Retired slugger Albert Pujols swung by Cardinals camp today and spoke to some members of the media, including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Pujols said that he thinks there’s a coaching role in his future, but not for a few more years.
It’s not surprising that Pujols want to ease his way into the next stage of his life, as he spent the past 22 seasons playing pretty much every day in the majors. He racked up 3,384 hits in that time, including 703 home runs, over 3,080 major league games. Though that lengthy career surely gives him plenty of wisdom to impart to younger players, it’s understandable that he’s not rushing to get back into the dugout and on the road for a full season.
It also seems like he will take some time to suss out which roles he likes best, as part of his new role with the Angels. The ten-year, $254MM contract he signed with the Angels in 2011 included a ten-year personal services contract. Although the club eventually designated him for assignment and he moved on to the Dodgers and returned to the Cardinals, Pujols has maintained his intention to hold up his end of that bargain. He reported to Angels camp last month and said he plans to serve as a special instructor during the spring before heading to the Dominican Republic this summer to assist with the club’s prospects.
“Whatever Perry and the organization need, I’m here to help out,” Pujols said to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com at that time, referring to general manager Perry Minasian. “I’m just trying to assist him, but it’s not my job to be in the front office. It’s more about working with younger guys however I can.” Today, Pujols told Goold that his role with the Angels will allow him to explore the coaching side of the game. It seems Pujols will take his time trying on a few new hats before deciding which one he wants to put on more permanently.
One of Pujols’ agents works for MLBTR?
“Would you ever possibly be interested in coaching in the future?” “Yes possibly.”
It’s funny how bad of a contract that was,
And now lesser players are getting $100 mill more.
Fox paid an extra billion for signing him in addition to $2 Billion in the TV deal. his contract was very profitable for Arte.
The contract paid for itself through the Angels’ cable deal. Everything else was just watching him chug his way through his thirties without it actually impacting the organization financially. One thing to keep in mind though is to watch the health of all these “lesser players” making more money. With the exception if his season ending plantar injury in 2013, Albert stayed on the field throughout his entire contract. And despite his lowering averages, he managed to accumulate seasonal HR/RBI totals in his mid to late thirties that few players, including Hall of Famers, have ever achieved. In fact, those traditional power numbers were often on par with most power hitters of the era, but again with lower averages. Could you imagine where 2016 Albert Pujols and his 33 HR/119 RBI would be with a young Albert Pujols .300+ BA and .400+ OBP? That’s how good he was in the first half his career. He went from inhuman to human.
He could have been a useful player in his late 30s but he wasn’t used in a way that would provide the most success.
And you are right, his salary was paid for a week after he signed the deal.
Lesson 1: take steroids.
Lesson 2: be really nice to everybody, guaranteeing that they inexplicably give you a pass for some reason about taking steroids.
David Ortiz can do the same thing.
Everyone’s on steroids
It’s that pesky ringworm pandemic.
You can certainly accuse him of taking PEDs but there is much more evidence you are a jerk than he took PEDs.
Comparing Pujols to Ortiz is laughable. There are two major differences. Pujols never failed a drug test. Pujols performed progressively worse with age.