Anthony Rendon was a sure thing. So how did it unravel this fast?

Anthony Rendon was a sure thing. So how did it unravel this fast? originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Back in December of 2019, no one could see Anthony Rendon ending up here. According to The Athletic, the former All-Star and World Series champion has effectively ended his career with the Anaheim Angels after playing just 257 games over the last five years.

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"The 35-year-old is owed the $38 million for the final year of his seven-year, $245 million deal. The Angels will pay out that money over the next three to five years, freeing up significant cash for the team to pursue high-profile free agents in 2026," The Athletic's Sam Blum wrote.

But how did we get here?

When the Los Angeles Angels signed him to a seven-year, $245 million deal after the 2019 season, they were buying one of the most complete players in baseball. Rendon was 29, coming off a career year with the Washington Nationals that ended in a World Series title. He hit .319, posted a 1.010 OPS, played elite defense at third base, and finished third in NL MVP voting.

This was not a risky projection.
This was a finished product.

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Rendon had been remarkably durable in Washington, appearing in at least 136 games in four of his final five seasons. He was a quiet star, not a fragile one. The Angels believed they were adding stability to a lineup built around Mike Trout. At the time, that belief made sense.

Then everything stopped working.

Rendon has played just 200 games over the last four seasons combined. A cascade of injuries followed him almost immediately after he arrived in Anaheim: hip surgery, wrist issues, knee inflammation, hamstring strains, back problems. None of them alone explained the decline. Together, they erased his continuity.

The injuries did more than keep him off the field. They prevented him from ever finding rhythm. Rendon rarely had time to get right before something else went wrong. The player who once controlled at-bats with surgical precision never had a chance to reestablish himself.

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As the absences mounted, a different narrative took hold.

Rendon’s blunt, often dry comments about baseball, including admitting he viewed it as a job rather than a passion, were seized upon as evidence that something deeper was wrong. Fair or not, the perception grew that Rendon didn’t love the game enough to fight through the grind. That label stuck, especially as production never followed.

Rendon has always been wired differently. Even at his peak, he was understated, uncomfortable with attention, and allergic to hype.

The Angels are now restructuring his contract and deferring the $38 million owed in 2026. Rendon's career is most likely over, though he is not officially retiring yet.

Still, we should remember that Rendon was great at one point. 
Then his body failed him.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.