Source: Pujols, Angels discuss managerial opening

Future Hall of Fame first baseman Albert Pujols met with Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian in St. Louis about the team's managerial vacancy Thursday night, a source familiar with the process told ESPN on Friday, confirming an initial report by The Athletic.

A formal offer has not been made, sources cautioned, though Pujols has been considered a top candidate since the Angels declined the 2026 option on manager Ron Washington's contract last week.

Pujols, 45, has expressed strong interest in managing at the big league level for years and led a Dominican winter ball team, the Leones del Escogido, to a championship in January. Pujols was previously named manager for his native Dominican Republic in next year's World Baseball Classic, though he would likely rescind that role if he lands a big league job this offseason.

The Angels are one of six teams looking for new managers. Other clubs have inquired about Pujols, though the Angels are the only team he has formally met about managing thus far, according to a source.

Pujols signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Angels in December 2011 that included a 10-year, $10 million personal-services contract that kicked in after he retired. What becomes of that deal would likely be part of any financial negotiations that would inevitably take place with the Angels.

Pujols has been a special guest instructor at Angels spring training each of the past three years and is considered a prime candidate by both Minasian, who held him in high regard even after releasing him in May 2021, and Angels owner Arte Moreno.

One of the greatest players of the 2000s, Pujols won three MVPs and two World Series championships in a 22-year career that included 703 home runs, 2,218 RBIs and 3,384 hits. His best years came in St. Louis, but the Angels could give him his first shot to manage.