BREAKING NEWS: Anthony Rendon Expected to Retire After Angels Buyout

[Music] We’ve got some breaking news. Alden Gonzalez reporting that the Angels and Anthony Rendon are in talks about buying out the final year of his contract. This according to one of Alden’s sources and the expectation is that Anthony Rendone will retire. What an era this one has been. This would have been the last year of a 7-year, $245 million contract. It is easily one of the worst contracts in Major League Baseball history. He didn’t play much. He didn’t contribute much. Kevin Polar played with him for a season with the Angels. What do you think about this dude? You experienced Anthony Rendone, who I think is somewhat misunderstood. I covered him for years when he was with the Nationals. I mean, the easy way to put it is doesn’t love baseball. Nice chill guy to be around. Your thoughts? Yeah, I was his teammate in Anaheim. I didn’t really get a chance to be on the field with him very much because he was also hurt that year, but yeah, I think Anthony Renone is one of the most misunderstood players um maybe of all time. And he’s very outspoken in his beliefs, but he’s not saying anything that most I wouldn’t say most that some other players aren’t saying. People forget that baseball to a lot of us, yes, we do love it and it’s and we’re passionate about it, but at the end of the day, it is a job. And the joy for a lot of people when you get to the major league, some of it is taken away from you. I felt it towards the end of my career. I was very passionate about being a baseball player. I love the game of baseball. Part of the reason I’m still sitting here talking baseball is because I do love it. But does some of the joy get taken away from you when you get into the business side of baseball and at any given day you can be released or you can be traded and you feel like you have a value and it’s not reached that. So, yes, it is a job and not all of us love showing up to our job every day. And Anthony Rendone just happened to be one of those guys who was super super talented at baseball and probably early on in his life in order to get to Rice University and through his time at Rice University. Worked extremely hard to be one of the best players in baseball. Was drafted second overall, you know, won a World Series with the Nationals. You know, jumped on the scene as one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball. And it’s very unfortunate that um you know his time with the Angels was not good. Like you said to put it bluntly it’s going to go down as one of the worst contracts of all time. And you know we are in the season of the holiday season and I think uh we talked about on the show earlier. You know what we’re thankful for. And I think both sides are very thankful for this to happen. The Angels are thankful to finally move on from Anthony Rendone. Hopefully get a little bit of payroll flexibility. And Anthony Rendone is just very thankful that the angels are willing to do this where he no longer has to show up to a place that he doesn’t want to be anymore. He wants to be at home with his family, uh, donate to his church and go out and and farm because that’s really what he’s passionate about. I think there’s a lot of people that can that can associate with Anthony Rendone in the sense that, you know what, they might not like their job. It’s not an excuse to not go out and do it. I don’t I don’t care what your job is. Like the biggest thing that an employer because he’s an employee needs needs to expect from his employees is good effort and a and a good attitude. Now, if you don’t have those things, I don’t care if you’re the best at your job, no matter what the job is, employer is not going to be too pleased. And I think if if if he would have gone out and played to his fullest extent in the sense of he’s out there every day, he’s playing through injuries, then I think we could give him a little bit of a break. But when when somebody says they don’t enjoy baseball or they don’t they don’t enjoy being they would rather do other things, I get that. But it’s afforded him the opportunity to be able to do those other things, to be able to farm, to be able to like nobody’s nobody’s holding a gun to your head to play baseball. You don’t have to play baseball. You can go and find a different job. And I think I think the fact that he his his career will be marred by the fact that he signed this contract and people don’t feel like he gave his best effort. I think it is going to completely overshadow what an incredibly talented player he was. He hit a he hit an opposite field home run against us in spring training when I was with the Phillies. So, it had to be somewhere in like 2011, 12, 13, somewhere in there, right out of Rice. And I was like, “Wow, how’d that guy hit an opposite field home run?” And Joe Savory went to Rice and he knew about Anthony Rendone and this guy’s he goes this guy is the one of the most unassuming opposite field power bats that you will ever see. And I was like whoa relax Joe. Like that is that’s well he was spot on. He couldn’t have been more spot on. And it’s a shame that his career ended this way especially when he signed over at the Angels. 