Angels Sign Anthony Rendon To $245 Million, Seven-Year Deal; Twitter Reacts

Anthony Rendon and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim agreed to a major deal on Wednesday.

The free-agent third baseman — who just helped lead the Washington Nationals to their first-ever World Series title — signed a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels. According to ESPN, the pact includes a full no-trade clause and lacks an opt-out clause. Rendon, 29, is set to have a physical on Friday and will be introduced at the Angels’ ballpark on Saturday.

The Angels had reportedly targeted Rendon after former Houston Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole signed his own mega-deal with the New York Yankees on Tuesday. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers and Texas Rangers also had their sights set on Rendon. The third baseman also reportedly turned down a huge deal from the Nationals, who offered him a seven-year, $200 million extension at the end of this season.

Rendon will now join an Angels lineup that includes Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, both of whom also inked major deals with the team. The Angels are the first MLB franchise to bring on three players with deals worth $200 million or more.

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Rendon enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career this year with the Nationals, so much in fact that he was even momentarily considered a top contender for the National League MVP award. The third baseman led MLB in 2019 with a career-high 126 RBIs and appeared in his first-ever All-Star Game. Rendon also enjoyed career bests in home runs (34), slugging percentage (.598) and batting average (.319). He also hit homers in Games 6 and 7 of this year’s World Series and became just the fifth player in history to do so.

Trout and Rendon’s former Nationals teammate Trea Turner both reacted to the news of the third baseman’s big deal in noticeably different ways on Twitter:

Here are other reactions to Rendon’s deal: