The NBA fined Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green $25,000 for using profanity while playfully interrupting a live on-court interview after a 115-101 road win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.

Right on cue, as Suns guard Collin Gillespie mentioned how his teammates have been finding him during his third-year breakout, he was flanked by Green and another Phoenix guard, Jordan Goodwin.

Green came in with an uplifting roar, followed by an encouraging dap and a loud, “Yeah!”

As Goodwin exited the frame, Green hung around and said, “They can’t f*** with you!” to Gillespie, who was visibly surprised by the profanity.

So much so that a smiling Gillespie even said, “Oh, my God. On live TV, bro?”

The interviewer chimed in, “It’s a family show!”

Green responded with a “I don’t care” before dapping up Gillespie once more and then walking off as Gillespie called him “my dawg.”

Gillespie, who went undrafted out of Villanova in 2022, is a microcosm of the Suns’ unexpected success this season. The guard has exceeded expectations, doubling his minutes from the season prior and posting 13.9 points, 5.1 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while becoming a major contributor to a Suns team that’s 19-13 and seventh in a crowded Western Conference table.

Phoenix carried the highest payroll in league history last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019-2020. The Suns are off to a better start this time around, without Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

First-year head coach Jordan Ott has his group scratching and clawing and, at the same time, jelling.

And that’s continued to happen in the absence of Green, who has been recovering from a right hamstring strain that he aggravated early last month in just his second game of the season.

The Suns acquired the 23-year-old Green from the Houston Rockets in the Durant trade this past offseason. Defensive pest Dillon Brooks landed in Phoenix because of that deal, too.

Brooks is currently second on the Suns in scoring with 21.5 points per game, behind only four-time All-Star Devin Booker.

Once finally healthy, Green is expected to form an effective duo with Booker in the backcourt. He averaged 20.1 points per game in his four seasons with the Rockets, who selected him No. 2 overall in the 2021 draft.

For now, lesser-known players are stepping up to fill the void — like Gillespie.

And Green seems to be loving it. 

The NBA fined Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green $25,000 for using profanity while playfully interrupting a live on-court interview after a 115-101 road win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.

Right on cue, as Suns guard Collin Gillespie mentioned how his teammates have been finding him during his third-year breakout, he was flanked by Green and another Phoenix guard, Jordan Goodwin.

Green came in with an uplifting roar, followed by an encouraging dap and a loud, “Yeah!”

As Goodwin exited the frame, Green hung around and said, “They can’t f*** with you!” to Gillespie, who was visibly surprised by the profanity.

So much so that a smiling Gillespie even said, “Oh, my God. On live TV, bro?”

The interviewer chimed in, “It’s a family show!”

Green responded with a “I don’t care” before dapping up Gillespie once more and then walking off as Gillespie called him “my dawg.”

Gillespie, who went undrafted out of Villanova in 2022, is a microcosm of the Suns’ unexpected success this season. The guard has exceeded expectations, doubling his minutes from the season prior and posting 13.9 points, 5.1 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while becoming a major contributor to a Suns team that’s 19-13 and seventh in a crowded Western Conference table.

Phoenix carried the highest payroll in league history last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019-2020. The Suns are off to a better start this time around, without Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

First-year head coach Jordan Ott has his group scratching and clawing and, at the same time, jelling.

And that’s continued to happen in the absence of Green, who has been recovering from a right hamstring strain that he aggravated early last month in just his second game of the season.

The Suns acquired the 23-year-old Green from the Houston Rockets in the Durant trade this past offseason. Defensive pest Dillon Brooks landed in Phoenix because of that deal, too.

Brooks is currently second on the Suns in scoring with 21.5 points per game, behind only four-time All-Star Devin Booker.

Once finally healthy, Green is expected to form an effective duo with Booker in the backcourt. He averaged 20.1 points per game in his four seasons with the Rockets, who selected him No. 2 overall in the 2021 draft.

For now, lesser-known players are stepping up to fill the void — like Gillespie.

And Green seems to be loving it. 

For Tatsuya Imai, this offseason’s top Japanese free-agent pitcher, the clock is ticking.

The 27-year-old right-hander must sign with an MLB team before the expiration of his posting window at 5 p.m. ET Friday. While few teams have been definitively linked to the longtime Seibu Lions hurler, the overwhelming expectation within the industry is that Imai will come to terms with a big-league club before the deadline.

That’s because he offers an enticing combination of ceiling and floor at a relatively young age for a free-agent pitcher. 

