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The Los Angeles Angels have struggled to make the postseason in recent years, and that's despite having plenty of incredibly appealing players on their roster over the years.
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, two future Hall of Famers, couldn't get the Angels over the hump. But they aren't alone, as two of their bigger free agent signings in recent seasons also didn't help the Angels much at all.
In fact, according to ESPN's Bradford Doolittle, the Angels $245 million and $240 million signings of Anthony Rendon and Albert Pujols are both among the seven-worst free agent signings in MLB history.
Angels own 2 of MLB's 7 worst free agent signings in history
Coming in at 7th worst all-time is the Angels $240 million, 10-year contract for Pujols, the future Hall of Famer.
"Pujols never stopped being a class act, and it's not his fault Angels owner Arte Moreno tends to lose his cool during free agency at times," Doolittle writes. "But this was not a good contract for the Angels."
Pujols played in 10 seasons with the Angels, recording 12.5 bWAR with 222 home runs, 783 RBIs, and a .758 OPS in 1,181 games played. He had a few decent seasons, but he wasn't even remotely close to being as productive as he was with the St. Louis Cardinals.
More: Shohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece
The worst deal, placing 6th worst all-time, was the $245 million, seven-year deal for Anthony Rendon. He put up just 3.9 bWAR, and is "mercifully calling it quits," Doolittle writes.
Despite putting up some truly great seasons for the Washington Nationals, Rendon, since signing with the Angels in 2020, has played in just 257 games across five seasons. He didn't even play in 2025, and isn't going to play in 2026 either.
He never had a negative bWAR season for the Angels, but his production fell off a cliff in L.A., with his .717 OPS being a significant drop from his .859 OPS while with the Nationals.
These two Angels signings didn't work out at all and led to some massive disappointment in Los Angeles. They had their moments while with the Angels, and weren't massive negative contributors overall. But, compared to the hype, these were bad deals.
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