In his debut season in Anaheim after signing a seven-year, $245 million monster deal in December of 2019, Anthony Rendon showed everyone exactly why the Angels paid such a hefty price for his services.
The star third baseman overcame a slow start to the COVID-shortened 2020 season and posted the highest on-base percentage (.418, sixth best in all of baseball) and second highest OPS+ (150) of his career, numbers that helped him earn a top 10 finish in AL MVP voting. This strong effort from Rendon was a refreshing change of pace for a Halos team that’s been famously burned by big contracts many times in the past, and the idea of pairing him with Mike Trout over a full season’s worth of games had fans excited for what might come in 2021.