The Los Angeles Angels Paid Anthony Rendon Nearly $1 Million Per Game Over Seven Injury-Plagued Seasons

Earlier this MLB offseason, we highlighted how Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was on track to be the league's highest-paid player at his position next year. That's no longer the case after the Angels and Rendon agreed to restructure the final year of his contract. Instead, Rendon's $38 million for this season will be spread out over the next three to five years. The third baseman will still be on the Angels roster in name only, as he's expected to miss the entire season rehabbing injuries.

The restructuring of this deal doesn't change the fact that Rendon's contract might be the worst one ever signed in MLB history. At the time, it felt somewhat defensible. Rendon had just won the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals and posted career bests in home runs (34) and RBI (126), leading the league in the latter category. He was a big name to pair with superstar outfielder Mike Trout and then-rising young star Shohei Ohtani.

But things almost immediately soured. Rendon had a decent year in 2020 during the COVID-19-shortened campaign, and then his body began breaking down. He had a host of injuries—notably groin and hamstring strains, oblique damage, hip impingements, wrist surgery, and a fractured tibia—that caused him to miss 605 of his team's 810 games from 2021 through 2025. With another lost season coming up, Rendon will have played in just 257 of a possible 1,032 games over seven years.

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Even though this last season will be spread out over a few years to help with the Angels' cap situation, they'll still wind up paying Rendon the full $245 million of his contract. If you're scoring at home, that's $953,307 Rendon received per game.

And no, Rendon was not playing well enough on the field to make up for it. After posting .319/.412/.598 splits in his final season in Washington, Rendon mustered just .242/.348/.369 with the Angels. In five seasons in Los Angeles, he totaled 22 home runs and 125 RBIs. That's right, despite playing in 111 more games than his final season with the Nationals, Rendon still finished with fewer home runs and RBIs.

Injuries weren't the only thing impacting Rendon's availability—he also had a pair of suspensions that led to nine missed games. He was involved in a 2022 brawl against the Seattle Mariners (while being injured). The following year, he grabbed a fan after an Opening Day loss against Oakland. When his time with the Angels is over, his MLB career likely will be, too. He turns 36 this season and hasn't shown much consistency, either at the plate or in staying healthy.

Before the 2024 season, Rendon called playing baseball "a job" and added that it had "never been a top priority," saying his faith and family come first. Perhaps the Angels would have liked to know that tidbit before giving him nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.