With the New York Yankees releasing veteran third baseman Josh Donaldson, it poses an interesting follow up question: could the Los Angeles Angels follow suit with third baseman Anthony Rendon?
On the surface, it would make sense. Rendon has been arguably the biggest free-agent bust in recent baseball history. He has played in only 200 games with the Angels across four seasons, never playing more than 58 games in a season, and has dealt with an assortment of injuries while hitting a mediocre .249/.359/.399 with 22 home runs and 115 RBI.
But dig deeper, and releasing Rendon proves difficult. While the Yankees are eating an $8 million buyout for Donaldson, Rendon is still owed a whopping three years, $114 million on his seven-year, $245 million contract. If the Angels release Rendon, they would be on the hook for all of that contract (if a team were to sign Rendon, the signing team would pay him the veteran's minimum, and that would be deducted from what the Angels owe him).
Angels would struggle to pay remainder of Anthony Rendon's contract
There are no guarantees that any team would sign Rendon, however. Not with his struggles. Not with his constant injuries. Not with his outbursts to the media, or the incident in which he grabbed a fan's shirt and cursed at him on Opening Day this year.
Of course, the Angels did release future Hall of Fame first baseman Albert Pujols when he was in the final year of his 10-year, $253 million contract. So team owner Arte Moreno does have a history of moving on from big contracts before they are up.
But Rendon's case is totally different, and the three-year, $114 million left on his contract makes a release unlikely. With the Angels, and especially Moreno, nothing should be ruled out. Rendon's play and demeanor off the field means that everything should be on the table. It just doesn't feel like the Angels are at that point – yet.
