BOMBSHELL: Albert Pujols RUMORED to Take Angels’ Helm | Will Yadier Molina JOIN the Coaching Staff?

BOMBSHELL: Albert Pujols RUMORED to Take Angels’ Helm | Will Yadier Molina JOIN the Coaching Staff?

Would the machine Albert Puhol be the best fit for manager for our Angels? [Music] You are Locked On Angels, your daily Los Angeles Angels podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on Angels your first listen of the day. There are some reports that Arty Moreno wants Albert Pooh Holo to be the manager of this team in 2026. So if so, there is one big benefit that Albert brings that we’re going to share with you. And what would be the long-term commitment from the Angels to Albert if he becomes the manager? Thanks for being here for this episode of Lockdown Angels, where it’s your team every day. You’ve got the first brothers here with you, aka the super Halo Bros. My name is John and that’s my brother Mike. And my name is Mike and that’s my brother John. Hey, we’re talking Angels baseball with you every single Monday through Friday. So, if you need some angel conversation in your life while everybody else is having fun playing in the playoffs and all the other teams are out there having a good time, we’re here talking about the Halos because we know that you’re dedicated. We know that you love this team. In fact, we want to know how much you love this team. We have a roster report card that we do every year after the season where you get to grade all the players from the 2025 roster and give them a letter grade. We add it all up and we spit it out and give you the results and we’ll do that soon on the show. So, there’s a a link in the episode description where you can find that Google survey to fill out the roster report card. Shouldn’t take take you very long and we’d love to hear from you. We we’ve already got 50 respondents. We in the past I think we’ve had close to 300. So let’s get on that. Let’s get in there and grade that 2025 roster. John Ken Rosenthal from the Athletic uh released a report yesterday. This Ken Rosenthal. Yeah, the one that gives dirty looks at at the umpire that he knocks over. Knocks over knocks over cameraman. That’s right. It was a cameraman. Uh so he said that the next managerial candidate that Arty really wants is Albert Pooh. He believes that he’s the leading choice for the job according to reports out of Anaheim. And one source close to Albert Pul suggested that the decision is really going to be Albert’s to make. Now, he does have that personal service contract. It kicked in in 2022 after he retired. He’s been contributing to the Angels over the last couple of years. John’s been in uniform a couple of times, especially in the springtime, and uh did talk to the media during the springtime. We’ll share what he had to say in just a moment. He also worked with Angel Prospects at their academy in his native Dominican Republic. And remember, he had really good experience, great managerial experience in the Dominican Winter Leagues, led his team to a championship in his first season at the helm. Man, let’s hire him if he can do that. Uh he’s been tabbed as the Dominican national team for the World Baseball Classic to be the manager for that team. Uh word is if he took this job with the Angels, that’s going to impact what he does in the WBC. Now, when he was asked if he would like to manage, he was asked this back in March. Puhol said, “Yeah, I think why not? I think if the opportunity is right, uh, I’ll be ready for that one day.” Also, back in March, he was asked about the Angels. And I thought his answer was interesting. I want to get your thoughts. He said, “I think the organization has done a great job this year to put a great product on the field.” Now, remember, this is this is March before the season started. He said, “Not just in the big leagues, but getting guys down in the minor leagues and getting help to this ball club, preparing them to win a championship.” Uh, when asked how he felt about the Angels and how close they were to putting a winning product on the field, he says they put out a winning product every year. The problem is injuries. Now, this is very different, John, than what Ron Washington said when he was informed that he was going to be let go and he spoke to Sam Blum. when he was asked about this team and the players that he had and the roster construction, he says, “You know, when you’re a competitor, when you’re in charge, none of that stuff matters. Sometimes you got to make chicken salad out of chicken.” And you can fill in the blank there. He said it, I didn’t. So, John, I’m going to start with this. Albert being cautious with his words. Is he being cautious because of his friendship with Arty Marino? because it sounds very much like a angel organization narrative. Yeah, it it’s definitely political speak, but the fact is is he’s on the payroll, isn’t he, Mike? He’s not going to come out there and say bad things about this team. He’s not going to tarnish this team. I I don’t think that he’s in the wrong in terms