When the Angels restructured Anthony Rendon’s contract last month, it significantly lessened the team’s 2026 payroll. Slashing millions from the money owed to their beleaguered third baseman in 2026 seemed, in theory, to set the team up to spend this offseason. And given that Rendon was not around the team while rehabbing a hip injury last season, it made sense to try to allocate 2026 money to players who will impact the team this season.
Instead, it now appears that the contract restructuring could be part of a larger strategy to slash payroll in 2026 rather than allow for more spending.
Angels GM Perry Minasian was pressed numerous times about whether the Angels will spend more with the Rendon money freed up, and he wouldn’t acknowledge that the Angels intend to cut payroll. And with a month to go until spring training and many free agents still available, anything is possible for the perpetually unpredictable Angels. Perhaps that money will be spent.
However, the shape of this team’s offseason seems to be about reducing their spending above all else.
“I’m not going to make any statements,” Minasian said when asked about slashing payroll. “We’ll see where the offseason takes us. There’s still a lot of good players available. There’s still time to improve the club.”
Minasian declined to provide any details about how much money the Angels saved in 2026 by spacing out the final $38 million owed to Rendon over the next three to five years. The reduction, according to a league source, is significant. Rendon technically remains on the Angels’ 40-man roster, but he will not play for the team again.
The Angels already spent low on a virtually unprecedented one-year deal for incoming manager Kurt Suzuki. They also saved around $13 million by trading away outfielder Taylor Ward to the Orioles for starter Grayson Rodriguez. At the time, Minasian said the trade freed up money to spend elsewhere. Now, it’s unclear if that move was simply a salary dump.
Depending on the amount paid to Rendon in 2026, the Angels’ payroll next season currently sits around $150 million — well below the $207 million spent in 2025, according to FanGraphs. So far this offseason, the Angels have added four free agent relievers on one-year deals, totaling just below $13 million.
Questions over the future of the Angels’ television deal could be a major factor in their offseason spending strategy. Main Street Sports Group, which operates FanDuel Sports Network — the Angels’ TV home — is attempting to re-negotiate its TV deals amid financial losses.
Minasian initially declined to say anything related to the TV deal. “That’s a business question,” he said. When it was noted to Minasian that its impact on payroll was his business, he eventually acknowledged “there is some uncertainty” as it relates to their RSN deal.
Ultimately, the move to restructure Rendon’s contract might not have been to pursue a big-time free agent or substantively improve the 2026 roster through free agency. However, Minasian wouldn’t concede on that point.
“Time value money,” Minasian said when asked why the restructuring made sense for the team. “If you can spread something out over a certain period of time, instead of pay it right away. I don’t know who wouldn’t do that. Would you not do that?
“It’s when you pay it. Again, I’m not going to get into details. We did what we did. And I’m not going to give a lesson on time value money. You guys know.”