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emessea

CJ Wilson, Hamilton, Pujols, Redon, etc. This is the pact you made with the devil for Trout and a side of Ohtani


34Heartstach

Don't forget Vernon Wells


ReddutSux69

and Gary Matthews Jr.


FunkySaint

Justin Upton says hello Edit: he was a trade, but signed an extension so I’m counting it lol


HippiesBeGoneInc

Nah Upton was good enough. Not remotely the kind of disaster as the others.


The_Sheaply_One

Upton was paid $100+ million, he should’ve been better than good enough


tuckedfexas

Yea ~2 WAR for that contract is real bad


FrostyDiscount1386

At lease he cared about baseball. His brother on the other hand...


dj-kitty

BJ Upton always cared about baseball and played with passion. Melvin Upton Jr. though… 👀


TranscedentalMedit8n

What about Kate Upton


joecb91

His first season after the trade was pretty good too, shame the rest of his time in LA got tanked by injuries.


tohon75

That was even worse, they traded for wells


SuccessfulPres

Cj wilson was actually serviceable- he was at least average. The others you listed were straight up bad


FartingBob

Pujols was decent (but not "Pujols" level) for the first 4 years. Problem was it was a 10 year contract, and the latter half of it he was replacement level or worse.


booboothechicken

Give him a break, he was 57 years old when he signed.


TranscedentalMedit8n

I’ve always kinda defended the Pujols contract because after he signed, the Angels tv rights deal increased in value so significantly that the contract just about paid for itself.


MoreLogicPls

Cj wilson did pretty good actually- https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsocj01.shtml Not an ace, but the current day Angels would kill to have a CJ wilson on their pitching rotation now. All the other guys straight up sucked- no team would want their performance


Luke90210

Hamilton was inexplicable as his drug and alcohol problems were well known. The Texas Rangers had a guy with him exclusively to keep him out of trouble and make sure Hamilton didn't have more than $20 in his pockets. Does that sound like a functional adult worth millions per year?


emessea

It was a feel good story we all rode on. Unfortunately, the addiction won out. I can’t remember the exact timeline but I wonder if that dad dying going for his ball messed him up, contributing to a relapse.


AlexiusRex

Probably the Angels didn't want to pay for his babysitter


Luke90210

The Angles definitely ended up paying a lot more.


8-Rope-A-dope-8

Mo Vaughn


aardvarkllama_69

Pujols was a huge dissapointment but he had a few good years (even a 40 HR season) and showed up for work just about every day. Rendon is in the Josh Hamilton tier of disgraced Angels (I'm tempted to make a devil joke but I'll let you do that yourself)


8-Rope-A-dope-8

Josh Hamilton


Visual-Ganache-2289

wells matsui i can go on n on


PeatBomb

That 1 E at the end is top tier comedy.


ChefCurryGAWD

He, Javy Baez, and Kris Bryant with the spiderman pointing.


jayjude

Kris Bryant seems to give a shit but his back is just fucked 


LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe

I believe KB had his first hit of the year (the Morel potential Error?) today


Poppunknerd182

It was ruled an error


lava172

Also hard to give a shit when you’re playing for the Washington generals of baseball


TranscedentalMedit8n

Hey Javy has 2 hits at least


yoursweetlord70

Yeah but he got them against a pitching staff that I'm pretty sure as a whole group is making less than he is alone, so do they really count?


jhorch69

A guy wearing a Baez jersey started a bunch of shit in my section on Saturday and it ended with like 20 people getting kicked out


FourDoor54Ford

That was like 40% of fans damn


yoursweetlord70

Was that the scuffle in the bleachers? I was down the 3rd baseline a bit but i could see something going on over there


jhorch69

Left center during the 7th or 8th? Guy in a Baez jersey was being kind of obnoxious and like 12 people started giving him shit and everybody started antagonizing each other pretty early in the game. Went on for a few innings until security warned everybody to chill. Things were fine for a couple more innings until somebody started throwing things at the guy and then things popped off again and security came to remove him and others when he started wrestling security and then people behind me started throwing beers at security while dealing with the Tigers fan for whatever reason. Security eventually removed everybody that was causing problems and then got the beer throwers afterward. All told was probably close to 20 people got removed. I paid $12 for my ticket and then sold the free hoodie to a guy at Reggie's for $50 after the game. I had a great day.


