Pujols Interviews to Manage Angels’ Division Rival

Albert Pujols, the former Los Angeles Angels star and future Hall of Famer, has interviewed for the managerial opening with the Houston Astros.

That makes Pujols a candidate to lead a team in the same division as the Angels, the franchise he played for from 2012 through 2021.

The interview was reported by Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.

Pujols is scheduled to meet with Astros officials on Thursday.

This is not Pujols' first time interviewing for a managerial job.

He went through a similar cycle last offseason, interviewing with the Angels, the San Diego Padres, and the Baltimore Orioles.

None of those teams hired him.

But Pujols has since added a notable credential to his resume.

He managed the Dominican Republic national team in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

Pujols led the Dominican Republic to a bronze medal.

The team lost to Team USA in a semifinal game that many observers felt was decided by a controversial strike call rather than anything Pujols did wrong as a manager.

Pujols is 46 years old.

He is widely expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection when he becomes eligible in 2028.

The Astros' managerial search comes with a twist: the team just named former St. Louis Cardinals executive Randy Flores as their new general manager.

Flores and Pujols were teammates on the Cardinals for five seasons.

Flores pitched in St. Louis from 2002 through 2009, overlapping with Pujols from 2002 through 2006.

That connection could work in Pujols' favor.

The Astros have also interviewed former New York Yankees bench coach and ex-Astros catcher Brad Ausmus.

Ausmus has stronger ties to the Astros organization, having played for Houston from 1997 through 2000 and again in 2010.

But Flores' presence in the front office gives Pujols a familiar ally.

There is another layer to this story: Pujols' personal services contract with soon-to-be-former Angels owner Arte Moreno.

According to Gonzalez, that contract is a ten-year deal worth $10 million.

The deal is entering its fifth year.

If the Astros want to hire Pujols, a buyout can be negotiated to release him from that contract, per Gonzalez.

That buyout clause makes the financial side of a potential hire manageable for Houston.

The Astros are not the only team with a managerial opening.

The Angels also have a vacancy.

But the Angels' situation is complicated by the pending sale of the team.

Stan Kroenke and his KSE sports group are in the process of buying the Angels.

According to the report, there is almost zero chance that Kroenke would want to hire someone like Pujols, given that Kroenke will likely want to cut any recent ties to the team's past.

That means the Angels' job is unlikely to be an option for Pujols.

The Astros' job may be Pujols' last chance to land a managerial position for the foreseeable future.

Major League Baseball is facing a potential lockout that is expected to last into the spring of next year.

Once the lockout begins, teams will not be able to hire managers or make other personnel moves until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.

If Houston hires someone else, Pujols will have to wait until the next hiring cycle.

There are fewer managerial openings this year than last year.

The Angels' opening will be the last one standing if Houston fills their vacancy with someone else.

But as noted, the Angels are unlikely to consider Pujols under the new ownership group.

Pujols' interview with the Astros represents a significant moment in his post-playing career.

He spent eight seasons with the Cardinals from 2001 through 2011, winning two World Series titles.

He then signed a ten-year, $240 million contract with the Angels before the 2012 season.

Pujols played for the Angels through 2021, then finished his playing career with a brief return to the Cardinals in 2022.

He retired with 703 home runs, third on the all-time list behind Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron.

Now he is trying to become a manager in the same division where he spent a decade as a player.

The Astros and Angels have been division rivals since 2013, when the Astros moved from the National League to the American League West.

Pujols faced the Astros many times during his career, including in the 2005 World Series when he played for the Cardinals and Houston was still in the National League.