Albert Pujols’ days with the Los Angeles Angels are coming to an end today as the team will reportedly be releasing the legendary power hitter who is the final year of his 10-year, $253M deal with the club.
Pujols has 667 career home runs and 2,112 RBIs but at 41 years of age he has slowed down quite a bit, is hitting just .198 this season and is far removed from his dominant days.
It appears that the future first-ballot Hall of Famer would like to keep playing, since he’s being released and maybe there is a team out there that would want to bring him in as a DH. We’ll have to see how that plays out.
Mark Feinsand, meanwhile, was first with the news:
The Los Angeles Angels are releasing future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols today, per sources. Pujols is in the final year of his 10-year, $253 million contract.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) May 6, 2021
UPDATE: The Angels have made it official:
The #Angels announced today that the Club has designated Albert Pujols for assignment. pic.twitter.com/SCRz78kXcf
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) May 6, 2021
Here are his current career numbers:
Albert Pujols career stats
HRs: 667 (5th all-time)
RBIs: 2,112 (3rd all-time)
Hits: 3,253 (14th all-time)
Games Played: 2,886 (16th all-time)
WAR: 99.4 (21st all-time among hitters)
MVP Award Shares: 6.91 (3rd all-time)— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) May 6, 2021
And here are his averages with the Angels:
Albert Pujols’ final 162-game average in his 9+ seasons with the Angels:
• .256 BA
• 31 HR
• 78 RBI
• 43 XBH
• .758 OPSHe also accumulated a 12.8 WAR and made one All Star team (2015). pic.twitter.com/N3tLkw796V
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) May 6, 2021
Twitter had reactions:
Thinking a lot about this moment right now.
Even if he wasn't as productive as ever, Albert Pujols means so much to those on the field. pic.twitter.com/RC7yHt5uN2
— Sam Dykstra (@SamDykstraMiLB) May 6, 2021
Cardinals don't really have a spot for Pujols but I don't care they should sign him https://t.co/kNseV8Hj3h
— Eric Freeman (@freemaneric) May 6, 2021
watching how the last few years of Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols's careers have played out makes me really appreciate the storybook way David Ortiz was able to end his https://t.co/XXYaqy8q4h
— joon 이준엽 (@joonlee) May 6, 2021
Tony La Russa calls Albert Pujols:
"Can you play center field?"
— D.J. Short (@djshort) May 6, 2021
Angels finally good enough to make more of that roster spot than Pujols has been for a while. But man, what a career, the St. Louis years were amazing.
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) May 6, 2021
I don't remember a single moment of Albert Pujols' 10 years with the Angels.
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) May 6, 2021
Pujols had an OPS of .900 plus all 11 years with the Cardinals and only once did he even reach .800 with the Angels. Still it’s highly unusual to release a future Hall of Famer with less than a year to go on his contract.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 6, 2021
Angels releasing Albert Pujols. He needs to return to St.Louis to finish his career
— George Jarjour (@GeorgeOnTap) May 6, 2021
The Rockies have nothing going on this year. They should just sign Albert Pujols and give him every day playing time and see how close he can get to 700 HR's playing at Coors Field.
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) May 6, 2021
The ridiculous money and length involved in Pujols' 10-year deal was my first thought when Betts, Harper and Lindor all signed for more than a decade. Insanity. Pass me another $12 stadium beer, will ya? https://t.co/HKj1J9sZ3R
— Steve Elling (@EllingYelling) May 6, 2021