To be clear: Yoshinobu Yamamoto he is not. Imai’s athleticism, track record and pitch quality pale in comparison to those of the 2025 World Series MVP. As such, Imai won’t sniff the 12-year, $325 million deal that Yamamoto secured two winters ago. Still, a substantial payday is in order; Imai should eclipse the $100 million mark. That is, at least, what his representative, agent Scott Boras, is gunning for.

And based on Imai’s talent and résumé, that’s a very reasonable goal.

Across the Pacific, Imai has been a known commodity, a famous figure, for quite a while. He rose to fame during the 2016 edition of Summer Koshien, Japan’s immensely popular high school baseball tournament. In the final, Imai delivered a heroic performance as the ace of  Sakushin Gakuin High School, tossing a nine-strikeout, one-run complete game. That propelled him to national prominence and the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NPB Draft.

Pro success didn’t come right away. As a 20-year-old rookie with Seibu in 2018, Imai struggled to a 4.81 ERA across 78 2/3 innings. Things gradually improved as he got comfortable at the highest level, but injuries and a lack of control limited his production. 

Free passes, in particular, were a massive bugaboo. Between 2018 and 2023, Imai posted a total walk rate over 13%. For comparison, just one MLB starter over the past decade (Blake Snell in 2023) has recorded a season with such wildness. This past season, only two qualified starters (Cleveland’s Gavin Williams and Anaheim’s José Soriano) had walk rates north of 10%. Simply put, it was an unsustainable way for Imai to live.

So the 5-foot-11 righty changed course, purposefully altering his mechanics to improve his strike-throwing. In turn, his numbers took a huge step forward, with the walk rate dropping to 9.8% in 2024 and then a tidy 7% in 2025. Even more impressively, Imai’s strikeout numbers increased alongside his boost in control.

It all culminated in a phenomenal 2025 season in which Imai cruised to a 1.92 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning across 24 starts.

That breakout sent Imai zooming up MLB wish lists, as practically every club — except, perhaps, the Dodgers — could use another rotation piece. And unlike fellow Japanese free-agent Munetaka Murakami, whose high-risk profile stunted his market, Imai seems like a reliable proposition.

Part of that is simply a product of the hitter/pitcher divide in regard to NPB players. Projecting whether or not a Japanese hitter will adjust to MLB pitching is a much trickier exercise than doing the same with a Japanese pitcher. Advances in tracking data mean that we can compare Imai’s arsenal, release points, velocities and pitch shapes to those already present in the bigs. That provides us — and, crucially, MLB teams — a better sense of how arms will translate from the second-best to the best league in the world.

And Imai’s stuff passes the smell test. His heater last year averaged right around 95 mph, above the MLB starter average of 94.1. He leans on that four-seam fastball quite a bit, particularly against right-handed hitters, to whom he threw the pitch 53% of the time. His slider accounted for another 39% against same-sided bats, meaning Imai rarely uses a third pitch against righties. That puts him in a small group of pitchers — think Spencer Strider, Jacob deGrom, Jared Jones — with such a small right-on-right mix. 

Facing lefties, Imai turns toward his changeup and splitter to keep opponents off-balance, using those offering 16% and 7% of the time, respectively. It all comes out of a relatively low slot, which adds deception to his heater/slider combo.

The indomitable Yuri Karasawa of JapanBall, the internet’s premier source for English-language Japanese baseball coverage, compared Imai to Mariners righty Luis Castillo in a recent YouTube video. It’s an interesting comp, based on their similar heater/slider reliance and low arm slots. 

One key difference: Castillo has been commendably durable for most of his career, while Imai has never started more than 25 games in a season. But if Imai can match Castillo in terms of efficacy, that would be a massive win for whichever team ends up with the Japanese hurler. No front-runner has yet emerged, as the typical host of deep-pocketed clubs in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto have pretty stocked starting staffs.

The Mets, whose starting pitching woes sank their 2025 season, have been connected to Imai, but they would probably need to subtract from their assortment of arms if they reel him in. The Phillies, potentially without ace Zack Wheeler for the start of the season and around $35 million below last year’s final payroll, would make some sense. The Cubs desperately need another frontline arm but haven’t shown the willingness to push their payroll far beyond $200 million. The same is true for the Giants, who haven’t added much to their big-league roster so far this winter.

