Anthony Rendon’s Angels era is officially over + A’s checkup

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Show me the money.

00:00:10
Speaker 2: Never was it more relevant than what we just showed you. There, money moves Anthony Rendon. That's him on the phone yelling at the Angels, show me the money and let me stay in my home in Texas and not spend any time with you in California this year. And they said, okay, can we extend that money to pay it out over a three to five year span a few years from now? And he said yes, goodbye Angels and likely goodbye baseball. He's still going to technically be on the roster, but then you get to spring training and you can use the spot again with the sixty day I L. We had talked about this a month and change ago when it came out that he was probably gonna get bought out, but now it's official.

00:00:47
Speaker 3: It's done.

00:00:47
Speaker 2: So his career is likely over, thirty five years old, thirty eight million dollars due for the final year of his contract that'll get paid out later and maybe open up some money for the Angels.

00:00:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, it is an unbelievable contract. If you want the true it's crazy.

00:01:03
Speaker 3: The numbers.

00:01:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, with the Angels worse than his final season with the Nats. That's one of the tweets that popped up yesterday. Can we show this while Todd's sucking? Look at that Todd.

00:01:13
Speaker 4: In the final season, Anthony Done had more home runs thirty four in RBI one hundred and twenty six in his final season with the Nationals than he did in seven seasons with the Angels twenty two and one twenty five by Dan Clark. Yeah, listen, man, you take the stats and it's just not good. We know that it's not good. I'd love Anthony Rendon. I have a good relationship with him when we played. I think he's an awesome guy. It just didn't work out. It didn't work out. It was one of those things where, you know, injuries piled up a little bit, he struggled, h there was other you know, unforeseen circumstances. I go with, I go about the guy who he is, dude. I think he's an incredible person.

00:01:49
Speaker 3: I like him a lot.

00:01:50
Speaker 4: It just again, things didn't work out. He struggled and just wasn't the right fit. And to see how it ends like this, I know he's probably not happy. I know the Angels are probably not happy, and it just I think it's good for them to kind of let go a little bit. Even though the money situation, he still has to get paid out, and I'm sure he's happy about that.

00:02:10
Speaker 2: What you should be What do you mean he's not happy? I feel like he's super happy because he doesn't have to go back to the team and play. I mean, that's the one thing that I don't think anybody can doubt. He does not like baseball. He's very clear about that, and he didn't want to play anymore. Injury is a pain in the ass. I get that right. He's been hit with the injury bug. Actually, if you go back to his career since college, I think he would have been a one to one. He ended up being I don't know, like a one five, like fifth overall something like that. He had injuries starting back in Rice when he was a superstar there, but he was not playing consistently.

00:02:42
Speaker 3: There were concerns And what.

00:02:43
Speaker 4: I meant by not happy just when he was there like that, I don't think, Yeah, I didn't mean not happy.

00:02:48
Speaker 3: Now you know what I'm saying.

00:02:49
Speaker 2: Now he's like, I'm done kickback Texas taxes on that contract too, right, the deferrals will push it to no state income tax versus California, which probably helped to balance and out how they made a deal here.

00:03:01
Speaker 3: Sure, yeah, but I mean.

00:03:04
Speaker 2: I think this is closure for Angels fans too. This is a tough look when you've got to see this guy, you know, on your payroll every year. I'm not saying fans don't or shouldn't care too much about, you know, the billionaire's checkbook, but you should care that your team spent so much money on a guy that basically did nothing for you. And I think that it was stinging for a long time. Krats with fans and even just within the organization. Kevin Polar played there and has talked about it right like, you're there and it's just better if Anthony's not there, like as a presence in the organization, in the clubhouse, et cetera, because he doesn't want to be there.

00:03:40
Speaker 5: Yeah, And maybe we're blowing it out of proportion a little bit when you say, oh, you know, it's it's a burden.

00:03:46
Speaker 1: It's just a.

