11 biggest Los Angeles Angels contracts in franchise history

The history of economics in baseball are truly staggering, and the Angels franchise are pioneers in turning those economics on its head. Remember when the California Angels would pay a player like Nolan Ryan $27,000? Well, the Angels would go on to shell out massive multi-million dollar deals to players who would go on to completely under-perform given the lofty expectations. Just as Marvin Miller once dreamed.

Many of these giant contracts have had a hand in the Angels not reaching the playoffs for a decade. Arte Moreno is one to spend large sums of money on large players, then cry poor when it comes to rounding out the roster. Some of these other contracts have either brought in or locked up some fan favorites for years to come.

For the record, we are going to exclude Vernon Wells. Yes, the Angels assumed a 4-year, $86 million deal when they traded Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera for the washed up outfielder. However, we are going to focus on the contracts that the Angels themselves signed instead of the ones they traded for.

1. Mike Trout: 12-years, $426,500,000

2. Anthony Rendon: 7-years, $245,000,000

The largest contracts in Angels history belong to two members of the 2025 team. Well, technically speaking.

Trout, a future first ballot Hall of Famer, is an icon, the best player in Angels history, and possesses the largest contract in team history/one of the largest contracts in North American sports history. He has tracked down fly balls in centerfield nearly every inning of his 14 year big league career. Well, we have reached the end of an era in that regard.

Trout is heading to right field full-time moving forward. It appears that he will primarily play corner outfield for the final six years of his deal. It's the right move for Trout and the Angels, as his career has taken a turn for the worst and measures were needed to be taken to keep him available. The Angels need him more than his bat then his outfield prowess, but seeing him out of centerfield in favor of a Jo Adell/Mickey Moniak platoon is pretty sad.

Some say that Trout's contract is currently one of the worst in baseball, given that the injuries are piling up and he is is not nearly as reliable as he once was. However, when he has stayed on the field, he has shown that he is still the tremendous player that everybody has come to know and love. Perhaps becoming a right fielder will keep him healthy, and hopefully will spearhead a playoff run for only the second time in his career.

Every Angels fan knows about the Rendon contract: the second largest and single worst in team history. Sleep easy, Josh Hamilton (we'll get to him shortly).

Arte Moreno already disclosed that Rendon will miss the entirety of the 2025 season after undergoing left hip surgery. It sure seems like they will cut ties with the third baseman before the 2026 begins, which is mercifully Rendon's last year under contract. In five seasons with LAA, Rendon has only hit 22 home runs and caused a multitude of headaches for fans and the team in that span.

3. Albert Pujols: 10-years, $240,000,000

When the Angels signed Pujols, it was the second largest contract in MLB history. He certainly earned it, given that he had 10 top-five National League MVP finishes in the first 11 years of his career.

Pujols' Angels legacy is certainly spared by Rendon to a degree. His on-field product was not entirely disastrous, albeit incredibly underwhelming. Many factor in that the Pujols contract brought along a massive television deal to Anaheim with him. They ended up waiving him during the final year of his 10-year deal mid-season.

Another factor in his favor is his personal services provision. He largely works with the Angels' DSL players, but has been in the Angels' player development department since he retired. He also just managed a winterball team called LIDOM to a Dominican League championship in his first season. Who knows -- maybe he will supplant Ron Washington as the Halos' skipper in 2026?

4. Josh Hamilton: 5-years, $125,000,000

5. Justin Upton: 5-years, $106,000,000

6. Torii Hunter: 5-years, $90,000,000

The next three largest Angels contracts belongs to a trio of outfielders. One was a fantastic deal, one was pretty bad, and one was flat-out awful.

Josh Hamilton represented a fork in the road moment for the franchise, and the Angels unequivocally set themselves back years by opting for Hamilton over Zack Greinke in free agency. The Angels historically do not sign pitchers to long-term deals, and they had the opportunity to make a massive organizational shift in philosophy by going for Greinke before the 2013 season. Instead they gave Hamilton $25 million AAV for five-years, both sides hated each other's experiences with the other, and he lasted two seasons before being traded back to Texas. He ended his tenure with the Angels by going 0-for-13 in the ALDS against Kansas City, the last postseason appearance LAA has made.

