/.267 with no homers and 14 RBIs in 57 games in his last season in 2024.
Rendon, 35, is a career .280/.364/.464 hitter with 158 homers, 295 doubles and 671 RBIs in 1,173 games with the Nationals and Angels. He won Silver Slugger Awards in 2014 and '19 and was an All-Star in '19 while finishing third in the balloting for the NL MVP Award. He also led the Nationals to the World Series title that year, earning a ring alongside current Angels manager Kurt Suzuki.
With Rendon out of the mix, the Angels are in the market for a third baseman this offseason. They’re also still looking to add another starter, relief help and a center fielder.
They used some of their savings to agree to terms with reliever Kirby Yates on a one-year deal worth $5 million on Tuesday. He’s yet another flier added by the Angels this offseason, joining right-handers Alek Manoah and Grayson Rodriguez, relievers Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Romano and utilityman Vaughn Grissom.