Former Angels star Albert Pujols misses out on second managerial opening

When the Angels decided to move away from Ron Washington and Ray Montgomery as managers this off season, all eyes went to former Angels and St. Louis Cardinals superstar Albert Pujols. Pujols was already on a contract with the Angels, serving in a special assistant role for the decade following his playing career. At one point, it seemed as though Pujols and the Angels was all but a done deal, and that the team may just be waiting for playoff series to end to announce their new, high-profile manager. So when the Angels opted instead to hire Kurt Suzuki (who has also been serving as a special assistant to the general manager in Anaheim) as manager, there was equal amount of attention focused on what went wrong with the Pujols talks than what could go right with Suzuki at the helm.

In the following weeks, Pujols and the San Diego Padres met about their vacancy at the helm, and he was seen as the favorite for the position by some after a second interview that reportedly lasted nearly a full ten hours. Now, the Padres have shifted course similar to the Angels by instead opting to hire a former MLB veteran who may have never reached the heights Pujols did during their playing days but has become a well-respected name within their organization and across the league.

Craig Stammen - former reliever for the Padres as well as the Washington Nationals - agreed to a three-year deal with the Padres on Thursday morning. He will fill the void left behind by Mike Schildt, who surprisingly retired earlier this off season. Much like Suzuki, this will be Stammen's first stint as a manager after spending his post-playing days fulfilling different roles for the organization in San Diego.

After Angels, Padres go in different direction, what's next for Pujols?

There were reports that the Baltimore Orioles had interest in Albert Pujols weeks ago, but they never interviewed Pujols prior to hiring Craig Albernaz as manager. With only the Colorado Rockies still looking for a manager, Pujols is running out of options to manage in 2026. He will be leading the Dominican Republic team in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and it appears more and more likely that he will attempt to parlay a likely strong performance in the tournament into a managerial gig come the 2026 off season. Who knows - maybe the Angels and him could work out after all.