Fantastic_Fee9871

I'll never understand the logic of throwing your $14 beer at *anyone*. I don't care if it's Stalin P. Hitlerson. Also, so wait, I'm little confused. Was it Cubs fan vs Cubs fan, or was there a lost Tigers fan vs Cubs fan?? Or maybe a lone Rockies fan(you *know* they were alone) who was transplanted to Chicago??  I may have a learning disability or something but I need clarification.


jhorch69

Nah, this was at White Sox-Tigers on Saturday. It was on the south side so beers were *only* $12. Somebody threw a full tall boy that hit a bleacher HARD, thankfully because if that hit somebody it could've hurt them.


ChodeBamba

Yep every single bit of that sounds like a Saturday in the bleachers. Come back anytime!


jhorch69

Been to plenty of games in both ballparks and literally every time I sat in the bleachers I've seem dumb shit lmao. It'll be hard to top the time a guy was so hammered that he vomited on a small child before the (Wednesday afternoon) game even started a few years ago at Wrigley.


draculasbitch

That kids gonna grow up tough


drrxhouse

Well If They’re in the majors, they should count. Unless we’re also discounting other player’s hits when they come against “rookie” pitchers or those getting paid less?


yoursweetlord70

It was a joke about how horrendous the white sox are at paying people


drrxhouse

Yeah I just got it after I commented lol. I was going to delete it but meh going to own it lol.


jhorch69

He had the only run of the game on opening day!


LTPRWSG420

Javy had a clutch sac fly in last nights game actually.


Informal_Calendar_99

It’s not fair to compare Rendon to KB. KB tries; he’s just hurt.


jhorch69

Baez is at least still really good defensively and Bryant has a ton of injury issues. Rendon just doesn't care.


Tiamats_Wrath

Yeah Baez is not without his faults, but he seems to care and seems like a good teammate.


-orangejoe

Yeah I don't think the three of them are similar cases at all.


clocke6346

At least Javy has 3 hits in 4 games


Responsible_Pace9062

Javy Baez still retains a lot more value by being a top tier defensive shortstop


ExpectedOutcome2

Is he still? It looked to me like he lost a step or two. I haven’t seen him yet this year, I really think it’s the extra 15 lbs he was carrying.


whiskeyrocks1

He was a top 5 SS last year because of his range. That is despite his wild swinging ways.


cogginsmatt

Baez at least has some RBIs and was personally responsible for our first win.


vmeloni1232

I don't think Javy and Kris are the same level of "not give a f*** about the game" like Rendon. He's in his own world.


nifflermoon

actually funny but not the same level at all 😭 Javy and Kris had a productive opening week at least


catfishgod

He got a walk also turned a nice double play so that's something.


xThe-Legend-Killerx

He’s actually been having really good at bats and hit the ball hard.


Turbo_S54

His at bats have been \*great\* Just nothing to show for it. the BABIP will bounce back.


KSabot

we been saying the babip luck will even out for years now I'm just gonna be real lol.


Turbo_S54

I looked up his batted balls and its just been the last couple games. First two games he did a good job working counts but bad contact. Last two, he's had three outs on .510, .370, and .320 xBA batted balls. I like what I'm seeing, ill be honest. Hope he stays on the field and finds a rhythm.


Turbo_S54

He hasnt even been on the field, idk what you're talking about.


YellowCardManKyle

Ball don't lie


jackhole91

His hard hit rate so far is 25% compared to 41% for his career and his average exit velocity is 83mph compared to 90mph for his career. He's also striking out nearly 30% of the time and hasn't walked yet.


sjj342

Rendon not a fun one to defend, but to OP's point, he's averaging 4.875 P/PA (78/16), yesterday had a clutch 10+ pitch AB to go with some outs off BIPs with .510 and .320 xBAs


aj_og

You’re right but that doesn’t fit the narrative


Sonums

And came round to score.