00:03:47
Speaker 5: Burden at times. It's not a burden all the time. It's not dragging down their their play on the field. Every day. Nobody's looking over to doug out and being like, oh great, there's Rendons con but I think it it doesn't. It manifests itself in wins and losses because of the fact that we just talked about imai Em sign for essentially eighteen million dollars. Could you get two players if you're worried about if Ardi Moreno's worried about the luxury tacks, could they get two pitchers, which is what the Angels have needed to offset what Rendon's contract would have been these last few years. And what would those eighteen million dollar pitchers look like? You know, you don't know, there's for every eighteen million dollar Frankie Montas, there's an eighteen million dollar, you know, resurgence pitcher that was really good and just is now coming back. I can't name a player that would have really been that guy. But that's the part that really that it hits. That it hits for Angels fans because it's also on top of a lot of the other contracts that haven't played out because of injury. I think Rendons is different because his liaise fair like attitude towards different things makes him look like he doesn't want to be there. Him saying, hey, you know what, you know, there's more important things to me in life than baseball. That makes a fan go, what like, I'm I'm giving a lot of my money to come and watch you play. The rest of your guys play, and that's what you hear. And it's just it wasn't a good look and it's not a good look for the Angels because they signed Puhos, that contract didn't really work out, the Justin Upton contract, the Mike Trout contract. Right now, while Mike Trout's still the face of the Angels, he hasn't played since he signed that contract. The percentage of games that he's played hasn't been a lot. And now Rendones. So it's like Angel fans, I think the the ire of their their misfortune is going to be towards towards Anthony Rendon. But it's been a cycle of poor position player contracts that have not kept those players on the field.

00:06:10
Speaker 2: Josh Hamilton, So it gets me thinking Josh Hamilton, right, And there was clearly a lot of background there. Josh Hamilton was a risk. It was a risk signing, higher risk than most other signings. Could you make a case that Anthony Rendon was a risk when someone like me at that time of his signing is just a broadcaster slash part time reporter in the playoffs, And I'm around teams and players enough to know that Anthony Rendon is there because he's good, but not because he wants to be there every day. I mean Anthony, I covered him. I tried interviewing him a few times, and he was always super nice.

00:06:48
Speaker 3: He just was like, dude, this isn't my thing.

00:06:51
Speaker 2: Like he gave off the auracrats that he didn't want to be there, and it wasn't like an I'm too cool to be here. I think that's why most people around him will be like, Oh, he's a nice guy. He just was super straightforward that he recognized how talented he was, and yet it kind of pained him to go to the ballpark every day. And it pained him so much that sometimes he even made it public. So I've got two questions for you guys. One, should there have been more backgrounds on a player like this?

00:07:20
Speaker 3: Right?

00:07:20
Speaker 2: If you are going to spend a quarter of a billion dollars, shouldn't you make sure that it's a guy who gives a shit about showing up every day?

00:07:27
Speaker 3: And Two?

00:07:28
Speaker 2: Does it bother other players when something plays out like this because many fans in the chat are like, hey, this could cause Ardi Moreno or another owner in baseball to be like, I'm not giving out a big deal like that, and risk of it being a rendoin situation that hurts other players, and just the perception of giving a crap when most people would, you know, give an arm and a leg to play the sport for five years.

00:07:49
Speaker 4: I'll answer the first one. I think they all do their They have to do their background on a guy, talk to players that on their team, and I'll manage, Hey, you know, I know you've played with them. Are you even in college? You're you know, against him? What do you think about this guy? I know, if you're a manager on the other team or a GM and you're like trying to trade a guy or get rid of a guy, you know you're gonna tell them all the good things. You're not gonna You're not gonna tell them all the bad things. I mean, that would just be silly. So they do. They have to do all their homework extensively. Health for sure, see how he's healthy, all that stuff. I don't see that being a problem because it caused riffs in the locker room. Maybe a few people. I mean for me, it would just be like, hey man, you know we need you a kind of deal. Can you pick it up a little bit, that kind of talk. You want your guys to make money, you want everybody to make their money. But you know, just give me, give me whatever you got that day, each day without being a problem. And I'm fine with it.

00:08:44
Speaker 5: I mean, I think they I think they try their best. I mean you heard when Ron Washington came in. I thought he said one of his first calls was to Anthony like, I'm not saying the Angels did everything right in this situation, saying there's a different way to manage there's a different way to coach different players. I can't coach Todd the same way I would coach Anthony Rendo. I can't coach think about the Nationals James Wood the same way I can coach c J Abrams. And so how do you how do you look past, you know, how somebody's view of baseball is and figure out how to get the most out of that person. Maybe it was a lost cause, but I think the Angels did their best. I remember talking talking to Ron Washington on here and he was like, we're not guaranteeing him a spot. He's not guaranteed any spot, Like, that's not that's not how we're doing this. And maybe nobody ever, maybe nobody ever said that to him. Maybe he was fine, Hey, you know what, you don't want to guarantee my spot, then it's fine. I'll just I'll give you what I got when I got it. Everybody tries their different ways of doing it. And as a player, quctually you asked about other players. Are they Are they pissed that he got his money? No, because you're I shouldn't say that. Maybe there's some guys who are jealous. Maybe Todd's like, well, I played third base. I would have loved two hundred and forty six million dollars and to that. If I would hear a player say that, I'd be like, sorry, Dodd, I don't care how much you wanted it. You weren't as good as him because he put up the number that put him in the in the situation like if you're always looking at other people's contracts and you're like, my numbers were exactly the same, I should have gotten more than him, or I should have gotten the same as it. Okay, that's different but Anthony Rendon hit the jackpot when he had his career year on his platform year, won a World Series and had an owner who missed out on a big time free agent pitcher and said, Pivot, I got all this money, we're giving it to you.

00:10:55
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:10:55
Speaker 2: It was a perfect storm, and he would have gotten paid regardless. Would it have been at that level maybe not, but I mean he would have gotten Still, what do you mean, I mean he still would have gotten a ton of money. So either way, but your point is, I mean he got He got the top end of what people thought he was going to get based on this perfect storm. Lining up and he's talking about Artie Mourno going after Garrett Cole. They come up short, they go to Rendon. It's like, who else you got? Okay, let's work on Rendon. Remember there were serious reports that the Dodgers were very interested in Anthony Rendon. How different things could have looked for LA if they threw a couple hundred million bucks at Anthony Rendon?

00:11:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what would have happened with him?

00:11:38
Speaker 1: Right?

00:11:39
Speaker 3: What would have happened with Anthony?

00:11:41
Speaker 2: Is it all injuries or could someone have motivated him to want to be there?

00:11:45
Speaker 3: More frequently.

00:11:46
Speaker 2: You know, those are two different teams too, right, Dodgers are in it every year. Unfortunately, the Angels have been one of the worst teams in baseball for a minute now.

00:11:54
Speaker 3: They're never in it.

00:11:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, you put guys around him, You put guys around and maybe maybe a guy Mooie Betts is that guy.

00:12:01
Speaker 1: Maybe a guy.

00:12:02
Speaker 5: Like like Freddie Freeman is that guy. You hear Max Munsey talk all the time on this show, like we keep each other accountable. We make sure everybody has a base level standard that we're at. And maybe that's why the Dodgers didn't give him that money. Maybe they did a little extra effort. Within two years of me quitting playing, I was still getting calls about guys I played with that were becoming free agents from organizations that I never had. You know, I never saw any connections with that said free agent, but they were like, hey, what did you think about this guy?

00:12:42
Speaker 1: Hey, how is this guy when this happened? How you know?

00:12:47
Speaker 5: So that that work is done behind the scenes, and I think, you know, maybe they missed it here with the Angels.

00:12:56
Speaker 1: Maybe the Angels heard the Dodgers.

00:12:57
Speaker 5: We're looking at him and we're like, no, no, no, no, we're not letting player who was the number three best player in the twenty nineteen season go to our crosstown team, not crosstown rival, go to the Dodgers.

00:13:10
Speaker 1: We're going to pay that money.

00:13:11
Speaker 5: And kudos to Arty Moreno for saying, you know what, I think he's the best player. I'm willing to pay. We don't agree with the people that he's signed, but Arty Moreno's he's always making big splashes and he's always bringing in these good position players, and you know it just it hasn't worked out for whatever reason. And I think it's probably lying more in what Scott said that clubhouse somebody to motivate each person. What does it take when you bring Albert Poolhos in to motivate him? Is he the guy that is going to fit right into your clubhouse? That's where you take that next step after you spend money on players.

