Anthony Rendon Has Earned $191,780 For Each Plate Appearance Over Last 5 Years

When the Los Angeles Angels signed Anthony Rendon, the team though that they were adding a missing piece. But the seven year, $245 million commitment that they made in December 2019 may turn out to be one of the worst investments that we have seen in the MLB in some time.

Anthony Rendon Contract Is One Of the Worst In MLB History

Rendon spent the first seven years of his career with the Washington Nationals. In addition to helping his team win a World Series championship in his final season, he made the All-Star game and finished third in NL MVP voting that year as well. He hit free agency at just the right time, coming off of a career year, and it was the Angels who decided to give him the big money that he was looking for.

Los Angeles was looking to bolster their lineup in order to make a playoff run. They had an aging Albert Pujols on the roster to go along with three-time MVP Mike Trout, as well as Shohei Ohtani, who was headed into his third MLB season. It was thought that adding Rendon would help the Angels end their postseason drought, and they figured that the $35 million average annual value would help put them over the top.

Angels GM Perry Minasian told reporters that Anthony Rendon will have hip surgery and be out “long-term” pic.twitter.com/dSOzjPfhBT

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) February 12, 2025

After a solid first year in the Covid-shortened 2020 regular season, it has been all downhill for Rendon since. He has been plagued by injuries, never playing in more than 58 games in a single season since. The Angels have played 648 games over the past four years, and Rendon has participated in just 205 of them.

And it doesn’t look as though he’ll have the chance to even attempt to live up to the big money, as it was announced this week that Anthony Rendon would be undergoing surgery that will keep him out of action for an “extended period of time”.

Rendon Has Earned $191,780 For Each Plate Appearance So Far

What is the math on how much Rendon has been paid for each game that he has played? If he doesn’t play a single game in 2025, he will have played just 257 total games for the Angels, and will have taken home $210 million for his efforts. That comes out to $817,120 per game played, or $191,780 for every plate appearance that he made.

Those games and plate appearances haven’t mounted to much, either. Over the last four years combined, Rendon has sported a batting average of .231, has hit just 13 home runs, and has fewer than 100 RBIs.

To add to the on-field and injury troubles, Anthony Rendon has had some incidents that make the contract look even worse. He has been suspended on multiple occasions for off-field altercations, and was quoted before the 2024 season saying that baseball was nothing more than a job for him.

He has no timetable for any potential return in 2025.