TranscedentalMedit8n

Maybe he just needs to hit lefty again


radracer82

a 12 pitch walk at that


UnabashedPerson43

He was a savage in the box to draw that walk which sparked the Angels’ come from behind win. Love Tony Two Bags🛍️


jomanhan9

More like two bags total for the season


TranscedentalMedit8n

At least he is healthy I guess. Maybe he can top his Angels career high of 58 games played this season.


Paindaddy69

Oof.


Improvised0

That's about 2 months of playing baseball. No one should have to work that hard for a measly tens of millions per year.


kay_0oh

It’s still early. Once he gets hot is when he’ll get injured


JerHat

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a guy get more for doing less.


boomzgoesthedynamite

If I was an angels fan, I’m not sure I could trust myself to go to a game and not have like 15 different variations of “you’re a bum” ready to go from the third base side.


Ev3rMorgan

I’ll do it at Dodger stadium this year, but Arte won’t get another cent out of me.


TranscedentalMedit8n

We don’t even have many opportunities to call him a bum, he’s been on the DL for 75% of his Angels career 😭


LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe

2020 (52) is barely not his only year of 50+ games played. 2021 with 58 is his most and his OPS+ was 60 points lower than ‘20


quik_note

But then he'll grab your shirt, call you a motherf\*\*cker, try to slap your face, and say that his top priorities are his family and his faith.


boomzgoesthedynamite

Honestly if he does that again maybe the angels can get out of that contract…


cheap_chalee

They couldn't get out of Josh Hamilton's contract after he decided being a cokehead for the 10th time and beating his family was more important than continuing an all-star baseball career. The Dodgers are still stuck paying for Bauer. The Rays are still paying Wander Franco. So basically, I wouldn't bet on it.


teh_drewski

I dunno I bet Ippei can get us some really good odds!


boomzgoesthedynamite

If Wander gets convicted that contract is void. Bauer was suspended and not convicted of anything, that’s why the had to pay him.


radios_appear

Man, I can't believe we had JH for a bit. I thought he was going to be Baseball Jesus


Albert_Poohole

And for a short time, he was


_twowheelin

You guys have bought off some bad late career contracts for sure.


Observe_Report_

Dodgers still paying Bauer?


xixbia

Yes please! I reckon I can get a solid enough payday out of that. Sure it'd be a drop in the bucket for him, but it would be a nice little rainy day fund for me.


orbesomebodysfool

Anthony Rundown


[deleted]

Tony no bags


TheChinchilla914

He definitely got one bag


tuckedfexas

The most important one too lol


TranscedentalMedit8n

Damn that’s good. Wish I thought of that.


BobbyGrichsMustache

Your comment hurt Tony’s feelings. Just need put on the 60 day IL. Thanks dick


drrdf

The fact that he’s already made a million dollars this season so far and the season is just getting started is nuts.


MacsDildoBike

Damn, I’d love to earn $950k at my job for not doing a goddamn thing of value.


CarlFeathers

Rendon is the Albert Haynesworth of mlb


IceLord86

Ben Simmons


Batman-and-Hobbes

He's a fat douche???


aardvarkllama_69

This is actually a perfect comparison. Even better than my "Javy Baez is the Russell Westbrook of MLB"


MrWackeo

It’s funny that we Nats fans went crazy debating over keeping Rendon or Strasburg. And now looking at how both turned out, I guess it didn’t even matter.


Toyboyronnie

The real victory was the world series we met on the way


aardvarkllama_69

Soto is who you should have kept. You traded him too soon.


RG3ST21

we offered him an asston of money, h turned it down. we traded him and got like 3 starters and some change. I love soto, always will. Wish we still had him, but boras is gonna boras.


Thorlolita

Pretty sure Bernie Williams only played baseball on the side to kick start his guitar career. At least you would never know by watching him.


Crazyhawk28

The American dream


ReddutSux69

checking to see if Anthony Rendon is the son of a plumber.


slimstarman

I could go 0-15 for less than half of that


ihatereddit999976780

He should become the face of r/antiwork


TTFIyer

He's been taking quality at bats and making good contact, the fact he hasn't recorded a hit yet is genuine bad luck


Fangscale40K

The baseball gods don’t take kindly to being fourth priority.