00:13:49
Speaker 2: I think it'll just help to get all of the questions and everything out of there. Now nobody has to deal with any more questions.

00:13:56
Speaker 3: Like it's done. He's not there anymore. It's over.

00:13:58
Speaker 2: There's nothing else to say about it anymore. Right, nobody has to answer for him. It is it's good closure for them. And there's one or two reports that I saw over the last few days saying that the Angels might look into Nolan Ronado. That would be a big difference. I mean, Nolan wants to play. Yeah, you know, Nolan's showing up every day to play. He is not the same guy anymore. He's towards the tail end of his career. That's no secret.

00:14:20
Speaker 3: He said.

00:14:21
Speaker 2: I think sub average offensive seasons two years in a row now, but he can still pick it at third and maybe he does find it a little bit with an everyday spot on the Angels and less pressure.

00:14:32
Speaker 4: Hunting money too, Like where does there's a lot that goes.

00:14:35
Speaker 2: They're gonna have to eat a lot of the money the Cardinals. So we'll see. We'll keep an eye on that one. That might come later in the offseason. I do think he would waive the no trade to go over there. Ken Korak is longtime radio voice of the A's and joining us right now on foul Territory.

00:14:49
Speaker 3: Ken, great to have you on.

00:14:51
Speaker 2: Happy New Year, and we looked We're like, we got to get Ken on because the A's are one of the loudest teams over the past week with the big Tyler Soderstrom extension. So how you doing and what did you think of that news.

00:15:03
Speaker 6: I'm doing well, Scott. It's great to be with you guys. Yeah, it was good news. I was at the press conference in Vegas, and I think it's a real positive sign. I think to show that the A's really are pretty serious about making this thing happen. And he's the third player as you know that they've signed to a long term deal over the last year or so, so I think it sends a really positive message.

00:15:29
Speaker 5: Do you know if this process was a long process, because I wouldn't say of anybody it's Nick Kurtz who's the guy, or Shae Langaliers who have established themselves as guys like, oh, you got to get them now or else you're not going to get him. And now Shae Langaliers is farther into the process. But Soderstrom, was this a long process to get to the number that they got to.

00:15:52
Speaker 7: I don't know, honestly. The answer to that.

00:15:55
Speaker 6: My sense is that the discussions may have started at the end of the season, but I'm really not sure. But you mentioned those two other guys or three other guys obviously they would love to get Langeleir signed. I'm sure they would love to get Kurtz and Jacob Wilson. So you're talking about guys who they really believe will be the foundation for the ball club going forward.

00:16:21
Speaker 5: Now, I heard from the source that Matt Chapman was offered a very similar type of contract early on. Do you feel like the A's are changing, this changing the culture for young guys to say, yes, I want to accept it, because if they had kept their Matt Olsen, if they were able to keep their Matt Chapmans, this team, you know, look at what those guys have done, would be running, would be would be continuing to move in the right direction.

00:16:52
Speaker 6: It's a fair point, it's an excellent point, and I think, yes, things have changed, and it's it's very simple. And if you drive down to the corner of Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevard on the Las Vegas Strip, you can see the reason why, and that is the building of the new stadium there, and that's why they feel that the time is right to extend these long term deals and that they'll be you know, added revenue coming in.

00:17:17
Speaker 7: So the focus is certainly different now.

00:17:19
Speaker 6: Than it was during that time you were talking about when they had guys like Chapman and and Matt Olsen, et cetera.

00:17:28
Speaker 4: I want I want to go talk about Jeff McNeil a little bit, play with him for a while. Now he's over there with the A's talk about well, you think he's going to bring to the table and and you know where where do you see this guy playing?

00:17:40
Speaker 6: You would know more than me, right, I mean you played on the infield with him, So I think he's you know, it's a big addition for them because they needed you know, things didn't work out with Zach Yeloff last year and that was a you know, it's a hugely disappointing year. I think in some ways because of injury. You know, he just wasn't healthy last year. But they felt he was going to be their second basement for years to come. He may still be because he has tremendous talent. But they struggled offensively at second base and also at third base, and so to get McNeil to play a second base ostensibly to provide that keystone combination along with Jacob Wilson. I think it's a real solid addition and the other thing is at a time when we hear so much about slugging and guys that strike out a lot and things like that. Up the middle, they have guys who make a ton of contacts. So I imagine that they'll hit at the top of the order and maybe try to set the table for guys like Kurtz and Rooker and the rest of those guys.

