ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ron Washington and Ray Montgomery are both out as possible managers for the Angels in 2026. The team will now be looking fill the vacancy and to do so they may turn to someone who wore the Angel red as a player just a handful of seasons ago.
A recent report from The Athletic written by Sam Blum, Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal said that Albert Pujols is believed to be a likely candidate for the position of Angels skipper and is believed to be the personal favorite of owner Arte Moreno for the job.
Pujols played for the Angels from 2012-2021 after signing a 10-year $240 million dollar deal with the team, the third-largest deal in MLB history at the time, before being designated for assignment near the end of the 2021 season.
Pujols, the three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star, crossed a number of major milestones during his time in Los Angeles, including his 500th and 600th home runs and his 3,000th hit. Since his retirement in 2022, Pujols has been employed by the Angels as part of a personal services contract baked into his initial 10-year deal with the team, and has made appearances as an advisor in both Spring Training and with the team’s player academy in the Dominican Republic.
“Yeah. I think why not,” Pujols said in March when asked if he’d like to manage in the big leagues (via The Athletic). “I think if the opportunity is right one day, I think I’ll be ready for that.”
If hired, the position would be Pujols’ first time as a regular season MLB manager, but the future Hall of Famer has led teams before in the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) as the manager of the Leones del Esogido, winning a championship in his first season with the team.
Star Angels outfielder Mike Trout, who played with Pujols through the entirety of the latter’s tenure with the Angels, is optimistic about the idea of his old friend and teammate leading the squad.
“I think he’d be a good manager,” Trout said (via Brent Maguire of MLB.com). “Just the way he interacts with players. I watched him over the offseason down in the Dominican and he won a few things now. It would be pretty cool to play for him.”
The Angels finished 2025 72-90 and have finished under .500 in the last 10 seasons, hard stretches that Pujols personally witnessed as a player. A superstar and all time great in his 22-year career, Pujols could return to the Angels clubhouse in uniform, just in a different capacity, and maybe turn the franchise around.