Revisiting past offseasons where Rendon's contract affected Angels' pursuits

During the San Diego Winter Meetings of December, 2020, Gerrit Cole signed with the New York Yankees, Stephen Strasburg re-signed with the Washington Nationals and Anthony Rendon signed with the Los Angeles Angels. Rendon was signed in order to replace Albert Pujols as the big-ticket slugger who needs to help Mike Trout get back to the playoffs more than any other Angels hitter. The Pujols contract was a disaster, and that large sum of money on the payroll did not allow the team to acquire other big-name bats on bigger deals.

Some spread rumors that Cole could have become the Angels' ace, and that is one of the biggest sliding door moments in Angels franchise history. Only, if only, the team could have landed Cole.

The Angels were not tied to these third baseman given Rendon's presence, but the Angels easily could have been in the market for one of these free agent third basemen a few years after making one of the worst mistakes in baseball history.

Revisiting past offseasons where Rendon's contract affected Angels' pursuits

Maybe teams should just never sign free agents. After Rendon, the next-biggest third baseman that offseason was Josh Donaldson. Bringer Of Rain signed a four-year deal with the Minnesota Twins, and feels long-gone ahead of the 2026 season.

Before the 2023 season, Carlos Correa had one of the most infamous offseasons ever. He signed massive deals with both the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets, then the clubs nixed his deals following examinations of his medical assessments, paperwork etc. Correa was a star player for a mini-dynastic (semi-dynasty if not for the truthful 2017 allegations) Houston Astros team, but the organization that developed him into a great player was willing to let him walk (as they continued to do with Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, for example). The Angels did sign Brandon Drury that offseason, but he did not play much third base even when Rendon went out.

Correa played shortstop, but soon became more of a third baseman after re-signing with Minnesota then getting traded back to Houston. Correa had a tough 2025 season, but his career with the Twins has been relatively fruitful despite the lack of frequent postseason appearances. Correa went back to Houston and was solid despite the team missing the playoffs in dramatic fashion this year.

The next offseason, before the 2024 season, Matt Chapman signed a six-year deal with the San Francisco Giants. Chapman is an all-world defender with ties to California, and is extremely valuable at the hot corner and with the bat (when healthy).