of, you know, I think they’ve done a great job this year to put a great product on the field, not just in the big leagues, uh, but, you know, going down to the minor leagues and and getting guys that are going to help them there. They’ve tried and and for the most part there’s there’s a lot of guys to be excited about and and we are all fans of them, right? Zack Neto and Logan Hoppy and Joe Adele, Nolan Shaell, guys that we’re all excited for. But the part I disagree with is the idea that the problem is injuries. That was true. And I think you can go back to the Trout, Rendone, Otani years, and and Albert was certainly part of those as well. But the fact is is that no, it’s more than just injuries. It’s it’s it’s what becomes of the injuries, right? Yeah. A lack of depth, not signing guys to uh fill in that are going to be, you know, at least major league adequate. Um, one of the one of the things about this offseason was signing Kevin Newman to be off the bench. And I know he filled in for Neto a lot to start the season because we all knew Neto was going to come in hurt. Uh, wasn’t even league average, Mike. In fact, worst season of his career. And it’s just like, you know, you sign these guys to come in and and be something, right? Something close to league average and they can’t even do that. But the the problem is is that everybody who comes here all of a sudden can’t be league average, right? And I think that’s a lot of the issue here. So I I disagree with Poles in that sense. However, I understand where he’s coming from. He’s he’s on the payroll with this personal services contract. I don’t know how much of a friendship with Arty Marino factors into this, but I will say, and this kind of leads into our next question, is what kind of manager will Albert be? I think the success that he had in the Dominican Winter League, I think that speaks well for him. Uh he’s the fact that, you know, it’s his first year managing a team and he gets them to the championship and they win it all. Now, I understand it’s also the Dominican Winter League, and so the dynamics are going to be a little bit different than they are at the major league level, but having said that, in terms of experience, we we’ve seen uh we’ve seen people become managers with a lot less. Yeah. Yeah. Man, what kind of manager will he be? I we really don’t have anything outside of what we saw in the Dominican Leagues. And I just hope that he’s a manager that actually manages and and is thoughtful in his management. I I hope he’s a manager that’s wise in his management. I hope he’s a guy that that holds team players accountable. I hope he’s a guy that says this is who we’re going to be. This is the vision of where we’re going to go. That if he’s going to be the guy, then I hope he’s a guy that is a nononsense type of guy. That doesn’t mean you have to be rough and gruff and yell and scream. I think he needs to be somebody that prioritizes being the CEO of this team on the field and make sure that everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing. We hear that narrative all the time like these guys are putting in the work and they’re doing what they need to do. But if the performance on the field is terrible, then I want to see Albert Pulse not just stick with a guy because yeah, we’re we’re going to we want to see this through with him, right? Like I think we’re at that place now where it’s time to stop seeing it through and it’s time to go who’s who’s my best option for that position which means that you need to have a Bryce Teodosio in this outfield in 2026 if you don’t go and sign somebody because he’s the best defensive option for you which means that you need to have Jorge Cer ride the pine and use his bat if you need a pinch hitter because he’s going to be the best option for that. He’s he’s not an everyday player. He has proven to not earn the right. If he blows it up in the spring, then maybe you reconsider that. But I would love everybody to start at zero. And I would love for Albert to say, “I need you start here and run.” And whoever gets there first is going to get a position. You know what I mean? I want to see guys earn the right to play on the field. I don’t want to just him tip the cap to the veterans. Well, you’re a veteran, so you’re going to be there. I want him to go, Mike Trout, here’s what we’re doing with you, bro. We’re going to have you DH. We’re going to have you in left field. Whatever might be the case. Taylor Ward, you didn’t swing at strike one, strike two, or strike three. Guess what? You’re getting moved down in the lineup. I I would love 250,000 different lineups in 2026 if Albert Puhols is the manager because he’s watching these guys either perform well or not perform at all. And he’s moving the lineup around. I That’s what I want to see from a manager. So, it’s hard for me. I didn’t see him manage in the Dominican Leagues. Yeah, he won a championship. That’s awesome. Glad to see that. Glad to hear that. He feels like he’s respected. Yeah. Yeah, seems like players really love