Despite Anthony Rendon’s previous comments about wanting to end his MLB career at the age of 35, a new report suggests that the 29-year-old third baseman, who last played for the Washington Nationals , might prefer a seven-year contract in free agency, with the Texas Rangers still ranking as a leading candidate for his services.
Citing The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, SBNation blog Lone Star Ball wrote on Sunday that Rendon’s agent, Scott Boras, is looking for teams willing to sign his client to a seven-year deal that would keep him under contract until his age-36 season. As noted, this goes against previous rumors that suggested the slugger prefers a shorter-term deal with a higher average annual value.
Regarding Rendon’s potential destinations in free agency, Lone Star Ball explained that the Rangers are still among the favorites to sign him this offseason. The publication pointed out that the former Nationals star has multiple links to Texas, being a native of the state who played college baseball at Rice University.
“The Rangers apparently see him as the type of veteran star who will age well while providing a solid presence in the clubhouse, and landing Rendon appears to be the team’s top priority this offseason,” the outlet continued.
The above report is not the only one to suggest in recent days that Rendon could be joining the Rangers as a free agent. On Saturday, CBS Sports cited a tweet from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News , writing that the team’s focus “for the time being” is on signing the superstar third baseman. It wasn’t mentioned whether he’d be seeking a similar deal to what Rosenthal suggested Boras wants, but the outlet brought up multiple reasons why Rendon might end up in Texas — the team’s weakness at third base, its financial capability to sign a marquee free agent, and the fact that the club will be moving to a new ballpark for the 2020 MLB season.
“Can we bring back Anthony Rendon?”
“All in favor, ?.” pic.twitter.com/9D76bCPFsW
— MLB (@MLB) November 2, 2019
“Granted, it’s Houston — he went to both high school and college (Rice) there — not the Dallas area, but it might make a difference if the money is right,” CBS Sports added, referring to why Rendon might sign with the Rangers as opposed to his actual hometown team, the Houston Astros.
As shown on his Baseball-Reference player page, Rendon has career statistics of 136 home runs, 546 RBIs, and a 0.290 batting average across seven MLB seasons, all of them with the Nationals. Aside from the Rangers, the former first-round draft pick has also attracted a few other suitors since officially entering free agency, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies specifically mentioned in recent reports.