2020 was a COVID year. I think he was 10th in the MVP voting. So, it was coming off and after that, before that, he was third in the MVP voting in 2019 for the World Champion Nationals. So, there’s extreme levels of talent in there. And it just, it sucks that these last, you know, this contract ended the way that it did. And maybe he’ll say it was injuries. People from the outside would say maybe it wasn’t all the injuries. Maybe it was more the, you know, lack of desire to show up every single day, which you have to do in the sport of baseball. If you spent any semblance of time with him or around those that know him well, you would know from a very early time in his major league career that he did not like the major league life. That is a fact, right? You guys were players. I was a reporter back then. I would cover like him and others in the postseason and you would hear that from him. He was pretty open about it, right? I mean, he wasn’t walking around like, “Fuck this, that.” But it was more just like, “Yeah, like an I don’t care. This is not that important to me.” And I think KP that is part of what made him so incredible early in his career. Like he’d step up there, the ultimate low heartbeat. I truly don’t care what happens here. I just know that I’m really good and I’m going to do my work. What changed is he signs the big contract and just really said, “I’m not into this.” Body breaks down a little bit, too. And he’s always had injuries. I mean, that was part of what didn’t make him say a number one pick. I think he was a little lower, like six or something like that out of Rice because he had injuries there, too. But the fact of the matter is, this is a guy that did sign a big deal and then you basically never heard from him again. Kratz, we picked you to talk about MeUndies, not just because they’re ridiculously comfortable, but also because they are very festive. When the holiday season hits, you go on the website and there are just so many more designs to check out and they just scream Eric Kratz getting little matching sets with everybody that he knows. You know what they’re called? Me undies, not you undies. So you go in and you say, “This one’s for me. This set is for me. This is what is good for me. Not you undies, me undies.” Lot of different ones to choose from. I’m so confused. But what I do know is that you can knock out all of your holiday gifting needs today with MeUndies. And to get the exclusive holiday deals up to 50% off, meundies.com/foul. Enter promo code foul. That’s meundies.comfol. Promo code is ful for up to 50% off. Matching holiday prints with your person. You can’t beat that. Yeah. I mean, I I played with him a long time ago. He hasn’t really changed to who he was a as a person and how he felt about baseball. I honestly was really shocked when he became a free agent and he signed the seven-year deal. I thought he would be a guy that would frontload the heck out of his contract, maybe sign a three or four year deal, maybe five at the Mo so he can get his 10 years. I don’t really know how important that was to him, but I I saw him frontloading a deal for like two or three years, making a ton of money, riding off in the sunset. But to K’s point, you know, when you go out and you sign a big deal and a lengthy deal u for an organization, you owe it to them to put your best foot forward. And I don’t believe people inside of that clubhouse, people in that front office ownership group believe that Anthony Rendone put his best effort um every single day when he showed up. You know, none more evident than last year. Yes, did he have a hip surgery? Yes, you can look at medical records and stuff. Did he actually have a surgery? But the fact that he never showed up um at spring training at the Angels complex, never really checked in in Anaheim with the medical staff, kind of stayed at home and kind of did his own rehab. And maybe because of his lengthy injury history, he felt like I need to get away from the team. I need to do what’s best for me, Anthony Rendone, rehab with my own people. But if I’m an employer, uh and this is one of my employees, I’d like him to be around the team. I’d like to check in with him, make sure he’s doing everything in his power to get back on the field because we gave him a large investment to be part of our organization and help turn things around. So, you know, I understand what you’re saying, Kraty. Like, you gave this guy a ton of money to kind of go side by side with Trout and try to take this organization to places you thought that they can get to with these two guys kind of anchoring the middle of your lineup. No one says these things about Trout, by the way. He’s had injuries over the last couple years, but he’s passionate. He cares. He’s around the team. I was with him during his injury. I saw how hard he worked to try to come back. So, I think when you are very vocal about not wanting to play and not loving the sport, taking all this money, and then not really putting your best foot forward to at least go out there and try to post, um, people are going to have a problem with it. And physically, sometimes you can’t be on the field. Adam Wayright said one of the one of the toughest years for him but all for him but also one of the one