TEMPE, Ariz. — Anthony Rendon isn’t about to say what anyone wants to hear if he doesn’t believe it.
The Angels’ embattled third baseman spoke to the media for the first time this spring on Monday, and he reiterated his stance that he views baseball as nothing more than a job.
“It’s never been a top priority for me,” Rendon said. “It’s a job. I do this to make a living. My faith and my family come first, before this job.”
Rendon conceded that it is “a priority” and that’s why he’s still here, and why he continues having medical procedures to repair the injuries he’s suffered playing baseball.
“I don’t want to have surgeries,” said Rendon, who had surgery in 2021 and 2022, but not 2023. “You think I like going under the knife and being in pain the majority of my time? I can’t even pick up my kids. I can’t walk. You think I enjoy that? I don’t want to do that. I want to hang out with my kids. I want to teach them how to ride a bike, but I can’t. I can’t walk. It sucks.”
Rendon, 33, said he’s always had this opinion. He said this winter he found a 2014 pro and con list he’d written about continuing to play baseball. Now that he has four kids, who spend most of their time at the family home in the Houston area, the pull away from the game has grown stronger.
“Being away from the family, after having kids and knowing and realizing that love that you get from your family, from your spouse from your kids, that far outweighs anything that you can probably ever accomplish in a job atmosphere,” Rendon said. “So that’s what’s become more difficult as I’ve gotten older.”
Manager Ron Washington came to Rendon’s defense, saying that nothing he said should be interpreted as if he isn’t committed to baseball.
“He wasn’t saying he doesn’t care about baseball,” Washington said. “He’s here. He’s fired up. He’s ready to go. Let’s just watch him and see how it goes. Because he’s ready…
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