OC Register: Angels’ Anthony Rendon hoping to avoid more injuries in his ‘job’

[AngelsWin.com]

TEMPE, Ariz. — Anthony Rendon isn’t about to say what anyone wants to hear if he doesn’t believe it.

The Angels’ embattled third baseman spoke to the media for the first time this spring on Monday, and he reiterated his stance that he views baseball as nothing more than a job.

“It’s never been a top priority for me,” Rendon said. “It’s a job. I do this to make a living. My faith and my family come first, before this job.”

Rendon conceded that it is “a priority” and that’s why he’s still here, and why he continues having medical procedures to repair the injuries he’s suffered playing baseball.

“I don’t want to have surgeries,” said Rendon, who had surgery in 2021 and 2022, but not 2023. “You think I like going under the knife and being in pain the majority of my time? I can’t even pick up my kids. I can’t walk. You think I enjoy that? I don’t want to do that. I want to hang out with my kids. I want to teach them how to ride a bike, but I can’t. I can’t walk. It sucks.”

Rendon, 33, said he’s always had this opinion. He said this winter he found a 2014 pro and con list he’d written about continuing to play baseball. Now that he has four kids, who spend most of their time at the family home in the Houston area, the pull away from the game has grown stronger.

“Being away from the family, after having kids and knowing and realizing that love that you get from your family, from your spouse from your kids, that far outweighs anything that you can probably ever accomplish in a job atmosphere,” Rendon said. “So that’s what’s become more difficult as I’ve gotten older.”

Manager Ron Washington came to Rendon’s defense, saying that nothing he said should be interpreted as if he isn’t committed to baseball.

“He wasn’t saying he doesn’t care about baseball,” Washington said. “He’s here. He’s fired up. He’s ready to go. Let’s just watch him and see how it goes. Because he’s ready to go, man. I miss my family. I care about my family. He said his family and his faith is first. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that.”

Many people can identify with those feelings, but it still likely won’t sit well with some fans who are already frustrated with Rendon because of what’s become of his Angels career.

He signed a seven-year, $245-million deal prior to the 2020 season, but he’s missed at least half of the last three seasons. He had hip surgery in 2021, wrist surgery in 2022 and a fractured shin in 2023.

In between that, Rendon has hit .235 with a .701 OPS over the last three seasons.

Rendon understands that he’s going to be criticized by fans, but it doesn’t seem to bother him.

“They don’t know me,” he said. “They only know the surface. They’re a fan. They might know that I’m 6 feet tall or 190 pounds or whatever it might be, but they don’t know who I am as an individual if they never sat down and spoke to me. Everyone’s gonna have your opinion. You can’t make everybody happy. I’m gonna be honest.”

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NOTES

Washington addressed the team before the first full squad workout on Monday, saying that he expected that everyone would be motivated because “that’s what I do. We’ll go find out, because now you gotta get on the field and implement the things I said. So we’ll see how the progression works. But almost everybody was here for at least five days, so they understand how we’re going about our business. I just want them to take care of business, and the rest to take care of itself.” …

Washington said he hasn’t yet decided who will start on the mound for the Angels in their exhibition opener on Saturday against the Dodgers. …

Washington said that third base coach Eric Young and first base coach Bo Porter will have equal roles in coaching the outfielders, because he feels that both have too much to offer for one to take a back seat to the other.

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[cals]

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

 

[Swordsman78]

Oy vey.....pinning hopes on a player who can't pick up his kids.

 

[tdawg87]

3 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

 

I mean he's not wrong. It's just annoying because he's so nonchalant about it. 

"Yeah baseball is a job. Meh."

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

[jsnpritchett]

 

[tdawg87]

6 minutes ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

He sounds like he might be on the spectrum.

[Second Base]

Rendon doesn't give a F___. And you know what? HE'S GOT IT ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. 

it's more important to be a "good man" than to be a good baseball player. 

Any functioning man that takes his family to church and has a relationship with Christ would tell you the same thing. It's not about your vocation, but your avocation. 

I love my job. I'm passionate about it and I'm good at it. But it's only a job. My faith and my family are the priority. I'm just grateful I get to do both. 

[Taylor]

I respect a man who puts his kids and marriage before his job. He's right; it's just a job. But he's not a software programmer or ad salesman. Millions of strangers from around the world watch his "job" for entertainment. More than that, so many kids dream of playing Major League Baseball but only a fraction of a percent ever get that chance.

