Former big leaguer Albert Pujols was recently announced as the manager of Leones del Escogido for the upcoming season of the Dominican winter league. Alden González of ESPN relays that Pujols is hoping to manage in the majors someday.
The exploits of Pujols as a player are now the stuff of legend. Now 44 years old, he debuted in 2001 and eventually played parts of 22 seasons. He hit 703 home runs, placing him fourth all-time behind Barry Bonds, Henry Aaron and Babe Ruth. He batted .296 in a career that consisted of more than 3,000 games, winning three MVPs, two World Series rings and many other accolades. He retired after the 2022 season.
Pujols has also shown a lot of interest in various roles for his post-playing career. The deal he signed with the Angels as a free agent included a ten-year personal services provision and it was reported around this time last year that he would be serving as a special assistant for that club. Shortly after that, he also expressed an interest in coaching down the road and then Major League Baseball hired him as a special assistant last summer.
The role with the Leones will allow Pujols to get a taste of life as a skipper for a small sample, as the winter league is shorter than an MLB campaign, currently played with a 50-game regular season. It will be the first step on a journey that could perhaps lead him back to a major league dugout at some point in the future.
gl #5 hope you find enjoyment in managing post an awesome career
Cardinals may very well have an opening after this season.
a season too long should of been gone 2 years ago
They fired a great manager to replace him with a bad one.
i know me and my dad were not happy about that now we have became a joke
Too long you say? He was able to reach the 700HR mark.
@winslow
i think you might of misunderstood me (it doesn’t help that the site mixes up replies) i was saying that olie for another season was too long. i thought #5 did great his last 2 seasons want al of old but was still playing decent ball.
The opening for the Cardinals may be after Memorial Day if the team has a similar April and May performance of the 2023 team.
still to long lol, but this is a first for me i haven’t felt so bleak about my birds since augie the second owned the team (granted i was kid but my dad was very vocal about augie’s kid)
Molina as manager and Pujols for bench coach
tbh i think molina would make a better pitching coach, the next duncan the pitcher whisperer
Or May.
Next Angels manager? Remember Ted Williams tried to be a manager, sometimes great players can’t relate to your average player.
I think Ted Williams problem might have more been he didn’t like other people.
@four4fore
i agree i remember back in the mid 00’s a reporter asked him how he hits so well. his answer was i just see the ball and hit it. how do you teach that, hof players get to the hall (with the exception of baines) by being able to see the game differently and have some ability that is in the superhuman category
Come on don’t just call out Baines. Mazeroski, Rolen, Mauer, Helton, etc.
baines set the bar so low that everyone you mentioned is a first ballot hof’er. just waiting for mike leak to be elected so we have a new low standard for pitchers
Bob Gibson was a bad pitching coach. Even he said so in the end.
Well, yeah. What would he teach? I have the ball and I am going to throw it and you will not be able to hit it.
Greg Maddux. Hof pitcher
Mike Maddux. Excellent pitching coach
wasn’t happy when he left stl, but glad to see him get a ring. imo only pc better than mm was dave duncan that man had some voodoo magic when it came to pitchers. or he went down to the crossroads with hendrix and page and sold his soul to become one of the best pitching coaches
Heard it was the latter. Spoke with someone named Crowley….
@ Phree4u-Case Closed
i barely remember seeing that song played the whole lawn section became a cloud as soon as mr was sung. also had was being passed numerous herbal supplements as well. to this day can’t believe my dad bought me a 17 yo tickets to ozfest knowing full well what goes on. (he would tell me about his crazy antics at similar shows)
Brodie – Ted wasn’t even alive in the mid-2000’s.
If it was actually early 2000’s I think it’s unfair to call him out for something he said when he was in his 80’s.
@brodie Ted Williams did write a best-selling book on how to hit, so he was able to communicate and pass off his knowledge to some extent.
Bye bye Marmol.
That’s cool to see. I feel like the superstars that became super rich usually don’t pursue coaching. This shows how much he loves the game.
Even though he was a Whinybird (when the Cards used to always complain about anything that was an afront to their ego), he was fun to watch and a pure pro. He never really whined like the rest of his teammates on the Cardinals.
Yeah, he’s been at the Angels Spring Training and DR facilities over the last year.
He definitely loves the game.
He’ll be among those who don’t.
