The Angels finalized their buyout with Anthony Rendon shortly before the New Year. That was known to include some kind of contract restructure to defer his $38MM salary for the upcoming season, the final of his seven-year contract.
Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reported last night that it’ll be an even five-year deferral plan. The Angels will pay him $7.6MM annually between 2026-30. That’ll save them $30.4MM this year relative to what they would have paid had there been no buyout. Rendon will not play for the team again. He is not officially retiring but it certainly seems as if his MLB career is over.
Will the Angels reinvest any of their short-term savings? Sam Blum of The Athletic wrote this week that’s not guaranteed, noting that general manager Perry Minasian avoided a question about a potential payroll reduction. “I’m not going to make any statements. We’ll see where the offseason takes us. There’s still a lot of good players available. There’s still time to improve the club,” the GM said.
The Angels entered the offseason with $126.7MM in guaranteed salaries. They’ve added another $12.95MM via one-year contracts for Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano and Alek Manoah. Their arbitration class will cost roughly $20MM. That’d put them around $160MM before accounting for minimum salaries to round out the roster. Rendon’s deferrals drop that back to the $130MM range. The Halos opened the ’25 season with a $193MM payroll.
If they’re willing to match last year’s spending, they’d have the money to be involved on any free agent. Only owner Arte Moreno and the front office know where they’ll draw the line. The Angels are among the nine teams whose local broadcasting contract with Main Street Sports collapsed this week. That’s again an uncertain revenue stream. There has also been speculation that the Angels could be reluctant to make multi-year commitments with the likelihood of a lockout in December. A contract gap was reportedly a big reason that discussion with their preferred managerial candidate, Albert Pujols, didn’t result in a deal. They eventually hired Kurt Suzuki on a one-year contract, an atypically short managerial commitment.
The Angels continue to have glaring needs around the roster. Second base, third base and center field are all concerns on the position player side. Catcher is as well, though Logan O’Hoppe has enough of a track record that it’s understandable they’re sticking with him and Travis d’Arnaud for another season. They’re light at least one mid-rotation starter and would benefit from another high-leverage reliever, even if the bullpen market has essentially dried up.