The Angels have reinstated third baseman Anthony Rendon from the 60-day injured list, reports Sam Blum of The Athletic. First baseman Mike Ford was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Rendon, 32, played 45 games this season before he underwent wrist surgery in June. At the time, that procedure was categorized as “season-ending,” though Rendon evidently recovered faster than expected. A few weeks ago, it was reported that coming back for a late-season appearance was on the table, something that has now come to fruition.
Despite his reinstatement, Rendon still won’t be appearing in a game for the Halos for a few days. Shortly after his surgery, there was a massive brawl between the Angels and Mariners which resulted in 12 suspensions. One of those was given to Rendon, who got five games for his role in the fracas. He’ll miss the next five contests with the Angels playing shorthanded on those days. That will still leave him with the chance to get a small taste of action before the offseason begins, as the club has eight games remaining here in 2022, and prevent him from missing the beginning of the 2023 season.
The Angels are well out of contention here in 2022, so those games next season should be much more important to the team. Next year is the last season before Shohei Ohtani is slated to reach free agency. With the club also potentially being sold in the near future, it’s possible that 2023 is an inflection point for the franchise. Despite having Mike Trout for the past decade-plus, Ohtani for the past five seasons and Rendon for the past three, the Angels haven’t finished above .500 since 2015 and haven’t made the postseason since 2014. With Ohtani’s potential departure and an unknown ownership group entering the picture, it’s possible that 2023 might have a “last hurrah” sort of feel to it, given the uncertainty beyond that.
Rendon was excellent for the Angels in the first year of his contract, which was the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He hit .286/.418/.497 in 52 games that year for a wRC+ of 152 and 2.5 fWAR. Unfortunately, the past couple of seasons have been marred by injuries, with Rendon only getting into 58 games last year and only 45 so far here in 2022. He and the club will surely be hoping for better health next year and beyond, with his contract running through 2026.
As for Ford, he began his career with the Yankees and spent many years in their system before entering a journeyman phase over the past two years. Starting in June of 2021, he went from New York to Tampa, then Washington, Seattle, San Francisco, back to Seattle, Atlanta and then to Los Angeles to join the Angels. For four different teams this year, he’s hit .206/.302/.313 for a wRC+ of 80. Ford has a much better track record at Triple-A, hitting .257/.353/.476 in over 1300 plate appearances. He’s struggled to bring that up to the majors with him but might find another team willing to give him a shot. With the trade deadline long gone, the Angels will have no choice but to put Ford on waivers in the coming days.
Very interesting…seems like Tony 2 bags is ready to serve that suspension and play a game or two. I like it. For how much he’s getting paid he should get some action in. Might as well hit left handed too…go get em
DG Halos, that’s what I’m talkin about!!!
To get rid of a Ford is one thing, but to bring back a rusty Rendon is another…
no loss with ford, rendon can serve his suspension and shake that rust off as preparation for next year
Huh?
A little too late lol
Lol why
What were the splits on Mike Ford? There for awhile it looked like he was going to get regular playing time but it doesn’t appear to have panned out.
Just another AAA depth piece?
” First baseman, Mike Ford, was designated for assignment in a corresponding move” is one of the most popular statements of the 2022 season.
This is the most important move of the 2023 season.
Used Ford Truck available. , multiple owners , capable of carrying heavy loads , new tires , minimum cost , please contact
Mike Ford Bronco on the 405 freeway.
Still a better contract than Strasburg’s.
But but but they had super prospect Carter Kieboom in the wings!!
Soon, we’re going to be the best team on the planet!
Yay…..let’s go Angels!!
In 3 seasons with the Halos, Rendon has played in 155 games with 20 HR’s and 89 RBI’s and managed a 3.1 WAR.
Even if that was one legitimate season, he’d be severely underperforming for the deal he is on.
4 years and $154.3M left on that deal, too…. going by how he’s played thus far, over the remaining 656 games, he might produce 85 HR’s, 378 RBI’s and a 13.1 WAR.
This doesn’t factor in a scenario where Rendon stays healthy, stays on the field, racks up games played, plate appearances and so on. Even in that best case scenario for his health, I imagined we will get more of the same.
If he manages to play in, say, 141 games a season on average, over the next 4 years, you might see a typical season production of 18 HR’s, 81 RBI’s and a 2.8 WAR per season.
I will grant that his first season he was pacing for a 6.8 WAR and this season in 45 games he paced for the 162 games equivalent of a 3.24 WAR, which is… okay- not for the money he’s making, but okay for a starting player on a team’s roster- payroll aside.
Anyway- what a fascinatingly awful contract for a guy who’s been weirdly outspoken about making money in the game, about choosing his team based on the media scrutiny of the market he’s in, of a guy who claimed he didn’t want to play more than a few more seasons and signed a 7 season deal because of the money being offered. I honestly wonder if he tried to float a 4 year/$245M deal and the Angels said no way. I bet they wished they had gone ahead and made that deal.
But anyway, if the Angels are lucky, they will get around 16.1 WAR over 7 seasons from a guy that will have been paid like he was going to produce around 49 WAR. It’s a waste of about $165M.
The money is spent, no one would give him the contract again.