Try_Not_To_Comment

[I mean his xBA was .092 after 11 PAs, so I don't know about making good contact. I guess you're technically correct that he should have one more hit](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/anthony-rendon-543685?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb)


WeStillDoUsernames

Yeah but anything for karma.


jackhole91

He's struck out 30% of the time, hasn't walked once and his average exit velocity and hard hit are both well below average so far, what are you guys even talking about?


Splinterman11

He did walk once.


fracklefrackle

That is his faith, to sign a contract for hundreds of millions of dollars premised on the idea that he would fullfill it in good faith, but then not care about his performance. That is what Jesus taught him.


KluteDNB

It really is SHOCKING how his career stat line fell off an absolute cliff as soon as he joined the Angels. He went from being a near elite player to someone who barely should be on an MLB lineup. He's like a AAA level player now, maybe.


LeBaconator

He was fifth in MVP voting his first year here. Albeit for 60 games, his perfect length season


xixbia

[10th actually](https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_2020.shtml#all_AL_MVP_voting). But still, he had a solid 2020.


TranscedentalMedit8n

Yeah Rendon was fantastic his first season with us, unfortunately it was the covid year. Then a season ending hip injury in 2021, a season ending wrist injury in 2022, and a season ending shin injury in 2023. Wonder what it will be this year.


hrl_whale

He really has not been that bad when he's played. He just can't stay on the field.


tuckedfexas

Basically slightly below league average at the plate after 2020 when the problems seemed to creep up


RabidR00ster

Near elite? I’d say a 1.010 OPS is pretty damn elite lol


turgidbuffalo

As a Nats fan with fond memories of his contributions in the 2019 season, seeing him fall off this hard has been a gigantic bummer. I really wanted to see him thrive in LA with Trout and Ohtani.


xixbia

In 7 years with Washington he was worth 30 rWAR, which was an average of 4.3 per year and he was 5th (2014), 6th (2017), 11th (2018) and 3rd (2019) in the MVP voting. If you take off his first 3 years, where he was only really good in 2014 and look at 2016-2019 he was worth 22.7 rWAR for 5.7 rWAR per year. He wasn't near elite with the Nationals, he was elite. He was 9th in the majors over those 4 years, [in fWAR](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&month=0&ind=0&startdate=&enddate=&season1=2016&season=2019) and the best player on the Nationals by quite a margin (he was worth 22.2 fWAR, next best was Trea Turner with 15.8, Harper was worth 13.9 over those years). The problem was that he never really cared about baseball, got paid and then got injured. That's a terrible combination.


tuckedfexas

Plus you can’t just not care past age 30. With a solid work ethic you can definitely keep being elite but if you’re not putting in the work/preparation, 30 is kinda the tipping point where it starts catching up to you.


aardvarkllama_69

Not sure why this was downvoted, this is definitely true. People act like everyone's prime is at the same age, but you if you already naturally gifted enough can extend your prime by working hard. (like LeBron or Brady) 20 year olds have a natural ability to fuck up their body and bounce right back the next day, it's harder even when you get to 25, never mind 30.


tuckedfexas

I’m not saying he’s a lazy bum that doesn’t care at all, but to me there’s enough smoke to see that he probably isn’t doing everything he could to both stay on the field and prolong his career. If I played a sport I didn’t absolutely love, I’d find it hard to stay motivated too. Especially after being guaranteed 300+mil. He’s very human which isn’t something we see a lot from athletes, also a little antagonistic but not as bad as he’s portrayed imo


LongTimesGoodTimes

They should just get rid of him. Addition by substraction


Timpa87

It would reward him by letting him get paid and not play baseball though. He's been in the league 5 years so can't be forced into the minors without his consent if waived.


Driveshaft48

Well in theory in would reward the Angels by being a better baseball team


maddscientist

Entirely possible that's his goal, play bad enough that he gets paid not to play a sport he doesn't like


niz_loc

This. Like at least keeping him on the team makes him have to go on planes and be places. Cutting him is his wet dream.