The Angels traded for Justin Upton during the 2017 season, and extended him for 5-years, $106 million after the season when they feared he would opt-out of his deal and become a free agency. As soon as Upton's last season was supposed to begin, the Angels waived him in spring training while they were testing him out as a first baseman.

Torii Hunter, like Pujols, works for the Angels currently, and will be assisting his former teammate in his move from centerfield to right. Mike Trout will be moving to right field, and is following in Hunter's footsteps. Hunter is one of the best defensive outfielders of all time, and yet he moved off of centerfield in favor of... Peter Bourjos! The 9x Gold Glover is one of the most iconic outfielders of all time, a steward of the game, a beloved teammate and baseball personality. While he is more known as a member of the Minnesota Twins, Hunter provided far more value and bang-for-your-buck as a Halo.

7. Jered Weaver: 5-years, $85,000,000

Jered Weaver still has the largest contract the Angels have ever given out to a pitcher, as he inked an $85 million extension right before the 2012 season began. Weaver was completely dominant the two seasons prior to the extension, as he posted a 6.9 bWAR in 2011 and 5.2 bWAR in 2010 -- the two highest marks of his career. In 2012, he actually received AL MVP votes.

After his extension ended, Weaver signed with the San Diego Padres. Unfortunately, that meant he did not spend his entire professional career with the Halos. Even so, Weaver is a beloved Angels player, and still can be found around Angels facilities every now and again.

8. Mo Vaughn: 6-years, $80,000,000

Vaughn is an interesting Angels player. In fitting fashion, he sprained his ankle during his first career game as an Angels player and he was never quite the same player the rest of his career.

On the one hand, he hit a total of 69 home runs and collected 225 RBIs during his first two seasons with Anaheim. On the other, he did lead the American League in strikeouts in 2000. While his overall slash lines were not terrible, his impact on the field was not nearly as effective as when he was with Boston. He only made it two years with the Angels under his contract. He missed the entirety of the 2001 season, then was dealt to the Mets.

9. C.J. Wilson: 5-years, $77,500,000

Wilson was signed immediately after Albert Pujols at the Winter Meetings, and he was the largest free agent pitcher the Angels ever signed. Wilson might not have made it to the final year of his 5-year contract, but he was a solid innings-eater for the Halos. Especially the first two years.

Unfortunately, like Hamilton, Wilson completely imploded in the 2014 postseason. He started Game 3 of the ALDS against the Royals, and could only record two outs before getting taken out of the game. He had allowed 3 hits, 3 runs, and issued a walk before getting the hook. He took the loss, and that was the last game the Angels played in the playoffs.

10. Vladimir Guerrero Sr.: 5-years, $70,000,000

The Angels have only one player who wears an Angels cap in Cooperstown, and that's Guerrero. The Angels snatched Guerrero away from the Expos before the 2004 season, perhaps the best move Arte Moreno has ever made as the Angels' owner. In a way, it was a Shohei Ohtani-to-the-Dodgers type move when Guerrero signed with Anaheim. He spent the first eight years of his career with the Expos, but never made the playoffs. He won the AL MVP in his first season as an Anaheim Angels player. The next season, as a Los Angeles Angels player, he finished third in MVP voting. In total, Guerrero racked up 4 All Star appearances and 4 Silver Sluggers while playing for the Angels. He made the playoffs every season save for one while with the Angels.

The two sides had a mutual option for a 6th year and both opted in, signifying the bond the superstar and franchise made. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 5-years-old when Guerrero Sr. won his only MVP award. He was in his formative, impressionable years when his father was tearing up the Big A, and many fans are clamoring that he will hold onto that nostalgia when he considers teams next offseason.

11. Yusei Kikuchi: 3-years, $63,000,000

Finally, we get to the largest contract Perry Minasian has ever shelled out. Kikuchi will likely start Opening Day for the Angels and hopefully will have a long, fruitful career in Anaheim. He might not have made as much money as the players ahead of him, but he could easily out-perform many of them as a member of the Angels.

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