ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Anthony Rendon has agreed to restructure the final year of his $245 million, seven-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Angels hadn't announced any developments with Rendon, who didn't play last season following hip surgery.
The team and Rendon have amended the deal to restructure the remaining $38 million owed to the third baseman in 2026, presumably spreading the money over time.
Rendon is still on the roster and continuing to rehab at home in Houston, but his horrendous tenure with the Angels could be over.
Rendon's massive free-agent contract has paid almost no dividends for the Halos. The former Washington Nationals standout has been injured for the majority of the past five seasons and has played just 257 games in an Angels uniform, batting .242 with 22 homers, 125 RBIs and a .717 OPS.
If Rendon doesn't play in 2026, he will have appeared in only about a quarter of the Angels' total games during his seven seasons with the team.
Rendon led the majors in RBIs, earned an All-Star selection and won a World Series ring in 2019 to cap an outstanding four-year stretch for Washington. After playing fairly well for Los Angeles during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he was nowhere close to that player in the ensuing four years with the Angels, who haven't made the playoffs or had a winning record during his tenure.
Rendon dealt with injuries to his groin, his left knee, his left hamstring, his left shin, his oblique muscles, his lower back, both wrists and both hips during the past five years.
Rendon also alienated Angels fans with public comments in which he appeared to say he doesn't like baseball, although he attempted to clarify his connection to the game as a business relationship that isn't as important as his family or his religion. Rendon had previously criticized the length of games and excitement level of baseball, saying he doesn't watch the sport.
Luis Rengifo and Yoán Moncada largely played third base last season for the Angels. Both are currently free agents.
Rendon's deal might top the long list of high-priced player acquisitions that have worked out terribly for the Angels during owner Arte Moreno's tenure, including the signings of Gary Matthews Jr., Josh Hamilton and Zack Cozart and unsuccessful trades for Vernon Wells and Justin Upton.
AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.
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FILE - Los Angeles Angels' Anthony Rendon sprints to third during a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sept. 6, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter.
The first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September marks a significant escalation in the administration’s months-long pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The strike has not been acknowledged by Venezuelan officials.
President Donald Trump first made reference to the operation in an interview Friday with John Catsimatidis on WABC radio in New York, saying the U.S. had knocked out some type of “big facility where ships come from."
In an exchange with reporters Monday as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump added that the operation targeted a “ dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.” But the president declined to comment when asked whether the attack was conducted by the military or the CIA.
The CIA and White House officials also declined to offer further comment on the matter. Col. Allie Weiskopf, a spokesperson for Special Operations Command, which oversees U.S operations in the Caribbean, said in a statement that “Special Operations did not support this operation to include intel support.”
The strike escalates what began as a massive buildup of U.S. personnel in the Caribbean Sea starting in August, which has been followed by at least 30 U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. More recently, Trump has ordered a quasi-blockade aimed at seizing sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela.
CNN first reported on the CIA’s involvement in the operation.
Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. He's also taken the unusual step of publicly acknowledging that he had authorized the CIA to carry out covert action inside Venezuela.
The administration is required to report covert CIA actions to senior congressional officials, including the chair and ranking members of both the Senate and House intelligence committees. But Trump, by entrusting what appears to be the first land strike of the Venezuelan campaign to the intelligence agency, could be calculating that the action would face less scrutiny from lawmakers than a military strike.
“I authorized for two reasons, really. No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America,” he said in October as he confirmed to reporters his approval for the CIA to act. “And the other thing, the drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.”
All the while, Trump has repeatedly said Maduro's days in power are numbered. The Venezuelan leader and members of his inner circle have been under federal indictment in the United States since 2020 for narcoterrorism and other charges.
Maduro has denied the charges. The U.S. Justice Department this year doubled to $50 million the reward for information that leads to his arrest.
The Venezuelan president made no mention of the CIA operation during an hourlong speech Tuesday at an international leadership school for women.
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AP writer Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed reporting.
President Donald Trump listens during a news conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