All you have to do is think of the number of Subway franchises in airports he could afford.
All of them
I wish Albert the best in whatever he chooses to do, but man, this is such a tease. We’re stuck with Marmol because he’s the ultimate yes man. Mo would never hire Yadi or Albert because they would inherently wield too much power. It’s tough to watch play out.
It’s baseball, anything can happen!
@gwynning
i wanna propose a trade for ya
you get oli and mo and in return we get schlidt and peller
Hmmm, no offense Brody bro… but I’m not sure there’s enough equity in the StL farm to balance that trade. We’re going to have to pass. Good luck this season though!
damn ok how about this same proposal but we send enough cash to cover bogarts contract and a wild card a ball prospect
We’ll have to sleep on it, haha!
haha fair enough btw gl to your pads this season
It’s a whackey business who cares
so true don tbh the only reason tlr stuck around after walt is the revolt that would of happened if mo got rid of tlr. at least that’s my theory because after watching a lot of tony tv i’m pretty sure tlr would tell mo to f right off if mo try and tell him how to manage or be his yes man. look at all the mangers after tlr, matheny was a yes man, schlidt fired after taking a dead ass cards team to the playoffs twice because he wouldn’t bend a ker to mo. now we have the greatest puppet ever in oli, i have no i’ll will towards the man but the man is lost once the game goes off script
wow
Don,
If the Cardinals crater like they did last season, even the ultimate yes man that is Marmol, will get the boot. Mo will throw him under the bus to save himself.
he’s done it once already with matheny
Maybe. But Mo plans to keep his job until his contract expires after 2025. He may not need a scapegoat even if this season is a loss. He probably has enough good will with DeWitt to get one last season at the helm and probably get one more season for his manager too. They might shuffle some coaches, but I think we’re stuck with Mo and his hand puppet for two more seasons.
@don
ok so plan b then we all do some shady possible illegal stuff to make plié look bad and get him fired lol
@DonOsbourne, I think Mo stays to the end of his contract, but if the Cardinals struggle out of the gate again this season, I’d say Marmol is gone.
I have more confidence in Molina as a manager. I do think Pujols would be a great bench coach. Both will eventually be back in MLB uniforms.
i agree would love to see both on the cards
He’s going to need a few year experience first. Maybe in – a Latin league. Or the minors…?
Why? You don’t think he picked up a thing or two in the dugout over twenty years?
This is s good point. A quick stint in any capacity is all he needs to learn how to fill out cards and talk to umpires and walk to the mound every once in a while.
He either has it or he doesn’t at this point
Ask Boone.
In this era , I wish him luck. Not a fan of expansion. Too many things can go wrong, where his talent might show as good when he was a 1st ballot HOF. Ted Williams comes to mind. And there were less teams then in his era.
I don’t see him being a great coach. Sometimes great players just need to fall into retirement and let those who weren’t as great (aka didn’t earn as much) take the management roles lol
I would love La Maquina to come back to baseball. If he is a good coach, that’s even better.
Trout and many others considered him a great mentor. He has an obvious love of the game and plenty of experience.
A 47/48 year old guy is management age nowadays too.
the only concern i would have as Albert as a manger is can he take the knowledge of the game how he sees it and make the 26th man on the roster understand it. i wish him the best of luck and who knows with his dedication and work ethic he might turn out to be a hof player and manger (not sure if that’s ever been done)
Considering the number of Latin American players who look up to him and say that he’s helped them improve, my concern would be overall game strategy.
It is great to help fix a guy’s batting stance or help him read a pitcher better. But game strategy is a different animal.
in his both stints with the cards he helped out a lot of players even if it was how to be a ball player outside the game. something tells me (or maybe i’m trying to wish it) that he is going to make a great manager someday
To be honest, your comment borders on stereotypical.
With the amount of knowledge of the game, insight, and respect he has around the league, every MLB team could benefit from having him help the staff. Bench coach, hitting coach, or managerial role.
Great players don’t make great managers when they try to mold players into versions of themselves.
But to downplay Albert’s knowledge and instincts — as someone who watched him play every day for a decade — is a huge error. Yes, he gained weight and had a bad foot/knee/everything in his 30’s and 40’s that hurt his stats, but the guy was phenomenally talented and SMART.
i agree i think the toughest thing for al is making his knowledge understandable to the average player.
see ball hit ball = big contract
Good luck, Albert!