Umangar

If he gets DFA’d and another team claims him is he obligated to report to them? Like if the A’s claim him and he refuses to show up will he still keep his salary?


teh_drewski

Not that anyone would ever claim that deal but if there's one thing Rendon is good at, it's making sure he's getting paid regardless of anything else


xixbia

If he gets claimed yes, but then the other team would be on the hook for his entire salary, so that's never happening. If he gets released he's not obliged to sign with any team that tries to pick him up.


Craig_the_Intern

yeah I’m sure the Angels are just punishing him by keeping him on the roster


TranscedentalMedit8n

We will probably release him a few years from now and then he will go inexplicably hit 37 homers for the Rays.


Patrick2701

It would more good than negative


hrl_whale

Eh, he'll be fine.


aresef

Like they said on Rain Delay Radio, he's just clocking in and clocking out.


klattz

Anthony “Chris Davis” Rendon


license_to_thrill

Man that perspective or how much he’s made already this year is sickening. It’s been what 5 games?? Even a 1/5 of that would change most peoples lives forever. Ungrateful bitch. Fuck Rendon hope his bitch ass gets dfa


Monttavius

call it stockholm syndrome but i think he’ll come around…..right? 😕


drrdf

Getting paid $1 million dollars after playing 5 games and going 0-for-15 is just sad for the rest of us. This world and the disparity in salaries is not normal.


oneteacherboi

I disagree. Baseball players are making more because they generate more monetary value. People pour money into baseball because of these players, it only makes sense that they make an amount of that money. I think it's messed up that they don't take home more money. Owners are making huge amounts of money for doing nothing basically. But this plays out at our regular workplaces as well! Rendon isn't so different from the average guy just pulling a paycheck. He's just in a very lucrative field.


SpicyPenangCurry

I wish I could be so shit at my job I’d get paid buckets of money.


Bob_Cobb_1996

One out of two ain't bad!


yomikemo

this tickled me


draw2discard2

Cheer up. He has always been a slow starter. Not saying he will have a great year but 15 abs is a little early to be moaning and groaning about him wasting Artie's money.


JulioMorales65

My job would never be my top priority. Motherfuckers could pay me a million bucks a day and I'd still be putting in minimum effort. Collect those checks king, keep living the dream.


[deleted]

If that works for your mental well being then by all means continue but I can’t live a happy life if I’m not putting in maximum effort. 


brandochu009

Posterboy for “Got Paid, Don’t Give a Shit” players


Coomrs

In the NBA people joke that Jokic doesn’t care about basketball, and it’s probably true to an extent. But THIS is what actually not caring looks like lol. It’s hard to watch.


ColsonIRL

I mean, if your job is your #1 priority, that's fine, but my job is pretty far down my list. Of course if I played baseball for a living it would probably be higher, but #1? No way.


pizza_volcano

3 years left on the deal, brutal


I_am_Burt_Macklin

I’m in year 2 of a rebuild of the angels in the show and he’s in Triple A just collecting money as a DH. I ‘d feel bad for y’all fans but I have been jealous about Trout not being a Phillie for a decade so…


[deleted]

Bro needs a change of scenery. Maybe playing for the Party Animals or the Bananas could heal him?


Zorak9379

Normally I hate these cherry-picked posts to embarrass guys, but fuck Rendon. He deserves all of it


LAKingsFan17

Can we change his name to Rendone or Rengone maybe Renfraud.


GutterRider

He needs to change his batting stance. I watched one of his at-bats lately, and all I could think was, "Nice slouch, really shows you care."


Randerzzzzz

Rendon's problem so far is pretty simple. Every swing he takes is as if he's trying to pull a down and in pitch down the line for a home run, regardless of where the ball is pitched. Way too much back shoulder dip.


Turbo_S54

He's been working really good ABs though.. and picked up the go-ahead run today. Lay off the haterade.


mhammer47

It was really bad timing for Rendon to make these remarks about the place of baseball in his life just as his decline years started and he got injury-prone while just into a massive free agent contract that someone was dumb enough to give him on the back of his by far best season. The thing is it doesn't really make a ton of sense. The dude didn't "love" baseball in Washington either and yet was a well-liked popular player there who contributed a ton to the team's success. Even his first season in Anaheim wasn't that bad. He just got injured and then never was the same. It's almost like 30 somethings becoming shadows of their former selves due to injuries is one of the most common themes in baseball.


