3 underperforming Angels players find their way onto Bleacher Report's dubious list

The Los Angeles Angels' 2024 season has been a rather disappointing one for the fans in Anaheim. While the team's win-loss record of late has improved, the Halos are doomed to finish yet another year below .500 and out of the playoffs.

When a team like the Angels puts up such a discouraging record, combined with a projected payroll just north of $175 million, fans are going to start pointing fingers. LA's payroll ranks just outside the top 10 in baseball, yet the Angels have a near identical record to the Oakland A's, whose payroll ranks last in the league ($62.5 million), according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.

With that as a backdrop, it should come as no surprise that three Angels players are listed among Bleacher Report's All-Overpaid Team. The list is comprised of one player at each position who hasn't lived up to their current deals.

Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon among LA Angels players on All-Overpaid Team

Unsurprisingly, Anthony Rendon is the poster boy for the all-overpaid team. The Angels third baseman, who's missed a number of games yet again this season, is pulling in close to $40 million for less than a 1.0 bWAR.

Rendon is under contract for two more years after inking that ridiculous seven-year, $245 million deal ahead of the 2020 season. Rendon's deal may go down as the worst in Major League Baseball history, and that includes the New York Mets' contract with Bobby Bonilla that is still paying the former All-Star over $1 million per year through 2035.

Unfortunately, Mike Trout made the list as well. Trout's season looked promising at the outset, but once again, the former MVP has seen more of the trainer's room than the field. With Trout out for the rest of the year, the Angels effectively paid the outfielder nearly $800,000 per game in 2024. Trout appeared in just 29 games and is taking home over $37 million this season.

In a section Bleacher Report referred to as the 'Fully Sunk Cost Division', we find the Halos' lone major league free agent signing. They inked Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million deal. After missing most of spring training, Stephenson was able to face just one hitter during a rehab assignment before being removed from the game. Stephenson underwent Tommy John surgery and won't be back until at least midway through next season.

Having one player on the list is bad enough, but the Angels had three. A handful of others were also well represented, including the New York Yankees (Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, and Anthony Rizzo) and the Houston Astros (Lance McCullers Jr. and Jose Abreu).

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