To be fair, a player of Imai’s caliber fits pretty much anywhere; playoff hopefuls in Baltimore, Detroit, Miami, Arizona and even Sacramento should all pick up the phone and inquire. His history of gradual, year-over-year improvement, willingness to make adjustments, on-mound athleticism and arsenal all suggest he’ll be a solid mid-rotation hurler in MLB, with the potential for more if he continues to develop.

That’s a pretty exciting player — one who should be a whole lot richer in a few days.

For Tatsuya Imai, this offseason’s top Japanese free-agent pitcher, the clock is ticking.

The 27-year-old right-hander must sign with an MLB team before the expiration of his posting window at 5 p.m. ET Friday. While few teams have been definitively linked to the longtime Seibu Lions hurler, the overwhelming expectation within the industry is that Imai will come to terms with a big-league club before the deadline.

That’s because he offers an enticing combination of ceiling and floor at a relatively young age for a free-agent pitcher. 

To be clear: Yoshinobu Yamamoto he is not. Imai’s athleticism, track record and pitch quality pale in comparison to those of the 2025 World Series MVP. As such, Imai won’t sniff the 12-year, $325 million deal that Yamamoto secured two winters ago. Still, a substantial payday is in order; Imai should eclipse the $100 million mark. That is, at least, what his representative, agent Scott Boras, is gunning for.

And based on Imai’s talent and résumé, that’s a very reasonable goal.

Across the Pacific, Imai has been a known commodity, a famous figure, for quite a while. He rose to fame during the 2016 edition of Summer Koshien, Japan’s immensely popular high school baseball tournament. In the final, Imai delivered a heroic performance as the ace of  Sakushin Gakuin High School, tossing a nine-strikeout, one-run complete game. That propelled him to national prominence and the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NPB Draft.

Pro success didn’t come right away. As a 20-year-old rookie with Seibu in 2018, Imai struggled to a 4.81 ERA across 78 2/3 innings. Things gradually improved as he got comfortable at the highest level, but injuries and a lack of control limited his production. 

Free passes, in particular, were a massive bugaboo. Between 2018 and 2023, Imai posted a total walk rate over 13%. For comparison, just one MLB starter over the past decade (Blake Snell in 2023) has recorded a season with such wildness. This past season, only two qualified starters (Cleveland’s Gavin Williams and Anaheim’s José Soriano) had walk rates north of 10%. Simply put, it was an unsustainable way for Imai to live.

So the 5-foot-11 righty changed course, purposefully altering his mechanics to improve his strike-throwing. In turn, his numbers took a huge step forward, with the walk rate dropping to 9.8% in 2024 and then a tidy 7% in 2025. Even more impressively, Imai’s strikeout numbers increased alongside his boost in control.

It all culminated in a phenomenal 2025 season in which Imai cruised to a 1.92 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning across 24 starts.

That breakout sent Imai zooming up MLB wish lists, as practically every club — except, perhaps, the Dodgers — could use another rotation piece. And unlike fellow Japanese free-agent Munetaka Murakami, whose high-risk profile stunted his market, Imai seems like a reliable proposition.

Part of that is simply a product of the hitter/pitcher divide in regard to NPB players. Projecting whether or not a Japanese hitter will adjust to MLB pitching is a much trickier exercise than doing the same with a Japanese pitcher. Advances in tracking data mean that we can compare Imai’s arsenal, release points, velocities and pitch shapes to those already present in the bigs. That provides us — and, crucially, MLB teams — a better sense of how arms will translate from the second-best to the best league in the world.

And Imai’s stuff passes the smell test. His heater last year averaged right around 95 mph, above the MLB starter average of 94.1. He leans on that four-seam fastball quite a bit, particularly against right-handed hitters, to whom he threw the pitch 53% of the time. His slider accounted for another 39% against same-sided bats, meaning Imai rarely uses a third pitch against righties. That puts him in a small group of pitchers — think Spencer Strider, Jacob deGrom, Jared Jones — with such a small right-on-right mix. 

Facing lefties, Imai turns toward his changeup and splitter to keep opponents off-balance, using those offering 16% and 7% of the time, respectively. It all comes out of a relatively low slot, which adds deception to his heater/slider combo.

The indomitable Yuri Karasawa of JapanBall, the internet’s premier source for English-language Japanese baseball coverage, compared Imai to Mariners righty Luis Castillo in a recent YouTube video. It’s an interesting comp, based on their similar heater/slider reliance and low arm slots. 