of the most rewarding years was the year he had Tommy Jones surgery. He had to get the surgery and then every day after he was done his rehab, he was able to invest in his teammates. He was able to invest in those relationships. When you pay a guy $200 million, when you pay a guy $150 million, shoot, probably when you even pay a guy $30 million, your expectation is yes, they’re going to be able to do some things on the field, but the impact that they have on the entire roster, the entire organization is going to come back to that team four-fold. And that’s how and that’s how you prove your worth in a contract. Sometimes physically, you just can’t do it. Sometimes you can’t even get on the field, but man, you can show up every day with a great attitude and really lift up your teammates and really lift up those people. And so for me to hear that he was hurt and didn’t show up to spring training, feelings hurt or not, like there’s there’s a value there’s a value ad there when you’re a person that wants to be around other people and help lift them up. And it’s tough. It’s tough when you hear when you hear stories like that. Yeah. And I remember the discrepancy and the team never backed down saying that he had a shin bruise. I think this was 2023 and Renon’s side said it was a fracture. I mean that gets a little crazy. There’s not a lot we can do on the commenting front. We’re not privy to that medical information, but when the team’s coming out that steadfast, it does get interesting. You don’t see that very often. And hey, I mean, I have quotes. I’m looking back at Perry Manasian the GM years back saying I think he’s going to win comeback player of the year after one of his years that it was a lost season. Ron Washington when he first got the job spoke on our show and said one of his first phone calls is to Rendone. It’s not like the Angels gave up on him right away and they backed him publicly quite a bit. So this finally gets to the divorce phase with one year to spare and I think we should end it this way KP because you spent time with the Angels. How valuable is it for them to get the closure here a year early? It did feel like it was a dark cloud over the team in a certain aspect, right? And it could have gotten ugly this year where he doesn’t want to play clearly and he would have to just kind of be there and show up and do his thing and it’s just I don’t know if you want to call it dead weight, but $38 million owed this season, 35 years old, doesn’t want to play the game. They probably will do some deferrals that’ll open up a little bit of payroll for this season. So, this is a huge win for Angels fans and for Angels players, right? It’s a huge win and honestly I think it’s potentially a year or two late you know when he had that hip surgery and potentially he was going to miss the entire year and sometimes you don’t know until you know because you know I was there the year before and even though Anthony Rendone was hurt he was around. Um like I said you don’t know until you know and then an entire year where he’s not around and then he has no reason not to be there next year because he is healthy. Maybe you learn from his absence this year that maybe it was this dark cloud that they needed to get rid of. Maybe there’s if he shows up, you know, what kind of player is he gonna be? Does he even want to be there? What kind of work ethic he’s going to be? The Angels are trying to change their culture a little bit. You know, they brought in a young manager, Curt Suzuki, who probably just doesn’t want to have to deal with this sort of thing. His first time being a manager. It’s long overdue. Uh good for the Angels. you know, whether they get some financial flexibility, that’s one thing. Yes, that would help their organization go out and get some better players, but to not have to deal with him being in spring training, maybe potentially influencing some of the younger players to, you know, not go hard in drills or not take ground balls or not do certain things or learn from him in maybe a negative way. Um, it’s long overdue and hopefully it’s something that the Angels do have a dark past of having signings not work out. it goes way beyond Anthony Rendone. So hopefully this is somewhere where they could kind of just move forward and not be a little gunshy when it comes to signing signing some guys to long-term deals in the future. Uh last note here in spring training when it was announced that he was getting hip surgery, Ken Rosenthal did report there was no insurance on that contract ever and that owner Arty Mareno does not do that for his players because of the cost of that insurance. And um he ends up at 25 about 25% of games played over over five years now six years I guess and really the the seven that is getting bought out. Um one estimate that Rosenthal got was about $50 million in net benefit back if they did have insurance. So it would have covered some but nothing close to the 245 mil that was essentially a waste for the Angels during this time period. So anyway, the relationship seems to finally be over and Anthony Renone will probably be retiring from Major League Baseball. It’s baseball the way it should be covered here on FT. Give us a sub if you can, please.

