@Toronto Passions :
Philip, let's look at three big contracts from the Los Angeles Angels:
1) Albert Pujols, 10 years, $210 Million, ($30 Million deferred), 2012-21. [Free Agent]
Pujols was 32 when he joined the Angels, following 11 seasons in St Louis when he was arguably the best player in the Majors for the first decade of the 2K century.
Pujols had one season as an All Star for the Angels, and he had 3 postseason games played, (2014 ALDS). The Angels released Pujols 1.5 months into the last year of his contract, but he finished his career strongly after returning to the National League.
2) Mike Trout, 12 years, $426 Million, 2019-30, [Extension]
Mike Trout could potentially finish his MLB career with the highest WAR of all time, (currently 86.2). Since signing the extension, however, Trout has only played in 52% of the Angels' games from 2019-2024, (453/870). To paraphrase Lou Gehrig, he might consider himself to be 'the unluckiest man on the face of the Earth', when it comes to injuries.
Like Pujols, Trout has 3 postseason games on his resume, batting .083 with one Homerun in the 2014 ALDS; none during the extension
3) Anthony Rendon, 7 years, $210 Million, 2020-26. [Free Agent]
Rendon had 7.1 WAR in 2019 for the World Series Champion Washington Nationals. He has 3.7 WAR to date in almost five complete seasons with the Angels, and only 1.5 WAR after the 2020 COVID season. He has no postseason action with the Angels; 2014 was their last appearance.
If the Blue Jays try to go for a 'quick fix' by spending large on extensions and big buck free agent bats, it will be interesting to see which of the Jays or Angels plays in the postseason first.
I get the feeling that Angels' owner Arte Moreno can be satisfied with being left out of the dance every year, as long as he will live to see the day when Trout wears an Angels cap on his Coopertown bust.