One key difference: Castillo has been commendably durable for most of his career, while Imai has never started more than 25 games in a season. But if Imai can match Castillo in terms of efficacy, that would be a massive win for whichever team ends up with the Japanese hurler. No front-runner has yet emerged, as the typical host of deep-pocketed clubs in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto have pretty stocked starting staffs.

The Mets, whose starting pitching woes sank their 2025 season, have been connected to Imai, but they would probably need to subtract from their assortment of arms if they reel him in. The Phillies, potentially without ace Zack Wheeler for the start of the season and around $35 million below last year’s final payroll, would make some sense. The Cubs desperately need another frontline arm but haven’t shown the willingness to push their payroll far beyond $200 million. The same is true for the Giants, who haven’t added much to their big-league roster so far this winter.

To be fair, a player of Imai’s caliber fits pretty much anywhere; playoff hopefuls in Baltimore, Detroit, Miami, Arizona and even Sacramento should all pick up the phone and inquire. His history of gradual, year-over-year improvement, willingness to make adjustments, on-mound athleticism and arsenal all suggest he’ll be a solid mid-rotation hurler in MLB, with the potential for more if he continues to develop.

That’s a pretty exciting player — one who should be a whole lot richer in a few days.

Since the news broke on Christmas Eve that 21-year-old James Nnaji, the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, had enrolled at Baylor, a collection of high-profile college basketball coaches have expressed their growing frustration toward the lack of appropriate NCAA regulation in the sport and, as a result, the blurred line between pro and college hoops.

NCAA president Charlie Baker tried to make that line clearer Tuesday. In a statement he posted to X, Baker clarified that the NCAA “has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract).”

Nnaji, a 7-foot center from Makurdi, Nigeria, who could provide relief to an injury-riddled Baylor squad as early as this weekend, never signed an NBA contract. The Detroit Pistons drafted him, but his rights were traded to the Charlotte Hornets on draft day and once more in 2024 to the New York Knicks as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.

Although Nnaji played in NBA Summer League games for the Hornets and Knicks, as recently as this year for the Knicks, he never appeared in an NBA regular-season game.

Here’s Baker’s full statement, which arrives in the wake of Arkansas’ John Calipari pleading for the NCAA to explain its decision to grant Nnaji four years of eligibility, UConn’s Dan Hurley clamoring for guidelines and rules and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo saying “shame on the NCAA”: 

“The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract),” Baker wrote. 

“As schools are increasingly recruiting individuals with international league experience, the NCAA is exercising discretion in applying the actual and necessary expenses bylaw to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not at a disadvantage compared to their international counterparts. 

“Rules have long permitted schools to enroll and play individuals with no prior collegiate experience midyear. While the NCAA has prevailed on the vast majority of eligibility-related lawsuits, recent outlier decisions enjoining the NCAA on a nationwide basis from enforcing rules that have been on the books for decades — without even having a trial — are wildly destabilizing. I will be working with DI leaders in the weeks ahead to protect college basketball from these misguided attempts to destroy this American institution.”

So there it is, a line in the sand.

Time will tell if players and lawyers attempt to challenge it in court.

Baylor plays Saturday on the road against TCU. Nnaji, who had been in the FC Barcelona organization since 2020, will be eligible. 

He’s the first former draft pick to be cleared to play in men’s college basketball.

It’s important to note, though, that Thierry Darlan and London Johnson, two former G League guards, committed to colleges this fall. 

Darlan has already been playing for Santa Clara. Johnson has joined Louisville but is expected to redshirt and make his college debut during the 2026-27 season.

Since the news broke on Christmas Eve that 21-year-old James Nnaji, the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, had enrolled at Baylor, a collection of high-profile college basketball coaches have expressed their growing frustration toward the lack of appropriate NCAA regulation in the sport and, as a result, the blurred line between pro and college hoops.

NCAA president Charlie Baker tried to make that line clearer Tuesday. In a statement he posted to X, Baker clarified that the NCAA “has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract).”

Nnaji, a 7-foot center from Makurdi, Nigeria, who could provide relief to an injury-riddled Baylor squad as early as this weekend, never signed an NBA contract. The Detroit Pistons drafted him, but his rights were traded to the Charlotte Hornets on draft day and once more in 2024 to the New York Knicks as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.

Although Nnaji played in NBA Summer League games for the Hornets and Knicks, as recently as this year for the Knicks, he never appeared in an NBA regular-season game.

