Significant Development In Pujols Mangerial Bid With Angels

Albert Pujols spent 10 years of his Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Angels. Now that he's ready to break into managing, the Angels were the first team to come calling, and talks had advanced in recent weeks.

But in a significant development, it's now been revealed that Pujols will NOT be the next manager of the Angles, per Jon Heyman in the New York Post. He says that the talks have broken off due to differences in regards to “coaches, resources, and compensation.”

Angels & Pujols 'could net get close on dollars' for manager's job

The Athletic's Sam Blum tells us that the compensation part of it was the big thing, as he writes, "the two sides could not get close on dollars and years," and "it is believed to be very unlikely that the two sides would find common ground."

It was less than two weeks ago that the twos sides had been in serious talks, and there was "strong momentum" building toward an agreement. But now, it's on to the next.

Two other former Angels players (though with nowhere near the same cache as Pujols), Kurt Suzuki and Torii Hunter, are other candidates that the team will turn to as possibilities.

A couple of ex-MLB managers, Brandon Hyde and Rocco Baldelli, are also said to be on the Angels' target list.

Pujols had signed a 10-year, $240 million free agent contract with the Angels in 2012. A post-retirement personal services contract was also signed at the time which pays him $7 million over the next seven years.

The three-time MVP finished his legendary career back where it started, with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022, after the Angels had released him and he spent a few months withe LA Dodgers.