He could show some humility and gratefulness for getting to do something very, very few people ever get to do — AND still prioritize his family life. He makes more than enough money to allow for quality time with wife and kids all throughout the year.

[HeavenlyHalos]

He is right on prioritizing family for sure but he is also in a profession that gets 4 or so months off a year and, in his particular case, gets to retire by 40 with a net worth over $100 million. His irreverence towards the game itself is very telling through his past quotes; he talks about it like it's a blue collar job or something that he hates getting up to do in the morning.

Out of the many long-terms deals Arte has handed out that busted, Rendon is my least favorite player of them all. Hamilton is close but that guy had serious demons he was trying to deal with, not that it absolves him but it is at least offers some kind of explanation. Pujols certainly respected and cared about the game, he was just in denial of his diminishing skillset and potentially lied about his age. Rendon, on the other hand, just seems like kind of an overall douche. His memorable moments for me are fighting an A's fan, fighting the Mariners with a cast on, and hitting a home run from the left side of the plate in a blowout. He has also become pretty much universally hated by MLB fans. Sort of like Rob Manfred in calling the WS trophy just a piece of metal or saying the A's fans can just become Giants fans, it leads to questioning if he gives two shits about the game/league that has given him and his family a lot of financial success. 

[notherhalo]

Id be happy if we traded him to Cleveland or whatever the saddest city in America is, just so he can "do his job" somewhere more lame

 

Edited February 19 by notherhalo

[Angelsfan1984]

He can prioritize and teach his kids by showing them what it means to fulfill a commitment and persevere through adversity…  especially when he’s paid hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. 

[fan_since79]

The great players have an unshakeable will to win and give it their all when they take the field.

The Angels are paying $37 Million a year to a guy who just wants to punch a time card.

Worst acquisition ever. 

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

1 hour ago, tdawg87 said:

He sounds like he might be on the spectrum.

 

[budice0]

 

 

[cals]

1 hour ago, tdawg87 said:

He sounds like he might be on the spectrum.

[OregonLAA]

I never thought anyone would surpass my least favorite Angel, Josh Hamilton. Rendon is lapping him at this point. Always the guys who use roids, sign a big deal, then can’t stay on the field after. They should cut him

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, Second Base said:

Rendon doesn't give a F___. And you know what? HE'S GOT IT ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. 

it's more important to be a "good man" than to be a good baseball player. 

If only you had stopped here.

[Taylor]

Mike Trout must be a bad family man because he loves baseball so much.

[Tank]

anthony rendon: endearing himself to angels fans one interview at a time.

[Pancake Bear]

The fans who bitch about this are really stupid people. 

Dude has literally always been this way. It didn't matter when he was one of the best 3B in the game and winning a WS. It doesn't matter that he's helping guys like O'Hoppe out with his swing (probably others, too). People suddenly care because (1) he's injured, (2) not performing well, (3) not lying about baseball being a job. Apparently people would rather he pretend to love the game. Rendon isn't the childish one, the fans upset about this are. Pathetic. 

[Duren, Duren]

How about some respect, leadership and extra effort for the owner and organization that signed you to a contract that will make future descendents enormously wealthy?

Rather than grumbling and deflecting away from those responsibilities. 

Everyone on earth prioritizes their families above their jobs. But how many pro athletes actually have to repeatedly demean their job? It's not likely they are mutually exclusive. 

I think that signing that bloated contract was seen by him as reaching the end of his objectives. He had already won a World Series with personal honors.  No higher plateau to aim for.  'Been there, done that.' 

Actually having to fulfill expectations for all that money then felt like a burden. Maybe not immediately but incrementally. Especially with the string of injuries. And maybe with disillusionment about other players and team dynamics. 

He has this season however to change some of the narrative. Without Ohtani, presumably healthy, a new manager and lowered expectations there's a chance for him to actually excel at his job.

[Pancake Bear]

1 hour ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

He can prioritize and teach his kids by showing them what it means to fulfill a commitment and persevere through adversity…  especially when he’s paid hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. 

So, your contention is he isn't trying? Was that true in 2020 when he had an MVP caliber season? Or when he won a WS? He didn't care then either. 

[Taylor]

1 minute ago, Pancake Bear said:

So, your contention is he isn't trying? Was that true in 2020 when he had an MVP caliber season? Or when he won a WS? He didn't care then either. 

Lmao at 2020. Rendon's only good season with the Angels was when the season was 60 games long.