Anthony Rendon signs 7-year, $245 million deal with Angels

By the time you read this, it will already be too late: Anthony Rendon will be an Angel.

Los Angeles swooped late night (Eastern Time) to steal the free agent third baseman away from the Nationals. As first reported by Radio.com Sports MLB Insider Jon Heyman and confirmed by 106.7 The Fan's Grant Paulsen, Rendon agreed to a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels Wednesday evening.

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Can confirm the multiple reports out there that Anthony Rendon is leaving DC. He is signing a 7-year, $245 million deal with the Angels.

— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) December 12, 2019

Angel in the infield.Anthony Rendon reportedly agrees to 7-year, $245M deal with Los Angeles, per @JonHeyman. pic.twitter.com/zFzKrcA6BW

— MLB (@MLB) December 12, 2019

Rendon's deal breaks the MLB record for highest average annual value for a third baseman, at an AAV of $35 million per year.

They call it the hot corner for a reason. pic.twitter.com/1WM5VS0xX5

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) December 12, 2019

Coincidentally, that's the exact same price – both in term and AAV – the Nats paid to retain Stephen Strasburg. But the devil is in the details. The Angels made their offer with no deferrals.

To me, these are terms the Nats could have -- and might have -- reached. It's $5/year more than they offered in September. But Rendon really, really did not want deferrals in his deal. It'll be interesting to see if the Angels' contract contains any. https://t.co/9XAyHNo5A2

— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) December 12, 2019

The Nationals made a seven-year offer to Anthony Rendon in the range of $210-15 million in early September, as @barrysvrluga reported. The hang-up was payment deferrals in that deal. The Angels are paying his contract in full, with no deferrals, and that was very key here.

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) December 12, 2019

Rendon joins what will now be a loaded lineup in Anaheim, featuring some of the best hitters in baseball in Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols.

That Trout-Ohtani-Rendon-Pujols part of the order is gonna be killer. Also worth noting: Rendon reuniting with another former Nat Brian Goodwin, with whom he was drafted in the first round back in 2011 https://t.co/n3nSvRnRcD

— Chris Lingebach (@ChrisLingebach) December 12, 2019

It's been a banner week for agent Scott Boras.

Boras offseason scorecard:Cole: $324M.Strasburg: $245MMoustakas: $64M.Total: $633M.Still to come: Rendon, Ryu, Castellanos, Keuchel.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2019

Here's a look at the Nats' current projected Opening Day lineup:

Live look at the Nationals' lineup:C — Suzuki/Gomes1B — Howie Kendrick2B — Kendrick/KieboomSS — Trea Turner3B —LF — Juan SotoCF — Victor RoblesRF — Adam Eaton

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) December 12, 2019

So long, Tony Two Bags. Thanks for bringing a title back to D.C.!