Anthony Rendon Dons a Halo for 7 Seasons at $245million

Published on 11-Dec-2019 by Alan Adamsson

MLB    MLB Daily Update

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Anthony Rendon Dons a Halo for 7 Seasons at $245million

It's saying something when Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno has just splashed out mega-dosh for the largest free-agent contract he's ever offered.

After all, this is the OG who tossed Monopoly money in long-term bundles to the likes of:

  • Albert Pujols -- $240million; 10 years -- whose productivity didn't follow him to Anaheim from St Louis,
  • CJ Wilson -- $77.5million; 5 years -- who was paid at least $20mil of it not pitching, and
  • Josh Hamilton -- $125million; 5 years -- who had a different idea than the Angles about what power hitting meant.

 

Moreno's luck mighta changed when he won the bidding for Shohei Ohtani's dual-purpose services, which hedged bets for keeping dude productive even when he wasn't in one piece.

Keeping Mike Trout in the fold seems like money well spent so far.

So what's OG do but throw all caution to the wind once again?

 

In a market dominated by the Los Angeles Dodgers with their seven straight NL West pennants and playoff runs, Moreno's negotiations to bring Anthony Rendon to Anaheim showed some serious urgency.

In fact, the process musta been nothing more than his checking every damn box on super-agent Scott Boras' list.

 

When all was said and done, Rendon not only was the beneficiary of a 7-year, $245million deal, he also got:

  • a total no-trade clause, and
  • a no opt out provision.

 

Kinda like Pujols' deal. Dude's locked in, big time.

At least Moreno minimized the edges a bit.

  • Pujols was 31 when he signed for 10 seasons;
  • Rendon's 29 and on the line for seven.

This should give the Halos a few more years of Rendon in his prime, which is an awesome prospect. Especially in the big games:

 

New Angels skipper Joe Maddon's lineup can now not only boast a Trout-Rendon-Ohtani engine room -- dudes combined for 97 dingers last season -- with even more power around it:

  • Brian Goodwin went bridge 17 times,
  • Justin Upton contributed 12 round-trippers in an injury-filled campaign,
  • First-time All-Star Tommy La Stella added 16 before breaking his leg, and
  • Even Pujols launched 23.

 

So, all the Angels have to do to get Trout and Ohtani into their first post-season and Rendon to repeat his excellence there is to score 6-7 runs in 92 games or so.

Either that, or they'd better find a more productive rotation. They're trying, as opposed to last year's staff, which was really trying.

As a result, Moreno's really spending, and Boras definitely saw him coming.