Here’s Baker’s full statement, which arrives in the wake of Arkansas’ John Calipari pleading for the NCAA to explain its decision to grant Nnaji four years of eligibility, UConn’s Dan Hurley clamoring for guidelines and rules and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo saying “shame on the NCAA”: 

“The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract),” Baker wrote. 

“As schools are increasingly recruiting individuals with international league experience, the NCAA is exercising discretion in applying the actual and necessary expenses bylaw to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not at a disadvantage compared to their international counterparts. 

“Rules have long permitted schools to enroll and play individuals with no prior collegiate experience midyear. While the NCAA has prevailed on the vast majority of eligibility-related lawsuits, recent outlier decisions enjoining the NCAA on a nationwide basis from enforcing rules that have been on the books for decades — without even having a trial — are wildly destabilizing. I will be working with DI leaders in the weeks ahead to protect college basketball from these misguided attempts to destroy this American institution.”

So there it is, a line in the sand.

Time will tell if players and lawyers attempt to challenge it in court.

Baylor plays Saturday on the road against TCU. Nnaji, who had been in the FC Barcelona organization since 2020, will be eligible. 

He’s the first former draft pick to be cleared to play in men’s college basketball.

It’s important to note, though, that Thierry Darlan and London Johnson, two former G League guards, committed to colleges this fall. 

Darlan has already been playing for Santa Clara. Johnson has joined Louisville but is expected to redshirt and make his college debut during the 2026-27 season.

D’backs GM casts doubt on potential Ketel Marte-to-Red Sox trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Ketel Marte trade rumors have cooled since the MLB Winter Meetings, and now it appears the Arizona Diamondbacks plan to hold on to their All-Star second baseman.

D’backs general manager Mike Hazen spoke to reporters Tuesday about Marte’s availability in trade talks. Although the club continues to engage with teams about a possible deal, Hazen is ready to move on.

“We’re very likely to put an end to this shortly,” Hazen said. … “This isn’t going to continue to linger. We need to focus our offseason.

“Again, my gut this whole time was that (a trade of Marte) wasn’t going to happen, and I think it seems likely that that’s the case and we want to focus on other things we need to do.”

The Red Sox have been the club most prominently linked to Marte in recent weeks. Arizona has reportedly asked for young pitching in return, and Boston has two top pitching prospects in left-handers Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.

That price may be too steep for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, and understandably so. Tolle has top-of-the-rotation upside as Boston’s No. 1 prospect, and Early showcased his intriguing potential in his first taste of the big leagues last season. Trading them for a 32-year-old middle infielder — even one as talented as Marte — is risky business.

That said, the Red Sox still need to add a big bat or two to their lineup this offseason, even after acquiring first baseman Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals. Re-signing Alex Bregman remains a possibility, and they’ve also been linked to sluggers Bo Bichette and Eugenio Suarez on the free-agent market. If the Marte trade talks indeed fall through, Boston could pivot to Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan or Houston Astros infielder Isaac Paredes.

In 2025, the switch-hitting Marte slashed .283/.376/.517 with 28 homers and 72 RBI in 126 games. He has also been a solid defender at second base with +10 Outs Above Average over the past three seasons (+8 OAA in ’24).

One of the most disappointing free-agent signings in recent memory is being paid to spend the final year of his contract away from the team. The Los Angeles Angels and Anthony Rendon have reportedly agreed to a buyout, ending Rendon’s tenure with the club, according to The Athletic. 

Rendon, 35, had one year and $38 million left on the seven-year, $245 million deal he signed with the team ahead of the 2020 MLB season. Instead of paying Rendon that money this year, the team will part ways with the third baseman and defer his contract roughly three-to-five years as part of the buyout, per The Athletic. It’s unclear exactly how it will be paid out.

Rendon was among the most coveted free agents when he hit the market following the 2019 MLB season. He was coming off a six-year stretch in which he hit .293/.374/.500 with 129 home runs and strong defense at the hot corner. He received MVP votes in four of those six seasons, finishing a career-high third for the award just before hitting the free-agent market. 

The Angels took the plunge on the then-29-year-old, agreeing to a seven-year, $245 million contract. The move came months after the team signed Mike Trout to a $430 million extension and was meant to give Trout a dangerous middle-of-the-order partner who would help lead the Angels back to the postseason.

For one season, it looked like a decent move. While the Angels struggled during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Rendon performed well, hitting .286/.418/.497 in 52 games. That performance earned him a top-10 finish in MVP voting.

