Breaking: Angels Officially Discussing Buyout Contract With Superstar Baseman

ESPN reporter Alden Gonzalez has revealed that the Los Angeles Angels and veteran third baseman have entered discussions about a potential buyout for the final season of his seven-year, $245 million contract, which he originally signed in December 2019. Rendon is scheduled to earn roughly $38 million in 2026, the last remaining portion of the massive deal that once symbolized the Angels’ push to build a contender around Mike Trout.

Before ever arriving in Anaheim, Rendon established himself as one of baseball’s most reliable and productive third basemen during his seven-season run with the Washington Nationals. Over his final two years in Washington, he was an extra-base-hit machine, pacing the majors with 44 doubles in both 2018 and 2019.

His 2019 campaign was spectacular on nearly every level: he led the league with 126 runs batted in, earned another trip to the All-Star Game, added a second Silver Slugger Award, and again finished in the top tier of MVP voting—something he did four times during his Nationals tenure. Most importantly, he played a central role in Washington’s magical 2019 postseason push, helping guide the franchise to its first-ever World Series championship, a thrilling seven-game victory over the Houston Astros.

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Just two months after hoisting the trophy, Rendon cashed in on his career-best season by signing the enormous contract with the Angels. Expectations were sky-high, and even though his first year in Anaheim took place in the unprecedented context of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he initially looked like the star the Angels hoped for. Rendon appeared in 52 of the 60 games that year and delivered a sharp .286/.418/.497 slash line, good for a 150 OPS+. That strong performance earned him a 10th-place finish in MVP voting—an encouraging sign that the Angels had acquired a long-term cornerstone.

However, what no one could have predicted at the time is that 2020 would end up being Rendon’s most productive and healthiest season in an Angels uniform. The following years were defined not by accolades, but by a stunning and ongoing string of injuries that repeatedly derailed his ability to stay on the field.

Across his first six seasons with Los Angeles, Rendon totaled only 257 games—a figure that averages out to fewer than 43 games per year. He never played more than 58 games in any single season after 2020. In that limited action, he produced just 22 home runs, 125 RBIs, and a .717 OPS—numbers that fall far short of both his contract expectations and the elite standard he once routinely reached in Washington.

The list of injuries he endured reads almost like a medical encyclopedia. Since joining the Angels, Rendon has dealt with:
• multiple left groin strains,
• a left knee contusion,
• recurring left hamstring issues,
• right hip impingement,
• right wrist inflammation and subsequent wrist surgery,
• a left wrist contusion,
• a left shin contusion,
• a left hip impingement,
• chronic low back inflammation,
• and a left oblique strain.

These ailments piled up year after year, contributing to the drastic decline in playing time. The situation reached its low point in 2025, when Rendon did not appear in a single game while recovering from hip surgery.

When evaluating his overall tenure in Anaheim, the contrast between what Rendon once was—and what the Angels hoped he would be—could not be sharper. What began as a franchise-altering signing became defined by frustration, setbacks, and disappointment on both sides.

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Because of this, a buyout discussion for 2026 now appears to be a practical step toward a clean split. From the Angels’ perspective, moving on could create roster flexibility and remove one of the sport’s most burdensome contracts from their books. For Rendon, it may represent a chance at a fresh start elsewhere, assuming he can get healthy enough to attempt a final chapter in his career.

His production with the Angels, compared to the All-Star caliber numbers he put up with the Nationals, highlights just how dramatically circumstances have shifted. The player who once stood among baseball’s best third basemen has been overshadowed in recent years by injuries and unfulfilled expectations, setting the stage for what could be the end of his time in Los Angeles.

Anthony Rendon’s struggles on the field have been accompanied—and often overshadowed—by comments and actions that have frustrated fans and observers alike. His long list of injuries was made even harder for people to accept because of his own attitude toward the game that made him a wealthy star.

As Jason Butt of The Washington Post once noted, Rendon admitted back in 2014 that he didn’t watch baseball, calling the sport “too long and boring.” Remarks like that were easy to dismiss early in his career, but as time went on, they took on a different tone, especially as his availability decreased and his paycheck increased.

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Rendon’s public image dimmed further following an incident at the beginning of the 2023 season. After a loss to the Oakland Athletics, he confronted a fan near the railing, insulting the spectator with an expletive and even taking a swipe at him. MLB quickly responded with a four-game suspension, and for many people, the episode reinforced a perception that Rendon had grown increasingly disconnected—both from fans and from the role expected of a veteran player.

The following year, his comments created yet another wave of controversy. Before the 2024 season, Sam Blum of The Athletic reported that Rendon stated openly that baseball had “never been a top priority” for him, explaining that he viewed the sport simply as a job that allowed him to provide for his family. His faith and his loved ones, he said, would always outrank baseball.

While those values themselves are hardly uncommon among players, the timing and bluntness of the remarks—coming from someone signed to a seven-year, $245 million contract—struck many as tone-deaf. By then, Rendon had appeared in only 200 games over a five-season span, deepening the sense that the Angels had invested superstar money in a player who treated baseball more like an obligation than a passion.

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This brings everything to the present situation. If widespread speculation proves accurate and Rendon decides to retire—potentially agreeing to defer part of the approximately $38 million still owed to him for 2026—the Los Angeles Angels would finally regain a degree of payroll flexibility as the offseason heats up. His departure would effectively close the book on a tenure that will almost certainly be remembered as one of the most disappointing contracts in franchise history.

The irony is hard to miss: within the same seven-day period in 2019, Rendon and his former Washington Nationals teammate Stephen Strasburg signed identical seven-year, $245 million deals. Strasburg, of course, battled injuries of his own and ended up throwing just 528 pitches across 31⅓ innings after signing the contract before ultimately retiring and negotiating a settlement. The parallel between the two deals has made them a matched set of unfortunate outcomes.

When baseball fans debate the worst contracts in MLB history, Rendon’s deal now stands firmly among the most notorious. It belongs alongside Mo Vaughn’s six-year, $80 million stint that produced only 300 games played; Albert Pujols’ 10-year, $240 million pact with the Angels, which yielded just a few productive seasons before he slipped into below-average status; and Josh Hamilton’s five-year, $125 million contract that ended early after only 240 games and 31 home runs.

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The striking common denominator among these costly disappointments is that each one was signed under Angels owner Arte Moreno. And the list doesn’t even include the team’s 2011 decision to take on the remaining four years and $86 million of Vernon Wells’ contract—of which they paid more than $72 million—only to get a total of –0.1 bWAR in return before shipping him to the Yankees.

The pattern is unmistakable: the Angels have endured a string of major contract misfires across more than a decade. Rendon’s contract, once envisioned as a cornerstone investment meant to support Mike Trout and push the club toward contention, instead became yet another cautionary tale in the organization’s long history of deals gone wrong.

If the Angels finally shed the last portion of Rendon’s salary, perhaps it will represent a turning point. With more financial freedom and a fresh chance to rebuild a roster that has too often been bogged down by dead money, the franchise may finally be able to shift its fortunes—and, with luck, avoid repeating the same mistakes that have defined so much of their recent past.

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