BREAKING NEWS: The Los Angeles Angels are in talks to buy out the final year of Anthony Rendon’s contract, with retirement expected, according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. The crew breaks down why the $245 million deal became one of the most infamous contracts in MLB history and what this move means for the Angels moving forward. Kevin Pillar shares firsthand experience playing with Rendon and offers insight into his misunderstood reputation and complicated relationship with the game. The guys also discuss how this clears a major obstacle for Los Angeles as they reshape their culture under new leadership.

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46 comments

  3. It doesn't matter whether you have "love for the game." He signed a contract based on his ability to play in Washington. He decided to essentially give up on the sport. He got paid and decided he didn't want to play. If he didn't want to play anymore, then he shouldn't have signed the contract and take that money. He was given a bucket load of money to perform and decided to say "fuck it, I don't want to do it anymore." As far as I'm concerned, this was a scumbag move.

  5. If I had been blessed with the opportunity to make generational wealth for my family, my ass would have been out there playing baseball everyday whether there was passion or not.

  6. Anthony Rendon is merely taking advantage, of the Angel's 'Work From Home Program', founded by Justin Upton. Justin Upton not only founded the program – he is the spokesman, an earlier adopter & the executive recruiter. Upton tried to recruit Albert Pujols into the Program. To Pujols credit, he rejected the offer, in light of hitting inning ending double plays, for millions of dollars annually.

  9. If the players have a lockout and I've had to be a fan of the angels watching this dude get guaranteed money but no guarantee that he shows up. I'll be done and good luck for the players trying to get paid when mlb goes bankrupt because no one wants to watch anymore.

  11. You know Pillar really dropped the opportunity on this one. Instead of being the guy drafted in the later rounds who had to scrape to get anything; Pillar plays the usual excuses…Yes the holiday season…blah blah blah…..Come on man you get paid to do a job you do it to the best of your ability and act like a professional. You play hard and you go one hundred percent.

  18. Hes not misunderstood. He has been very clear about how he feels. Unless hes lying to the camera in an attempt to make himself look bad, hes perfectly understood.

  23. Rendon is a bum and is someone the Union should massively distance themselves from. The dude was an amazing player in DC, won a ring. But openly flexed how it was "just a job" and how he "hated baseball" and found it boring. The nanosecond he got that deal from LAA, he immediately quit. Sandbagged his own career. And lost interest after he got his lottery ticket. If I was Arte i'd of stuck him on the Restricted List by 2022 and dared the Union to come after me with an army of lawyers. And i'm pro-Union. But Rendon? Good riddance. Horrible ambassador for the game.

  28. Don't feed us this "he's misunderstood" bullshit. He's not only a disgrace to the Angels and Major League Baseball, but he's a disgrace of a man as well. There are plenty of people in this country that don't love their job, but that get their ass up every day and give their best effort because that's what it means to be a professional, and that's also part of what it means to be a man.

  30. Nobody wants to hear this… he would have been fired if he had to work 9-5 … he stole alot if money by not earning it… he is a pos when it comes to baseball… he knew what he was doing all along

  33. What people forget is that part of the reason why the Angels paid Anthony Rendon that albatross of a contract was because they lost out on signing Gerrit Cole to the Yankees. Yikes!

  38. "He wants to be at home with his family, donate to his church…." 😂😂😂😂😂 So the real winner of this quitter's contract is his church!!! 😂😂😂😂😂 Jesus wins again!
    Btw, Pillar should be a spokesmodel for a corrupt politician.

  41. Maybe he is very, very honest, but then, fans would NEVER root for a ballplayer that (honestly and openly) states that "baseball is just a job". Honestly, I'm glad he is going to vanish from the scenery.

  42. Pillar guess what happens in the real world if we don't do our f**** job or we don't put up the numbers that our company wants us to put a we get f**** fired. Yet this guy who doesn't like playing baseball doesn't like the Major League baseball life signed a huge contract stop and then just didn't want to play. He said his ass on the bench the whole f**** 6 years what a joke😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

  44. This is the issue with American born players, the entitled mentality. Why aren't we having this issue with foreign born players. Reality is that baseball players are making too much money and forget what it is to work under contract.

  45. Crazy to think that based on their original contract status Strasburg and Rendon were still supposed to be combining for a near $70M level of production next season. Even crazier to think that Rendon wasn't even the worst contract for a former top 2 overall Washington Nationals draft pick who signed a 7-year $245M contract during the 2019-2020 offseason. Strasburg's contract went even worse. At least Strasburg was still able to retain his respect from the fans though.

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