Last winter, Albert Pujols got a little experience as a manager in LIDOM with the Leones del Escogido.
A little experience, yes, and also a lot of success, leading the Leones to a LIDOM title capped by a memorable homer by Tampa Bay Rays star Junior Caminero and then a Caribbean Series title in Mexicali, Mexico, where Pujols’ Leones topped Benji Gil’s Charros de Jalisco 1-0 in the championship game.
It’s hard to have a better first year as a manager than Pujols did. The Dominican legend, who won the 2001 National League Rookie of the Year award, was a three-time NL MVP and the first Dominican player to join the 700 home run club was named manager of the country’s entry in the 2026 World Baseball Classic in March.
But a report this week from ESPN’s and another from Sam Blum at The Athletic linked Pujols to a different managing job, one with his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, who have been without manager Ron Washington since June, when he left the team for health reasons and ultimately underwent quadruple bypass surgery that will keep him out of the dugout for the rest of the season.
The slugger’s time in Anaheim didn’t end on the happiest of notes, with the Angels releasing him when he was unwill to take on a role as a reserve, with Shohei Ohtani having taken his former spot as the designated hitter and Jared Walsh having earned the job as the regular first baseman, but Joe Maddon, the skipper in 2001, is no longer with the organization.
“If there’s something knocking this year or next year. I mean, why not? I think right now I’m focusing on the World Baseball Classic, but if there’s any ballclub knocking on the door, I’d be open to hear that,” Pujols said to MLB.com in March.
Should Pujols find himself in an MLB job, it would likely mean that he would be unable to manage the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, which will take place during March, when MLB teams are preparing for the season at spring training.
Pujols has also been floated as a candidate to manage in St. Louis, where he began and ended his MLB career with the Cardinals, should the team move on from Oli Marmol.
The Dominican Republic will play in Pool D at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, where they will face Nicaragua on March 6, the Netherlands on March 8, Israel on March 9, and Venezuela on March 11.
Photo: Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols addresses the media at the 2025 Caribbean Series in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. (Photo Courtesy of the CBPC)
