Report: Pujols, Angels have discussed vacant manager's job

The Los Angeles Angels have had discussions with future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols about their vacant managerial position, sources told Sam Blum and Katie Woo of The Athletic.

While an agreement is not yet in place, the job appears to be Pujols' to lose. The three-time MVP sat down with Angels general manager Perry Minasian in St. Louis on Thursday, and that meeting is believed to have gone well, Blum and Woo report. Pujols is also reportedly the preferred hire of owner Arte Moreno.

The Angels currently employ Pujols as a special assistant as part of a 10-year, $10-million personal services contract with the club that kicked in upon his retirement in 2023. That personal services deal was originally negotiated as part of the 10-year, $240-million contract he inked with the Halos as a free agent before the 2012 season.

The 45-year-old has no big-league managerial or coaching experience. However, he did gain some reps by managing the Leones del Escogido in his native Dominican Republic last winter, guiding them to both the 2024-25 Dominican winter league and Caribbean Series titles. He's also slated to manage the Dominican squad in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

The Angels, who haven't posted a winning record since 2015 and last made the playoffs in 2014, opted to move on from Ron Washington following a second straight 90-loss season. L.A. also didn't retain interim skipper Ray Montgomery, who filled in for most of the season after Washington stepped away due to health problems.

Other names in the running for the vacancy include another ex-Angels star in Torii Hunter, Blum and Woo report. Like Pujols, Hunter has no coaching experience. However, the club's only expected to seriously consider Hunter if negotiations with Pujols fall through.

Whoever is hired by the Angels will be the franchise's fourth full-time manager since 2019, when Mike Scioscia retired following 19 seasons in their dugout.