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Former Phillies Closer Blasts Anthony Rendon

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Phillies
By Brad Wakai | Last updated 1/23/24

There was a firestorm created by some of Anthony Rendon's comments and former Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon jumped right into the thick of things to share his thoughts.

This came after the current Los Angeles Angels infielder appearing on The Jack Vita Show to discuss an array of topics.

What caught the attention of the baseball world was his statement about the MLB season needing to be shorter.

"We got to shorten the season, man. There's too many dang games - 162 games and 185 days or whatever it is. Man, no. We got to shorten this bad boy up."

This prompted Papelbon to take a shot at Rendon on his social media account, saying that the slugger does not like baseball.

I can definitely confirm Carrabis here…
Played with Rendon and literally hates baseball. Yeah it’s long isn’t that what you signed up for??? Just tell the team you want to play half the season and give back half your salary!!!!! https://t.co/OFb2ZnlV1y
— Jonathan Papelbon (@TheRealJPap58) January 21, 2024

The two were teammates on the Washington Nationals in 2015 and 2016.

Rendon has come under fire after signing a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Angels in 2019, because out of the 546 possible games he could have played, he's only appeared in 200 of them.

He's played fewer than 50 games in back-to-back seasons.

Whether the season needs to be shortened is a different topic for a different day.

There are certainly people out there that think the sport as a whole could benefit from there being fewer games.

Within Papelbon's insults, he does allude to the fact that if there are fewer games than the current 162-game format, then players likely wouldn't get paid the same salaries that they're currently making.

This topic will probably continue to rage on as everyone has their own opinion about the length of the season, but it certainly was interesting to hear an active player, who hasn't been on the field much the past few years, voice his opinion about needing to shorten the season.

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Phillies and was syndicated with permission.

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