If he posts a WAR over three next year, I’m not going to be bummed. The Angels are dead last in WAR at 3B this year. A WAR of 3.5 makes him a 5+ WAR player.
You’re too good for this team.
You should root for someone else.
–
I’ve followed MLB for well over half a century. Have seen teams built successfully. Most go in circles (as the Angels have done) and some just fall out.
The players are the last piece of the puzzle. How they play on the field is obviously what’s most important. More than ever those players need a support system of a manger, coaches, and analytic/video people helping them daily. Perry Minasian has been painstakingly putting that in place. It can’t be done overnight. The World Champion Braves franchise he came from took their time as well. The development of young starting pitchers this year as well as a few position players are the beginning of results. If the new owners dump Mr. Minasian then the Angels go back in circles. Minasian won’t be out of a job long – baseball people appreciate what he’s done.
Then again, maybe some trillionaire team owners will buy the franchise, sign a bunch of name players, and give guys like you a sugar high.
If Rendon tears it up the next 3 years I’ll be a lifetime fan of his.
Not impossible. He had a 150 OPS+ his first season, but has battled injuries the last two seasons. It’s unclear who he is as a hitter at the moment, but a healthy 2023 will help answer those questions.
Now, if he rebounds next year, the new owners should pay down half of the last three years after 2023 and move on! Right now, he has no value. He needs to restore that value, or some value, before the Angels can make decisions.
TrumboJumbo;
You’ve got a couple of kids here that have no idea how baseball is played on the field. Part of the spreadsheet brigade. Appears the only time they played the sport was on a computer.
The Angels must have some baseball savvy fans somewhere. You sure seem to post about what players are doing on the field of play.
P.S. I watched Mr. Rendon play for the Nationals for years. He’s a solid money player, great teammate – low key, in high pressure situations keeps his teammates loose and more often than not is a part of the team winning. I assume he’s been hurt. He’s hardly washed up.
You must have not realized, understandable, since you are a pot
Sam,
I have been hearing that Trout and Mookie were “washed up” for years now…Rendon too….He is a gamer…I am not going to give up on him. I never gave up on Josh Hamilton either. I have NO reason to doubt Rendon’s talent and ability. Seen him play up close the man has the tools and then some. Anyone can hit the IL. Lets see how he rebounds. I gotta say though, “spreadsheet brigade” is just perfect haha I will remember that one…Hearing players relegated solely to advanced metrics is nutsy. Especially on here. What bothers them though is the “intangibles” because they can’t quantify them and they are as important/relevant as anything/any possible metric..The spreadsheet brigade would make the WORST scouts possible..
I’ll let every team know they should fire their statistical analysis departments now.
The teams that realize how to use both are the teams that win.
And I would bet 99% of them would choose “Moneyball” as their all time favorite movie in the history of movies.
You wanna see ball players? Come to SoCal and catch ANY JUCO game come spring…You’ll see how much talent the scouts miss.
Ad I would let. You are wrong. Some people can are smart enough to use all the tools…some are not.
A scout will use a radar gin and stop watch. A analytics department will use tools ten times better.
No, the scouts who SUCK will merely use a radar gun and stop watch. I’m talking about people who know ball players when they see them. I have nothing against analytics. One cannot exist without the other though. I don’t know what you meant by doing it 10X better than the scouts…
You know how well you gotta know baseball and what sort of judge of talent you need to be in order to be a good scout?
Like all the scouts who passed on Trout. And umpires are better than technology as well.
Technology is better than scouts, but no one with a clue would only use technology, just like no team with a clue would only use scouts. Scouts can’t tell you exactly how fast Fletcher gets the ball to first base, technology can.
It’s laughable when anyone dismisses either. Those are the people that don’t know baseball.
Aright then, we are definitely in agreement/on the same team.
Let me put this in a way some people can understand. Only a fool would get into an airplane without technology, only fool would get into airplane pilots, and only a fool would discount the importance of both.
Their a lot of fools on these message boards
But not you?
Ford’s v Rendon’s stats with Angels do not have much separation – that is interesting.
Glad to get the suspension out of the way and likely will only see a few PH ab’s .
As for his contract it is our new anchor but if we can get 3.5 war each remaining season it will be a better contract than Albert’s. I’m not expecting much from what should be but won’t , our number 7 hitter next season
Nice! Just in time for the playoffs… Wait… what?
You know what Ford stands for?
Fix it again tony.
@Highest IQ
Most vehicles need to be fixed every few months. Companies focus on planned obsolescence so that you’ll need to repair or replace something.
All vehicles need maintenance. “Planned Obsolescence” is the managing of inventory of changes made during production.
It’s really the Dealerships that damage the OE’s reputation more than anyone else. They make much more money replacing parts at their exaggerated cost than simply repairing your vehicle. Even if they create a problem, they make money. They’re organized crime.
I thought that was for Fiat. Ford is Found on the road dead
Spelling is hard for some people
Fix
It
Again
Tony
Clearly spells out ford
When I’m on a computer, such as now, it’s much easier to type and see my screen than on an I Phone.
I typically give people a pass on such things.
i have been banned a few too many times and typing on this android phone is all i have left. thank you for understanding.