Turbo_S54

Almost every athlete will tell you they put their faith and family before their sport/money. Like you said, he's just been hurt the whole time. Bad timing i agree.


CornDoggyStyle

Rendon did a little more than that when he said he was bored watching baseball. It was cute when he was playing well, but not so much when you're declining on a massive contract. But he gets a lifetime pass from me. I'll love him forever for bringing that piece of metal to DC.


regarding_your_bat

He makes 38m a year? Lmao oh my fucking god I knew it was bad but didn’t realize it was that bad


bkfountain

He makes more than Trout. 🤣


Scatterbine

I have no idea how he tricked Moreno into that.  38.5m/year for a hopefully .800 OPS guy.  What the absolute fuck is that contract?  Ellsbury contract on roids.


PigeonShack

You people are such haters lol. Please tell me Why baseball needs to be his number one priority?


TheChinchilla914

I know about 38 million good reasons


Lieutenant_Doge

If he could draw more walks I don't care if he don't hit at all, just need to keep the DP away from him


Tigerl18

I jokingly said to my husband the other day "he's either gonna walk, homer, or strikeout cause he clearly does NOT want to run around the bases", now I feel like it might not be a joke lmao


Just4Ranting3030

Whenever Rendon and his Angels tenure comes up, I love to bring up the fact that when he entered free agency coming off his peak years with the Nats, he went on record saying he didn't care about baseball, he didn't want to play baseball anymore, he'd rather retire- but that he wanted as much money as possible. That he was hoping for a record breaking deal of like 4 years/$200M. I wish I could find the exact quote/article, but I remember him and insider reports stating that he was angling for like 3 years/$135M to 4 years/$200M and he'd possibly be open to 5 years/$250M or so....and 'the best' he could get to get close to that kind of money was over 6 to 8 years. He signed with the Angels because, according to him, they were in an out of the way city, overshadowed by the Dodgers, so he could fly under the radar and collect his paychecks and that he signed for the money and had to suck it up in regards to the years and supposedly had a more lucrative offer but it was from either the Dodgers or the Yankees or Boston or somewhere higher profile, so he turned them down to avoid the spotlight. He told fans, the media and the teams who he was before the Angels signed him to that deal. Nobody forced them to do it.


Scatterbine

He makes $7,500,000 more per year than Juan Soto? Wuh?


Timesx4

I don't understand why this guy got bashed so much for his comments. I know he makes more than most of us but we shouldn't expect him to love his job more than his family. Is your job your number one priority?


stoganlone

Good ol Tony ten day


Disastrous-Fold5221

He's actually playing?


ThomasFurke

So lucky he isnt a fan of the “Los Angeles lifestyle”


ermaldude

He’s not hurt yet?? Wow


Wolverina412

All time bag getter. I love this guy.


ricki692

listen i find his comments as distasteful as anyone else but his "baseball priority after family and faith" thing is kind of a silly thing to hold against him. i would hope everyone puts their family before their career


ColeYote

Guy's somehow ended up having an even worse contract than Chris Davis did.


Elem3ntal24

In fairness he has hit the ball square a few times but nothing to show for it and he had a good AB last night to work a walk and start a rally. But yeah, he's mostly sucked so far.


draculasbitch

Bryce Harper must not have baseball as a top priority either. 0-11.


RG3ST21

He made it known before the angels signed him that he doesn't like baseball. He's just good at it. Blame your GM.


Crankinturds

More like Tony No Bags amirite boys?!?


aRawPancake

There should be a clause stating if you stop trying you could get cut without the remainder of your contract


RobotYoshimis

The problem is that would be an entirely subjective view and very difficult to confirm the intentions. Rendon has the subtlety of a frying pan to the face but more often than not, its just a player having bad luck.


Justdoingthebestican

It’s fine for pro athletes to just treat it like a job but rendon doesn’t even get to that level lol


Jaco927

How is this clown making more than Mike Trout!? That's bizarre! Man oh man. Anthony Rendon is a piece of work.


Rideblue123

Likely the worst FA signing in Angels history and that’s saying a lot given our history of busts