@ybc
i wanna ask you this question and i’m gonna ask yc too, but did your guys fo decided to have Lobotomies for this years xmas bouns. i can’t understand why they think judge in cf is a great option. even if he was god like in cf his bat is more valuable that his d and cf isn’t friendly to the body.
It’s not ideal for his health but he’s there until Dominguez can play the field again after the ASB. The med staff seems to think so anyway. According to Cashman, part of the reason the offense struggled was bc of the lack of lefty bats. Neither the newly-acquired LHH Soto nor Verdugo can play CF. I’ll expect a lot of late defensive subbing for Verdugo where Trent Grisham plays center. Judge shifts from CF to RF and Soto moves from RF to LF. Or only Judge shifts to LF. It’ll be ballpark dependent. We’ll see how things shake out in ST.
still your risking a lot putting a guy you need in the line up everyday to cover for another until hopefully the as break. let’s say dom is on track and no setbacks (hopefully i wish no ill will to players unless there scumbags) how long until he’s up to speed? imo they should’ve moved him to first and deal with an unhappy rizzo or cut stanton because the last few years he might as well been dfa’ed
It’s a waste of Judge’s defensive abilities to put him at 1B now. The Yankees aren’t going to bench a good vet like Rizzo. Just not how they do things. His past injuries aren’t like Harper’s where another UCL tear could really hamper his career.
As for Dominguez, it’s only throwing which will take a little longer. Stanton could very well get cut this season if his bat doesn’t show life.
@ybc
that’s a good point but still kinda scary having him play cf, anyhow gl this up coming season ybc
Yeah. I agree! How is this smart? You want attendance or do you want to win?
He is much too arrogant to be a manager.
he didn’t seem that way in 06 when he was signing stuff for fans in atl, even gave the honorary bat girl one of his wristbands before the game
he also thanked me for my service when he was signing my and we made small talk
Yup
Well, he will have to come out and say how old he is really is first
Everyone thinks they can be a good manager…. Not many can.
The traditionally conservative Red Birds, are thinking outside of the box. There have been hints both in front office and on field management that the defined roles are archaic. Bloom probably is an influence. Why have one guy be the here, when input from others may contribute more. I can see a Cards triumpherant, Molina, Pujols and Marmol, all coordinating. Ground breaking, yes, but why not? Why does one guy have to be the hefe, when the collaboration might get more wins. Call me crazy, but it is where the Cards are headed. Management too! Thank you Bloom for thinking outside the box!
Here, should be hefe,, hey I live in uno Barrios Manzanillo, sometimes my Spanglish is difficult to understand.
This is a guy that threw a fit when the Angels tried to platoon him and forced a release… now he wants to be a manager?
Go figure.
So he went to the Dodgers and they ended up platooning him. Then for the final season MLB did him a solid and dropped him twice before the season was eight weeks in so he could juice for four months and go out on a “high”……. Great managerial material
Dude cheated on his wife when she had cancer.
Newt Gingrich for bench coach, then!
nypost.com/2022/04/04/albert-pujols-announces-divo…
If he’ll leave his wife high and dry when she’s in the OR, how do we know he won’t abandon his team?
It’s crazy to think about. How many players with a 100+ career WAR have become MLB managers since World War II? Is it just Ted Williams and Frank Robinson.?
not really guys like that are on another level and see the game in a way that only makes sense to them. then you try to share that knowledge it’s lost because the avg player can’t even begin to comprehend that kind of level.
Prob best player to become a mgr if he does
No respect for Ted Williams or Frank Robinson? Or are you one of these Gen-Z “Your generation doesn’t matter” people?
Albert is going to be circling Marmol like a vulture
Can’t let that opportunity at free clubhouse buffets pass.
Pujols is 3rd on the all-time HR list. Barry the big-headed cheater doesn’t count.
Can’t understand why the Angels who have that ten year post career deal would release him just as his deal was expiring anyway. His late career resurgence makes him seem like even less of an Angel to me and the fact he went back to the Cardinals to hit 700 makes it seem even worse. He’ll go into the HOF as a Cardinal not much doubt in my mind
Why does this site get so hopped up over a guy that did a whole lot of nothing for a decade in Anaheim?
Manage an Angels minor league team and bring in better coaches than cheapo Arte is willing to hire.