him. That’s that’s a good sign. I just want to see an Albert who comes in and and helps helps this team actually win. Which brings us to our third question, John. So, do you think he’s better than Tory Hunter or do you think that Tory Hunter is the guy that they need to go with? Yeah, you know, it’s difficult because I everybody knows I’m very partial to Tory Hunter, especially since, you know, he was in the dugout. seemed like he had a nice little influence and impact over the players when he was with them in the dugout. So, that that’s tough because I think I don’t think you can go wrong either way. Honestly, Mike, I don’t think that Tori is a bad choice and I don’t think Albert is a bad choice. Would Tori be my first choice? Right now, I’m leaning yeah, but I’m not going to be upset if he doesn’t get it and it goes to Albert Poolh. You have to think about the history that Pholtz has in terms of his own career and the excellence of the of the really the Cardinals organization that he was in because I know the Cardinals are not on that level of excellence that they were you know in the in the 2000s and early 2010s right so that is to say Phol knows excellence and he’s a champion and he’s you know before Trout there was Albert Poolhol right and it was like that’s the greatest player in the game right now. That’s Albert Pulse. And yeah, maybe the back the back nine. I guess it technically was nine with with with the Angels because he didn’t finish that 10th year. Um the back nine of his career didn’t go as well as you’d thought it would. And that’s okay because I think that when you’ve been in a system of excellence as a player and you’ve been around guys like Yadier Molino, we’ll talk about him a little bit later on. and you know, uh, just thinking about the the managers that he’s had over the years and and whatnot, I I think that he brings a level of excellence that this team hasn’t seen in a very long time. And he’s not going to be out there with a bat and, you know, the the skills go away as you get older, but I think the mindset that Albert can bring to this team is something we haven’t had in a very long time. It’s also a fresh voice, Mike. He’s not managed before. Yeah. And like I mentioned the other day, we’ve had guys who have managed before and guys who haven’t managed before. And and it’s time for a fresh voice. And whether that is Tory Hunter, whether that’s Albert Poles, man, to me that’s better than nothing or that’s better than doing the same things we’ve already been doing in my opinion. Yeah. And and the beauty of it is they’re both fresh to managing. And so I would want them to have permission, have the freedom to build the plane while they’re flying it, which means that they’re not stuck in this is what we’re doing. We’re going to try this out for a while and then we’re going to move on and try something. They can go, no, didn’t work in game one. Let’s let’s adjust. And and an example of that was the first game of the year when we had a lineup where we were like, why is Tim Anderson batting where Tim Anderson is batting and what? Right. And then it was like nothing nothing was adjusted. Nothing was changed. And so I want adjustments. If it doesn’t work in game one, adjust it in game two. And here’s why. I’m not just a fan that that thinks I know better. I’m a fan who’s watched this team not adjust for 10 years. So, I want to see quick, fast pivots. I want to see quick, fast adjustments. And perhaps bringing in these guys who haven’t managed before. They’re going to go, “That didn’t work. Let’s try this. Oh, that didn’t work. Let’s try this. Oh, that worked. Let’s continue to do that.” I want guys that will notice what we notice. I want guys that’ll go and Mike Trout’s better at leadoff and so let’s put him at leadoff and then let’s have Nolan Shaw bat second and Zach Neto bat third. That’s the best kind of lineup we can have in there instead of moving pieces around and going, “Well, Mike Trout’s the goat, so he has to bat third and he has to be I I want guys that go, “Nope, this is what we’re doing.” And not just because it’s the right thing, but because it’s the most effective thing. It’s the most successful thing. If fans can see it, I want Albert or whoever, I want them to see it. Yeah, that’s a very good way to put it. If we can all see it, which we have, especially over the last 10 years and especially the last four years we’ve been doing this podcast together with our everydayers. Yeah, we all see it. So, it’s important that the manager sees it. And again, I think I think Albert brings a level of excellence to the club. Is it a very Angels and Arty Marino move to have him be the manager so that everyone goes, “Oh, yeah, Albert Pools.” Right. Yes, it is. And that’s the that’s the crux of this is it’s a very arty move. It’s a flashy move. It’s a splashy move. It’s going to get headlines. It’s going to be all of that. However, and we’ll talk about this in our next segment. I think that there’s a benefit in addition to one big other benefit that can be brought to the table and we’ll discuss that in a little bit. Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. And coming up, there is one big benefit in bringing Albert in as the manager. We’ll share what that is in just a minute. We’re in the midst of the NFL season and FanDuel is making sure that you’re ready to win some money. You’re ready to pay attention. You’re ready to follow the game closely. 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We’re talking Angels baseball all off seasonason. So, you’re going to want to be subscribed and tuned in to Locked on Angels because the drama never stops, my friends. It’s like 90210, the OC, and Melrose Place combined, but about baseball. And so, we’re here talking about it. Of course, you can hit us up on social media, lockdown angels, super Halo Bros, wherever you social your medias. Now, Mike, is there a big benefit in terms of having Albert Ples as the manager of the Angels in 2026? Yeah, I think so. I want to share that with you. But first, here’s what’s interesting. Albert being rumored to be the guy that already wants that means that he’s gonna be able to maybe pitch pick his coaching staff and we heard that Perry Manosian was tasked with calling Ron Washington but also was tasked with calling other coaches to inform them on what’s next for them. We’re hoping that maybe by tomorrow we’ll hear from Perry, but according to Sam Blum, there is no press conference scheduled and no conversations. I’m watching all of these other teams have conversations, but I’m not watching our team have a conversation. So, it sounds like the next manager is going to be the guy that is going to be the one that says, “Hey, you’re retained or we’re letting you go.” We’re going to talk about the coaches on tomorrow’s show. But one report that I actually love, John, that is the benefit, one of the benefits of bringing Albert Pulse to the Angels is that he’s been telling people, this is all rumors, all according to reports, that Yadier Molina would be a part of his coaching staff once he becomes an MLB manager. So, think about Yachti on the bench. Think about Yachti’s influence in Anaheim. But John, think about Yadier Molina working with Logan Ohappy and not five other coaches telling him five other things. But Yadier Molina, World Series champion, great backs stop, a guy who had a great bat as well. Defense fantastic. Yadier Molina working with Logan Ohap. You know, Travis Darnau said that his goal was to have Oh be the greatest angel catcher of all time. If Yadier Molina is working with Logan Ohappy, I’m confident that Oh catcher in Angels history. So Johnny, talk to me about Yachti and why you would love to have him on the bench in Anaheim. Mike, it’s another example of somebody who brings excellence to this coaching staff and to this managerial team and this franchise bringing in Yadier Molina. Look, we know we know what the problem is with the Angels, don’t we? And everybody who watches this show, we all know, I said it yesterday, we could fire the owner, we could, right? All that stuff. Yep. If you bring in Albert Pulse and Yadier Molina to be part of your franchise and you still can’t do anything, you know that this the what did I say yesterday? The pyramid scheme of suck. Yeah. Les at the top with the ownership and the front office. There is no doubt to anyone who ever questions what the Angels can and can’t do that it’s not the players on the field and it’s not the manager. you know, the sixth manager in so many years, right? It it begins and ends with ownership and the front office. And so, if you bring in Yadier Molina to help Logan O’H, right? I I think he would be bench coach over catching coach, but sort of be both of them, right? To bring his influence to Anaheim. More excellence in terms of World Series champions. Guys who’ve been there, done that, right? And if if if you screw that up, man, there there’s no hope. Yeah. For the Halos if they screw that up. And you know what? I want I want I want them all. Give me all three. Give me Jose. Give me Give me all the guys, right? Benji. I want them all. Benji. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say Benji. Benji, but then I was like, “No, that’s Benji Gil.” No, Benji Molina. Yeah. Give me Benji Gil as well. Right. Like right because what you’re you just you said the word excellence. Uh-huh. The Angels have not pursued excellence in a lot of areas, especially when it came to their coaching staff, right? And and they they wouldn’t pay for these guys to come in. They’re going to pay for they’re going to pay for the the unknowns to come in. And and I’m not opposed to unknowns. I think that they’re they’re diamonds in the rough. Right. I think I think Barry Enright for, you know, for what he’s done well and what hasn’t gone so well. Getting somebody who worked under Brent Strom Yeah. in in Arizona. That makes sense, right? Like, hey, I can’t get I can’t get Brent Brent Strom, who is widely regarded as the best pitching coach, you know, for the last like five, six, seven, eight years, but