Angels' Former All-Star Named Among Most Overpaid Players of 2025

Apr 2, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) throws out Miami Marlins first baseman Jake Burger (36) in the first inning at loan Depot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

When it comes to MLB contracts that haven't aged well, the Los Angeles Angels have a deal that has aged like most dairy products.

All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon was once one of the brightest stars in baseball. At the height of his powers, he played a pivotal role in the Washington Nationals' 2019 World Series run, smashing a pair of home runs and collecting six RBIs when his team was down three games to two in the Fall Classic against the Houston Astros, on their way to baseball immortality.

About two months later, Rendon inked a seven-year, $245 million deal to become a member of the Angels, and the rest is history.

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Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller listed Rendon as having one of the worst return on investments from over 170 rostered MLB players making at least $10 million this season.

Despite the constant unavailability from Rendon, he played in 52 of 60 regular season games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and batted .286 with a .915 OPS.

These numbers were still considered a 'down year' for Rendon since he was coming off of three-straight seasons batting over .300 and led MLB in RBIs the season prior, but it was still enough for Rendon to finish 10th in MVP voting.

Fans were still excited about what else the future held for a team that had Rendon in the same lineup as future Hall of Famers Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

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The 2021 campaign began with a left groin strain for Rendon in April, a left knee contusion in May, and a hamstring strain in July that would shut him down for the season, after a hip impingement would move him to the 60-day IL a few weeks later.

This pattern of nagging injuries would unfortunately continue for the third baseman over the course of his Halos career.

Finally, this past February, Rendon underwent left hip surgery, this time the other hip.

Since the beginning of 2021, Rendon has a 1.7 bWAR and just 205 total games played. He has hit .231 with an OPS of .666 during this time. His brutal injury luck is certainly mind-boggling, but at 35 years old, there is still one more year on his Angels contract in 2026 to potentially go for a long-awaited return to the diamond.

For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.