How Anthony Rendon's Decision to Spurn the Dodgers Led to them Build a Juggernaut
December 11, 2019 was once one of the most disappointing days in Dodger history. It might wind up being one of the franchise's best.
Hi friends-
While it’s become chic for fans across baseball to bemoan how unfair it is that the Dodgers are able to sign every marquee free agent, it’s easy to forget that six years ago the club was having a hell of a time convincing A-list players to take their money.
For years, I’ve thought that the winter of 2019 was the nadir of the Dodgers' current decade run of dominance. But as time marches on, I’m realizing that one crushing decision from a free agent who spurned them that off-season may have been the catalyst that sent them on the rocket ship to the top of the sport, as they come off their second World Series title in five years, and have built a roster that some speculate could be one of the most talented in MLB history.
Let’s stroll down memory lane for a second to set this scene… The Dodgers had won NL West titles in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019—with no World Series rings to show for it. They had made the World Series in 2017 for the first time in 29 years, only to be cheated out of winning it all by an Astros team later disgraced by a sign stealing scandal.
They returned to the Fall Classic again in 2018 only to get drubbed by a far superior Mookie Betts-led Red Sox team.
Despite these back-to-back devastating World Series losses, they kept their chins up and won a then franchise-record 106 games in 2019. Then they got bounced by the Washington Nationals in the division series.
The Nats would go on to win their franchise’s first World Series title a few weeks later, and their scorching hot third baseman Anthony Rendon hit the free agent market as the second-best player available, after starting pitcher Gerrit Cole. The Dodgers went hard after both players, and lost both on the same day. First, Cole agreed to a nine-year deal worth $324 million with the Yankees that was reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan at 12 AM Eastern on December 11, 2019. Ten hours later, Passan reported that Rendon was signing a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels.
Cole has been worth every penny, winning the AL Cy Young award in 2023 and finishing in the top four of voting in three of his first five seasons with the team. The Bombers also made the playoffs in four of those seasons, and Cole anchored a Yankee pitching staff that won the American League pennant and advanced to its first World Series in 15 years this past October. I don’t think you can find a Yankee fan anywhere who would characterize Cole’s signing as a bust, and the Dodgers would have been lucky to sign him.
Rendon’s tenure on the Angels, on the other hand, has been an unqualified disaster. After signing that mammoth deal, his body began to disintegrate into discarded peanut shells at age 31. Injuries have limited Rendon to an average of 51 games over his first five seasons with the Angels. Even worse, he’s never played more than 57 games in any of those seasons. And when he has been able to play, he’s produced an OPS+ of 100—exactly league average. So it’s not like he’s missed a ton of time due to ligament tears and bumps and bruises but has produced at the level you’d expect from a guy being paid $38 million per annum when healthy. He’s just stunk. His tenure in Anaheim has been such a disaster that the biggest highlight of his Angel career so far was when he publicly challenged an A’s fan to a fight.
Look, injuries happen. I’m not here to judge anyone for getting hurt. Human bodies break down. Rendon was underpaid for the first half of his career when he put up MVP type numbers, and I didn’t see Nationals ownership complaining about it. Getting paid for past performance is just the way the messed up system works.
But what stood out to me about Rendon was when in his introductory press conference with the Angels, he could barely hide his disdain for the city of Los Angeles: saying the “Hollywood lifestyle” was not a fit for him and his family. I heard theories from various people in the Dodgers organization about what “Hollywood lifestyle” was a dog whistle for, but I’m not going to print those rumors here.
Anyway, when Rendon refused to take their money, the Dodgers suddenly found themselves with a few hundred extra million dollars kicking around that Andrew Friedman had theoretically been given the heads-up by ownership to spend.
And who did they give that money to?
That’s right. Mookie Betts.