get the guy who worked under him and give him a fresh shot. Like that that I can get on board with, right? Yeah. Yeah. Because they were taught excellence, right? And Barry has flaws and has work to do. But I think out of the all the coaches that are on this team, I think Barry was probably the top coach. And some of you are probably the least the least offensive. That’s for sure. I think some of you are like, “Well, that’s not a great list to be on.” You’re right. But I’d rather be the best of all the suck than to be the worst of all the suck. Right. And so I think about that that word excellence. You bring in a yachti, which means that you got to bring in you got to bring in other excellent people. And even if they’re even if they’re new to coaching, like Tory Hunter, I don’t know if he could be a hitting coach, but John, maybe there’s a conversation to be had there, right? You think about other players that are out there. Maybe the Molina brothers decide we’re we’re going to come back, right? I know that there’s been a lot of everydayers that have said, “Man, what about like you bring in a Salmon or a Gooby or a Chuck Finley or a Jared Weaver or you know what I mean?” I think I think what you do is you prioritize excellence and you say to Albert, “I want excellence. go get me excellence. Then bring me those names and then I’ll let you know if I can finance that or afford that. And I get that there’s a limit and there’s a budget, which they can, they just won’t. Yeah, that’s the thing. I hope that they do prioritize excellence. And we’ll talk about this in the third segment. That is going to tell me if they’re committed to Albert, if it is Albert or whoever the manager is, and what they’re going to do moving forward. Well, and I I teased this in the first segment. Now, I think the big benefit of Albert being here is yada y Molina, and of course, we’re all going to be singing yada yada yada yada yada yada. That’s not the That’s not the benefit that I’m alluding to. The benefit I’m alluding to is Mike, I I brought this up several weeks ago. I’ve been hammering this home for the last few weeks, and now that we’re finally at a point where we might go, hey, that guy is going to be the manager. I said that it needs to be somebody on the level of excellence and on the pedestal that Arty puts people on. Yep. That is equal with Mike Sa. Yep. Because everything that Sosa wanted for the most part, he was able to get from Arty Marino. Even when it came down to Jerry Dotto and Mike Sosa. Look, Dotto wanted to help the Angels have some forward thinking things implemented into their their uh system and and I don’t fault him for that, but he buted heads with Mike Sa. And so who was out? It was Dotto. Sosa stayed, right? SOA saw through his contract. Mike, if there’s anybody on the level of a Mike Sosa in RD’s eyes, it’s gonna be Tory Hunter or Albert Poolh. And in my opinion, Albert Pools is going to have the sway and the influence to bend Arty Marino’s ear and to tell him, “Hey, you want excellence? You want me to help this team turn around? Here’s what I need. Go and get them.” Right. Yeah. And here’s why it matters. And here’s why Mike Sosa was a really great manager. When he left, the record of the Angels got terrible. Mike Sosa was able to manage this team in his last two years, 80 and 82, with the crappy roster that they gave him, 80 and 82, right? Didn’t have a 90 loss season, didn’t have a a bad, wow, we really just were terrible this year. There were a couple years where there were injuries that hit them, but Mike was a good manager, and a part of his good management was that he had Arty’s ear. And that’s why this team would always float around 500. Because remember the narrative in the mid teens, John, was man, we just can’t break the 500 barrier. We’re at 500, but we just can’t get over it. Right now, we dream about those days. We’re like, oh, if we can get to 500, I at the beginning of the year, I’m like, man, it would be a great year if we finished at 500. Right. What has happened to me? Right. Well, I’ve I’ve been lulled to sleep. That’s why this move could be a great move because it could be Mike Sosa-esque because he does have the ear of Arty and it’s why it’s why Mike Soa was a good manager. One, he had the ear of Arty, but two, he could take he could take peanuts and he could turn it into peanut butter and they they would they would they would be competitive. They would be in this thing right now. You look at the young guys. If if Pulse comes in and Yotti comes in, man, what kind of fire could he stir in their belly? So, I love the word excellence and I love the point of having Arty’s ear. And now I want some peanut butter since you brought it up. Locked on Angels is brought to you by our friends at Prize Picks. 