Los Angeles Angels: Anthony Rendon rises from the Zack Cozart ashes
The Los Angeles Angels rolled the dice with Zack Cozart two years ago and came up empty. They are trusting the Anthony Rendon experiment goes better.
Free agency is kind of like speed dating. Sometimes you have to sit through some bad weather days before you get to the sunshine. In the case of the Los Angeles Angels and their Zack Cozart signing, they couldn’t wait for the bell to ring to rotate seats. And the next person to sit down happened to be Anthony Rendon.
First, the brief relationship between Cozart and the Angels. On the surface, the signing seemed like a good idea. After his All-Star season in 2017 where he hit .297 with a career-high 24 home runs, Cozart entered free agency looking to sign a lucrative deal.
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Cozart had been a serviceable shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds and the Angels thought he could be a match. With Andrelton Simmons entrenched at short, they’d move Cozart to third base. Yunel Escobar and Luis Valbuena had tag-teamed the job in 2017 for the Angels and failed to produce quality results. On the heels of his solid 2017 season, Cozart would come in and provide some offensive stability. In theory.
Before the 2018 season, Cozart signed a 3 year/$38M deal with the Angels.
He raced out to a putrid start by hitting .219 with five home runs in 58 games. Then a torn labrum in his left shoulder shut him down for the season.
Reboot in 2019, as ’18 had to be a fluke. Healthy shoulder, time to rake. False and false. Cozart was hitting a robust .124 after 38 games when the shoulder he had surgery on continued to have inflammation. Cozart had officially flamed out. Literally.
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From the ashes, the phoenix will rise. Or better yet, Anthony Rendon will rise.
Fresh off of an MVP caliber season and a strong performance in the World Series, Anthony Rendon hit the free-agent market looking to score a huge contract. The Angels were looking to move away from the Zack Cozart debacle (Cozart and 1st round pick Will Wilson were traded to the San Francisco Giants three days prior) so they agreed to terms with Rendon.
The Angels were so eager to get rid of the guy who occupied the hot corner last year they had to include a first-rounder for the Giants to take that contract of the ledger.
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If Cozart wouldn’t have crashed and burned, there would be no Anthony Rendon in the City of Angels. And I have to feel the Angels are much happier leaving the dance with this date.