Anthony Rendon’s Latest Setback Cements His Contract Among Worst in MLB History

Short of Opening Day, pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training is the high water mark of hope for a baseball fan. Winter’s almost over. New faces don new jerseys for the first time. Games are nearly here.

For the Los Angeles Angels, that day was Tuesday. By Wednesday, a season that hadn’t even officially started yet took a turn that’s become an annual tradition for half a decade now: Anthony Rendon will undergo surgery, and is facing an unspecified “long-term” absence.

Rendon is entering the sixth year of a seven-year, $245 million contract signed ahead of the 2020 pandemic-shortened season. After appearing in 52 out of 60 games that year, the former Washington National hasn’t topped 58 games in any of the four seasons since. While it’s too soon to know how long he’ll be out with his latest hip injury, his odds of topping that mark took a serious hit 10 days before his team’s first spring training game.

What does this mean for the Angels’ 2025 outlook? Not much, and that’s sort of the problem. This is a rudderless team with roster holes and depth issues throughout the organization, warts that predate Rendon’s albatross contract. A player with his star pedigree is supposed to help compensate for shortcomings elsewhere; instead, Rendon has added to the list. Entering his age-35 season, Rendon hasn’t been a viable everyday player for some time now, even in the rare stretches when he hasn’t been on the injured list.

Beyond becoming a walking symbol of a franchise adrift, Rendon’s subpar play and persistent missed time have earned him consideration for the dubious distinction as one of baseball’s most ill-fated contracts. Beyond those factors, his disreputable conduct and outward aloofness toward playing baseball only add to his case. Remember, this is a player who:

In a sport that, for decades, has operated without a salary cap, MLB’s free agency period has long been marked with reckless spending. Teams might have better sense to value production from younger, pre-arbitration players now than they did during the 1990s or 2000s, but that doesn’t mean free agent spending has been curbed at the top of the market (see: Ohtani, Shohei; Soto, Juan). Star players establishing themselves as big-league regulars in their early 20s means more top-end talents reaching free agency before they turn 30, which will only lead to even bigger contracts.

Given the big market owners’ penchant for splashing the pot, the title of Worst Contract in Baseball History is a hard-fought one. Here’s who Rendon gets his stiffest competition from:

Contract figures come courtesy of Baseball-Reference. WAR totals reflect the duration of the contract.

Team: Washington Nationals
Contract: six years, $140 million ($23.3M AAV) (2019–24)
WAR: 2.7

Rendon isn’t the only 2019 World Series champion who proved to be a questionable investment. Corbin was coming off an All-Star season when he signed his deal with Washington, and initially delivered, posting a 14–7 record and 3.25 ERA in his first season with the Nationals. The lefthander was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series, firing three shoutout innings in relief as Washington claimed its first championship.

That proved to be the pinnacle of Corbin’s Nationals tenure, though. A so-so 2020 campaign gave way to four disastrous seasons from ‘21 to ‘24. During that span, Corbin led the National League in losses three times and had a collective 5.71 ERA, good for a -4.0 WAR.

Team: Los Angeles Angels
Contract: five years, $125 million ($25M AAV); (2013–17)
WAR: 3.1

The Angels have certainly given out their fair share of doomed contracts during the 21st century, but Hamilton’s ended up being particularly disastrous. The former AL MVP left the Texas Rangers for a division rival after five consecutive All-Star appearances, with the Angels hoping he would form a devastating offensive trio with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols (who signed with the team the previous offseason to a 10-year, $240 million contract that also garnered consideration for this list).

Hamilton managed a 110 OPS+ and 2.7 WAR in 240 games over the first two years of the deal—disappointing, certainly, but not yet calamitous. But ahead of the 2015 season, Hamilton suffered a drug relapse while recovering from surgery, leading to strife between him and team owner Arte Moreno, which resulted in a messy breakup. The Angels ultimately traded Hamilton back to Texas, and were on the hook for over 90% of Hamilton’s remaining salary for the final three years of the deal.

Team: Detroit Tigers
Contract: eight years, $240 million ($30M AAV); (2016–23)
WAR: 2.4

In the six-year span before signing his massive contract extension with Detroit, Cabrera had put together a run for the ages: a 172 OPS+, 38.7 WAR, six All-Star nods and two MVPs that all but sealed a Hall of Fame résumé. The Tigers rewarded him with a new deal, one that ultimately proved to be a massive sunk cost.

The deal looks even worse considering that the 2016 season was another productive one for Cabrera: 38 homers, a 155 OPS+ and 5.1 WAR. Over his final seven seasons, Cabrera put up a ghastly -2.7 WAR, managing just 65 homers and a .381 slugging percentage. He remains beloved in Detroit—and deservedly so—but his contract extension was a clear misstep for the franchise.

Team: Colorado Rockies
Contract: seven years, $182 million ($26M AAV); (2022–28)
WAR: -1.3

Bryant’s choice to sign with Colorado was a head-scratcher in the moment, and has aged like milk on the kitchen counter. Bryant has missed nearly 70% of his team’s games since signing with the Rockies, and has a 75 OPS+ and -1.8 WAR over the past two seasons. A year ago, in a preseason interview with The Athletic, Bryant admitted that his decision to join the Rockies in March 2022—shortly after MLB’s lockout ended and not long before Opening Day—was a rushed one, and that he “didn’t do as much research into the prospects as [he] could.”

Entering his age-33 season, Bryant still has four years and $104 million remaining on the deal.

Team: Washington Nationals
Contract: seven years, $245 million ($35M AAV); (2020–26)
WAR: 0.4

Signed two days before Rendon inked his Angels deal, Strasburg’s contract with the Nationals fittingly had identical terms as Rendon’s. Fresh off his healthiest season ever and a World Series MVP performance, the 2009 No. 1 pick and former franchise savior cashed in all of his organizational goodwill for what, at the time, was the largest contract ever given out to a pitcher.

In the end, though, Strasburg’s body couldn’t hold up. He managed just eight starts from 2020 to ‘22 with various ailments, officially retiring last April. It was an unfortunate ending to a career that began with as much promise as one could imagine, though thankfully reached the level of brilliance that Strasburg’s talent always indicated was possible.

With two years remaining in their doomed marriage, Rendon and the Angels remain stuck with each other. How much time the third baseman spends on the field during that span is anybody’s guess, but this contract’s outcome being a complete and total failure for the organization has long been assured.