Anthony Rendon has essentially become a part-time player for the Los Angeles Angels, and now the team will be treating him as such.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on Friday that new Angels signing Yoan Moncada is expected to be the team’s starting third baseman in 2025. That would thus boot the former All-Star Rendon from the starting gig (with Heyman noting that Rendon’s status is now “TBD”).
Rendon, 34, has perhaps the single worst contract in baseball right now. The Angels signed him to a seven-year, $245 million contract prior to the 2020 season and yet have gotten only 257 total games played out of Rendon since then. Rendon has become a mainstay on the injured list, and his ailments seemingly get more and more ridiculous by the year.
All in all, Rendon has hit .242 in his five seasons as an Angel, posting a sub-4.0 total WAR and never reaching 60 games played in a single year. He has also been accused of unprofessionalism during his stint in Anaheim … and yet remains MLB’s highest-paid infielder by average annual contract value (making over $38.5 million in each of the next two seasons).
Of course, Moncada is not exactly a picture of health himself, having been limited to just 12 games last year for the Chicago White Sox due to a severe left adductor strain. But Moncada, 29, is at least far younger than Rendon. Between Moncada and this other new signing capable of playing third, it appears that the Angels are finally starting the process of phasing out the former World Series champion Rendon.
