Angels on verge of the dawn of a new era following Anthony Rendon's retirement

The Los Angeles Angels only have 13 players on the 40-man roster right now after it was reported that Anthony Rendon's camp and the Angels are negotiating a buyout. The 35-year-old, forever affluent Rendon is expected to retire from major league baseball following the terms of the buyout getting finalized (per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN). The timeline of that is unclear, but it seems close based on reporting.

Angels on verge of the dawn of a new era following Anthony Rendon's retirement

Now, the question is how much the Angels will save on the heels of buying out Rendon and trading Taylor Ward's $13 million. The buyout details will be very interesting to monitor. Beyond The Halo made the connection to Chris Davis -- Baltimore's albatross contract for years they deferred back in 2021. The Angels could add nearly double to their free agency purse following negotiations.

Then, the question will be whether it would be smart the Angels to kick the vast majority of his $38 million down the road...or buy out the majority of it now and defer out the payments over a shorter period of time. The Angels have roughly $40 million to spend right now, which does not make them players for a splash like Cody Bellinger, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Eugenio Suárez, etc. If they can add an extra, say, $30 million via the Rendon buyout then they immediately become one of the few teams to watch in order to land a superstar.

The Angels MIGHT be able to buy their way a playoff spot this season, but is it not more pragmatic to eat over 2/3 of Rendon's deal now and kick out the final ~$12.8 million across 2026 and 2027? The Angels also get out of Jorge Soler, Robert Stephenson and Travis d'Arnaud's after next year, which frees up MORE money.

There are several younger, expensive players on the market who could slot in well next to Zach Neto, Jo Adell, Nolan Schanuel, Logan O'Hoppe, Mike Trout and Co. Bo Bichette and Munetaka Murakami come to mind. Perhaps a great first move with this surplus is extending Neto and forgoing the remaining arbitration-eligible deals (Neto is a Super Two).

Instead of waiting a full year to get rid of Anthony Rendon, Angels fans have that luxury now. It feels right to splurge immediately, but perhaps the most prudent way forward is through patience.