ANAHEIM, California – Albert Pujols woke up from a nap last Monday in Arizona to find several hundred missed messages and calls on his phone.
While sleeping, the wife of Los Angeles Angels goalie Deidre had made a courtesy post on Instagram about her husband that was widely interpreted in the sense that Pujols had decided to retire after this season, which will be his No. 21 in the majors.
“Listen, this is the life we’re living on social media,” Pujols said Saturday with a smile. “It’s sad that everyone has to move on.”
The 41-year-old toletero quickly reiterated what he has been saying for months: he has not decided whether to continue playing after the conclusion of his 10-year, $ 240 million contract with the Angelinos this fall, and he will not make or announce a decision. until after the season.
“I think our organization, my friends, the people who have been following my career for 21 years deserve something better than just me or her posting something on Instagram,” Pujols said in his first interviews of spring training. “This has been disproportionate. My mind is not even there. My mind is on staying focused, healthy and hopefully trying to help this club win this year, and that’s it. Yes i feel at the end of the year that’s all, i will announce it [y] I’m going home. But I haven’t even arrived yet. “
The fifth homer in the history of the Major Leagues says he has more pressing concerns in his mind, mainly the search for his first playoff victory with the Angelinos. Not playing in October will never stop bothering Pujols, who starts the new season with 662 homers and 2,100 RBIs, the third-highest in baseball history.
“I can’t even see [la postemporada]”Because I’m very angry because we should have been there,” he said.
0:43
Albert Pujols says the Angels headquarters did a good job of forming a good team with a chance to win in 2021.
Pujols has at least one more chance to achieve the team success he craves alongside Mike Trout, Anthony Rendón and Shohei Ohtani. The 10-time All-Star is in the middle of five consecutive losing seasons — six consecutive out-of-playoff campaigns with the Angelinos, but there’s cautious optimism around the big-budget franchise heading into the second season of the manager Joe Maddon in charge.
Even if Pujols tries to play in 2022, he knows it’s near the end of the disappointing second act of his career after 11 stellar seasons in St. Louis. He hit 328 with 445 homers while winning three National League Most Valuable Player awards for the Cardinals, but has been a 257 hitter with 217 homers in nine years at Anaheim.
Last season, Pujols hit 224 with an OPS of 665, both the worst marks of his two-decade career, while playing in just 39 of Los Angeles ’60 games.
This season also brings the clear prospect of less action for Pujols, who has remained injury-free and quite effective as a fielder at first base for the past two years.
He will surely split playing time at the start with Jared Walsh, who batted 337 with nine homers and 26 RBIs in 22 games as a rookie last September, and with Ohtani as the Halos ’designated hitter.
Pujols says he is fine with any role he gets in 2021 from Maddon, who praises the veteran toletero for his maturity and leadership.
“It will always be a meritocracy, and he understands that,” Maddon said. “We’ve had conversations. And so much that he wants to play. Needless to say, when he doesn’t play, he may not like it. He’s connected that way, and that’s how you want him to be. But he understands what’s going on. He accepts it well. Regardless of the role we assign to him, I know he will react well. “