00:18:45
Speaker 5: Can you talk about this lineup because a lot of people don't know much about the A's lineup, and we went over it after they got them, after they signed McNeil. This time, this lineup, it's kind of scary. Where do you rank this lineup top to bottom one even with the whole third still that in just the American League West.

00:19:06
Speaker 6: It's a little bit of an old fashioned American League lineup, you know. And I've kind of drawn the comparison.

00:19:13
Speaker 3: Now.

00:19:13
Speaker 6: I'm not gonna compare this group with that Cleveland group when they had Manny Ramirez and saw Me and by Erga and Alamar and all that, but to kind of use the John Hart and I'm digressing, but to use the John Hart model to try to extend their young players to move into a new ballpark like the like the Cleveland Ball Club did before Jacob's Field open. But I do think it's one of the best offenses in baseball on paper. Now we'll see they still have a lot of young players and there's gonna be adjustments, and you know that Nick Kurtz is gonna have to face the You know, last year was interesting because Kurtz had such an incredible year that you knew once the sixth inning started that the other team's best left hander was going to get up in the bullpen, and that the manager he knew exactly when Kurtz was coming up and that that guy was going to come in to face him. So they're going to deal with things like that. But I really do think they have a chance to have one of the best offenses in the game.

00:20:14
Speaker 4: Awesome and I love to hear that, and I think you're definitely right now. My next question to you would be, what else is there anything else this Oakland A's team has to do to get them over to hump to where they need to be.

00:20:25
Speaker 3: Is there a guy that they're looking for? Have you heard anything?

00:20:29
Speaker 6: I know they're looking and talking to free agents. It's no question, and to me, I think that would revolve around pitching. I think they could use an experienced, veteran solid pitcher. Doesn't have to be a number one or two necessarily, but I'd be surprised if they didn't go out and get at least one starting pitcher in free agency. And my expectation is that they would also try to fortify the bullpen as well.

00:21:00
Speaker 1: Let's look at that starting pitching.

00:21:02
Speaker 5: Is there any way that this team can start opening day where they're at or are we talking about needing to add two starting pitchers to a staff that in my opinion, Luis sever Reno, I love the guy was great on the road, struggled at home. If they have to add two guys, how are they going to take that to free agency and say we want you to come here? And then they say, well, what happened to Luis Severino at home? And do I have to pitch at home? Or can I only pitch.

00:21:34
Speaker 1: On the road?

00:21:35
Speaker 7: Well, I think that listen what happened?

00:21:42
Speaker 6: If what he said had to be said for them to get over that hump, because there was this malaise that hung over the team there for a while. You know, they were twenty two and twenty after they beat the Dodgers in May in the first game of a series at Dodger Stadium. They lost twenty of their next twenty ones, So that was really rough. But credit to them and DeMar Cossi that they bounced back from that and actually had a really good season in the second half. And I think Luise got over the hump from that standpoint as well. If you look at his numbers in the second half, I think he was a lot better. And I think the ball club as a whole made the adjustment to playing in Sacramento, so I'm not too concerned about that. I think their young pitching might be a little underrated. You look at Severino and Jeffrey Springs at the top of the rotation. They called up this kid, Luis Morales, who is just electric. He made nine stories, he had a three to one four ERA. He's penciled in in the rotation. They have several other guys they hope that their talent will come to fruition, including two lefties who I think might make their major league de abuse this year, including one who hasn't even pitched an inning, and the Miners yet their first round pick last year, Jamie Arnold out of Fred out of Florida State and then Cage Jump, who really jumped through their farm system last year. Lefty from LSU. But I'll go back to what I said earlier. I think that they need to add at least one veteran. I think they need to add at least one veteran to that rotation.

00:23:18
Speaker 1: With a Soderstrom signing, with the fact that the stadium is now underway construction in Vegas, and also with the fact that they got rid of or traded Mason Miller last year, somebody that had years of control left. Are we starting to see the shape of this team and what it's going to look like when they move into Vegas? And what's the last piece this offseason that they need to say, Okay, this is definitely what this team is going to look like for the next five years. Is there something that they can do this offseason to push them into the new stadium.