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The biggest question about Albert coming into this team, if it is Albert Puhols or whoever they hire, is what kind of commitment they’re going to give him. Because here’s what’s happened, John. In the last nine years, the Angels have had now with this most recent hire, when they do hire somebody, nine, six different managers in nine years. Social left, then Brad Osmus, Joe Madden, Phil Nevin, Ron Washington, Ray Montgomery, lots of turnover in that time. Now, that kind of run of managers was similar to the ‘9s run of managers. They had seven in 10 years that included interim managers, but here’s some of those names. You’re going to love these names. John Buck Rogers, Terry Collins, they they were all John Wan was there. Like, they were all there managing managering. Is that the right managing the right word? Yeah. Managing uh during during the 90s and the longest tenure was only three years, and that was with Buck Rogers and Terry Collins. So, I’m bringing this up because there’s a lot of change that has been happening and I think the angels need to make a commitment to somebody and commit to building something with that person in charge. And then a voice from the past, John, comes out of nowhere, an angel hater who angel fans hate, right? We love to hate. A voice pops out of the ether and says something that we agree with. I would love for you to share that with our everydayers. AJ Perzinski Barf on our friends show, our friends over at Foul Territory, of course, Scott Braun, Eric Kratz, and Pzinski. Uh, they’ve been very kind to us. They’ve been very good to us over the years, and they’ve even come on and talked with us, and it was a lot of fun. AJ, noted Angel hater, and the fans hate him right back. Yeah. Said this the other day on foul territory. He said what whatever they need to do, they need to give whoever it may be, the next manager, a five-year plan and let him execute it. They need to make a commitment, Mike. And as we’ve seen, there’s a lot of turnover, not just in the manager department, but the front office in terms of GMs and and all that stuff. Now to be fair, Eper had 5 years. Perry had has had five years. Uh Dotto was 2011 to 2015 14 somewhere around there. 15 because it was at it was the year after the playoffs. So they’ve all had their their shot, but it’s almost like all right, if you’re going to hire Albert Poolh, you better make a freaking commitment to Albert Poolh. This is not a oneanddone sort of thing because if if you don’t give him what he needs and you don’t give him the runway to do what he needs to do as manager, boy, think about all the other teams that would love to have future Hall of Famer Albert Poolhols as their manager. Mike, St. Louis, right? I know they’re not done with Olly Marl and and whatnot and and you know JDron over at lockdown Cardinals, he often tells his listeners like what’s going on in St. Louis is not Ollie Marmal’s fault entirely and and that’s true. However, there’s still fans that are clamoring for like, hey, let’s get Yottier Molina. Let’s get Albert Ples to come manage this team. Well, we got it right in front of us, man. We got it right in front of us in terms of Albert possibly being here. And so, if if that’s the way that this is going to go, you got to give that dude some runway, don’t you? Yeah. Five-year deal. None of this two-year deal nonsense. I don’t even say three-year deal. Fiveyear deal. Or maybe a three-year with two options, right? like that would be the less best version, but perhaps what they should do like three-year deal with with with options, but they need to tell him, “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m I’m committing to spending this amount of money. I’m committing to getting up to the luxury tax. I’m committing to spending it here. I’m committing to getting your coaches.” They need to do that. You have no wiggle room anymore, Arty Marino. No wiggle room at all. You can’t say, “Well, well, it’s going to be yearbyear. If I’m already if I’m Marty Mareno, I’m telling Albert Puh Holles, if that’s who I want, I’m telling Albert, you got you got five years. Here’s the here’s the lid. Here’s the floor. Here’s the the sandbox that I want you to play in. And and I want you to run with it. I’m going to let you bring in your guys. I’m going to let you work with our guys, and I’m going to give you a commitment because in five years, I would love to go. Man, Albert has been the second best manager the Angels have ever had outside of Mike Soa. That’s what I’m hoping for, and I’m I’m committing to that player development, all of those things. And maybe perhaps because they do that, then these young guys end up finding themselves really performing and then they go and get guys that help kind of fill in this roster. Perhaps Albert goes, “Bro, we need an ace. We need two really good pitchers. Give me an A and a B. I need them right now.” And then already goes, “Okay, I’ll do that.” The reason why I already said I’m not paying a guy who shows up every five days to to pitch is probably because he doesn’t have a good baseball mind in his ear. Albert’s gonna be that good baseball mind. So, I’m I’m more I’m talking on this show, the more I’m like, “Let’s do it, man. What are we waiting for? Already sign him up