But things quickly went downhill for the former star the following season. He battled numerous injuries and was limited to 58 games in 2021. Ailments soon became a major theme for Rendon with the Angels. In his five seasons with the club, he played in 257 of a possible 1,032 games due to injuries and surgeries, per The Athletic.

And he wasn’t very productive when he was on the field. Following his strong 2020 debut, Rendon hit just .231/.329/.336 over the next four seasons. He played in 206 games over that stretch.

Rendon was supposed to suit up for the Angels in 2025 but missed the entire season after undergoing hip surgery.

Amid his struggles, Rendon also drew criticism after a 2023 incident in which he angrily confronted an Athletics fan after a game. Rendon grabbed the fan by the shirt and lobbed expletives at him before appearing to take a swipe at the fan, which did not connect. MLB suspended Rendon for five games following the incident, though it was reduced to four games after an appeal. 

After missing all of 2025, the Angels essentially wrote off Rendon in 2026. The team reportedly considered a contract buyout early in the offseason. General manager Perry Minasian was asked about that possibility in December and responded by saying he had nothing to report on that front. Minasian, however, did not deny that the team was looking into the possibility, giving credence to the report.

With the buyout, the Angels will free up some immediate cash that can be used to add free agents ahead of the 2026 season. The team has already been active this offseason, trading for pitcher Grayson Rodriguez and infielder Vaughn Grissom and signing relievers Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates and Jordan Romano.

The Angels are looking to get back into contention after finishing last season 72-90 and last in the AL West. The team hasn’t finished higher than third in the division since 2017 and hasn’t reached the postseason since 2014.

One of the most disappointing free-agent signings in recent memory is being paid to spend the final year of his contract away from the team. The Los Angeles Angels and Anthony Rendon have reportedly agreed to a buyout, ending Rendon’s tenure with the club, according to The Athletic. 

Rendon, 35, had one year and $38 million left on the seven-year, $245 million deal he signed with the team ahead of the 2020 MLB season. Instead of paying Rendon that money this year, the team will part ways with the third baseman and defer his contract roughly three-to-five years as part of the buyout, per The Athletic. It’s unclear exactly how it will be paid out.

Rendon was among the most coveted free agents when he hit the market following the 2019 MLB season. He was coming off a six-year stretch in which he hit .293/.374/.500 with 129 home runs and strong defense at the hot corner. He received MVP votes in four of those six seasons, finishing a career-high third for the award just before hitting the free-agent market. 

The Angels took the plunge on the then-29-year-old, agreeing to a seven-year, $245 million contract. The move came months after the team signed Mike Trout to a $430 million extension and was meant to give Trout a dangerous middle-of-the-order partner who would help lead the Angels back to the postseason.

For one season, it looked like a decent move. While the Angels struggled during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Rendon performed well, hitting .286/.418/.497 in 52 games. That performance earned him a top-10 finish in MVP voting.

But things quickly went downhill for the former star the following season. He battled numerous injuries and was limited to 58 games in 2021. Ailments soon became a major theme for Rendon with the Angels. In his five seasons with the club, he played in 257 of a possible 1,032 games due to injuries and surgeries, per The Athletic.

And he wasn’t very productive when he was on the field. Following his strong 2020 debut, Rendon hit just .231/.329/.336 over the next four seasons. He played in 206 games over that stretch.

Rendon was supposed to suit up for the Angels in 2025 but missed the entire season after undergoing hip surgery.

Amid his struggles, Rendon also drew criticism after a 2023 incident in which he angrily confronted an Athletics fan after a game. Rendon grabbed the fan by the shirt and lobbed expletives at him before appearing to take a swipe at the fan, which did not connect. MLB suspended Rendon for five games following the incident, though it was reduced to four games after an appeal. 

After missing all of 2025, the Angels essentially wrote off Rendon in 2026. The team reportedly considered a contract buyout early in the offseason. General manager Perry Minasian was asked about that possibility in December and responded by saying he had nothing to report on that front. Minasian, however, did not deny that the team was looking into the possibility, giving credence to the report.

With the buyout, the Angels will free up some immediate cash that can be used to add free agents ahead of the 2026 season. The team has already been active this offseason, trading for pitcher Grayson Rodriguez and infielder Vaughn Grissom and signing relievers Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates and Jordan Romano.

The Angels are looking to get back into contention after finishing last season 72-90 and last in the AL West. The team hasn’t finished higher than third in the division since 2017 and hasn’t reached the postseason since 2014.