00:23:59
Speaker 6: I think it's great question because if you look at twenty twenty eight, it's not that far off now, and you could assume that Langlers will still be their catcher then, and that Kurtz will be at first and Wilson will be at short, and that Soda Storm and Denzil Clark and we haven't talked about and Lawrence Butler will be in the outfield and that Rooker.

00:24:21
Speaker 7: Will be their DH. Now, you never know. You guys know better than me.

00:24:25
Speaker 6: I mean, the's two you've played for years in the big leagues that things can change overnight. But I mean that's what they're hoping. They're hoping that that'll be the core group. You know, you mentioned that the Mason Miller deal. Leo devrees. If he's as good as everybody says he is, then that's the guy you might be talking about. Now, that's not a move this offseason, but he's still a kid. But he's the consensus, like top three prospect in the game. So if he turns out to be as good as the as the analysts say that he should be, then that might the piece you're talking about.

00:25:02
Speaker 5: For sure, he's a he's an organization, organization, franchise changing type of prospect, but he is still just a prospect yet, right question, you watch.

00:25:13
Speaker 7: The prospect is the prospect until they show something.

00:25:15
Speaker 5: Right correct, and then they're called suspects. So exactly a lot is on that young man's shoulders. But you watched this, you watch this team play in Sacramento. I don't care what anybody says. Everybody plays in Sacramento against another team in Sacramento. Nobody's playing, you know, half their game in Sacramento and half their game in the games in Sacramento.

00:25:37
Speaker 1: Did you feel like because of the home.

00:25:41
Speaker 5: Run, not just home runs, but just the amount of runs that were scored, did you feel like it was something that drained on the position players, because if it was, because I saw that with guys in Colorado sometimes it was like we scored seven runs and now we're in the third inning and we're losing eight to seven. Did you feel like it rained some on the position players, because obviously the starting pitching is something we've hit on already, needing to address that, But could you see that in the position players, like, all right, here we go. We got to score nine to win tonight, No eleven to win tonight.

00:26:15
Speaker 6: You know, Eric, I think we might have seen that early in the year when they had that long stretch when they lost twenty of twenty one, because during that stretch they gave up the lead late several times, and there's nothing more deflating than having the lead and then losing it. And losing an eight to seven game or a nine to eight game. I didn't feel that was a factor in the second half. If you go back to the way they played, they played really well in the second half and you can still pitch there. I would not compare it to cors Field some people have. The weather was actually better than we thought it was going to be. It wasn't quite as stifling in terms of the heat. Actually was a comfortable summer out there. So yeah, I mean, I think you have to accept and it's not going to be the Colisseum and that was one of the I mean, you guys hit at the Colisseum and hitters hated it, so it's not going to be. It's never going to be like that. But I don't I mean, there's still a young group, so I don't think that was a factor.

00:27:18
Speaker 2: Well, Ken, we appreciate the time, great to have you on. Thanks for filling us in on what's going on there. And I would say hopefully they're able to throw more of these extensions to the young core to continue to keep it intact for several years. It seems to be the best play for them right now, and some guys are taking that on right.

00:27:38
Speaker 7: I would agree for sure, Scott, I would agree. Yeah. Now they've got to take care of the broadcasters too, right.

00:27:43
Speaker 2: But you know, yeah, where's the where's the five year extension?

00:27:48
Speaker 3: Team friendly? But five year extension?

00:27:50
Speaker 7: Yeah, I just signed.

00:27:51
Speaker 6: A new deal for the next two so I'm looking. I'm kind of going, you know, year to year anyway. So but thank you guys. I appreciate it.

00:28:01
Speaker 2: And Ken, you know that in broadcast terms to your extension that actually is pretty that's probably five in baseball player terms, so we'll take it, right, Just congratulations.

00:28:13
Speaker 7: Just like dog years, right, yeah, exactly.

00:28:16
Speaker 2: Well, happy to congrats on the available look forward to listening to you during the season.

00:28:22
Speaker 7: Sounds great. Thanks for having me.