right now.” Yeah. Mike, I’m I’m gonna finish with one last thing, and it’s this. We have often said on this show that one of the things that does not work for the Angels is that they’ve never had a president of baseball operations. They’ve always just given their GM the reigns, right? And here’s what it looks like historically. You’ve got multiple GMs, but the one through line was Mike Sosa. And who did Arty Marino trust more than Mike Sa? Not any of his GMs through that time period, right? And he didn’t bring in so that was that was, you know, Stoneman and Disney and everything, but it worked out. And so here’s here’s where I think the logic is backwards, but it makes sense for the Angels because their logic is backwards. Albert Poolhols needs to be his own manager and player uh president of baseball operations, right? And and all Perry has to do and maybe this saves Perry Manasian’s job is Albert and Arty talk and they give the marching orders to Perry, hey, go get that A pitcher and that B pitcher. Hey, go get that extra bat. And Perry says, done. I’ll go do it. Because you know what hasn’t worked? Listening to these GMs over the last couple of uh you know, decades really. And it’s always come down to the manager and who is in charge. And it it and it’s SOA and we’ve seen, you know, GM’s butt heads with, you know, Joe Madden and Perry didn’t get along and and Perry finally gets to pick his guy and Ron Washington and, you know, the circumstances around that. It’s not entirely Wash’s fault. Uh, but I think that if you you you give your manager the reigns and and then just give the GM the marching orders, I think that’s got to be the formula that the Angels have to abide by because like we said before, nothing else is working. And so try something new. You you brought in an experienced manager, you brought in, you know, a hard-nosed manager. You’ve done all that and and you’ve tried to do the the GM and then manager structure. Man, don’t tell me that Arty Marino is gonna listen to Perry Manosian over Albert Pulse. Right. Right. And and and even even though it’s his GM, I think Phulse is going to have the influence and Perry’s going to have the marching orders. I think it’s going to save his job and keep him around another year. But to me, this is going to be it’s going to be the Arty show. It’s going to be the Pooh Hole show. What happens from there, I don’t know. It could be a total disaster as most things tend to be in Angel Land, but it’s something. It’s something different. And like we talked about with all the excellence that he could bring and yacht Molina could bring. Just do it, man. Just do it. I’m ready. Let’s go. Thanks for making Locked On Angels your first listen of the day. Now, for your next listen, check out Locked On MLB Game Night. You can find Game Night on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, be sure you give us a follow on Twitter at lockdown angels at superhaler bros on Twitter and Instagram. Come on over to YouTube. Find today’s show. Get in the comments section because we would love to hear from you. Mike, what do we have on deck for tomorrow’s show? Let’s talk about the coaches, John, because if they’re if if they’re going to get a new manager, which ones stay and which ones go? We’re going to give you our opinions. I think you know how we feel about Johnny Washington. Uh we’re going to give you our opinions tomorrow on Locked on Angels. All right. Looking forward to that conversation and we hope you’ll come back and join us for that. Until then, my name is John and that’s my brother Mike. And my name is Mike and that’s my brother John. Thanks for being here with us everybody and we’ll see you back here on Friday. That’s the theme for 2026. Something different. Just give us something different. Don’t do the same thing. Anything. Come on.

Could Albert Pujols be the next manager of the Los Angeles Angels? Reports suggest owner Arte Moreno wants the legendary slugger to lead the team in 2026. This episode explores Pujols’ managerial potential, comparing him to other candidates like Torii Hunter and discussing his success in the Dominican Winter League.
Hosts Jon and Mike Frisch, the Super Halo Bros., analyze how Pujols might impact the Angels’ culture, potentially bringing in former teammate Yadier Molina as a coach to mentor young catcher Logan O’Hoppe. They debate the ideal managerial style for maximizing talent like Mike Trout, Zach Neto, and Nolan Schanuel. The conversation also covers the need for organizational stability and a long-term commitment to the next skipper.
Tune in for an in-depth look at the Angels’ managerial search and what Albert Pujols could bring to the dugout!

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0:00 Intro

5:07 Albert Pujols as potential Angels manager

11:30 Fresh voices needed in Angels management

15:50 Yadier Molina could join coaching staff

22:31 Pujols may have Moreno’s ear like Scioscia

27:12 Angels’ managerial turnover and commitment issues

32:17 Pujols as manager and de facto president