Hints Angels could keep Kurt Suzuki ignore Hall of Fame reality (but hope is not lost)

John Mozeliak’s recently made some comments that strongly suggested that the Los Angeles Angels actually may not decide to part ways with Kurt Suzuki after this season. That would be a bit of a shock with a new owner and new front office now in charge of things since Suzuki was hired, but with Albert Pujols waiting in the wings, maybe the Angels could get creative to keep Suzuki in the fold.

The most obvious name that has come up in discussions about who could replace Suzuki is Pujols. He just makes all the sense in the world since he played for the Angels and played for the St. Louis Cardinals when Mozeliak, now the interim GM of the Angels, was running the show in St. Louis.

Pujols doesn’t have any big league managerial experience, although he did manage the Dominican Republic’s team in the World Baseball Classic earlier in 2026 and he’s managed a team in the Dominican Winter League so he has managed at least a little bit. Pujols was in the running to become the next manager of the Halos last offseason before the job ultimately went to Suzuki. The Hall of Fame slugger is already on LA’s payroll as part of a personal services contract he signed back in 2023 so he’s technically part of the organization.

Still, the lack of big league managerial experience may lead the Angels to try to get his feet wet first before throwing him to the wolves. One potential option the team could consider which would still make sense with the signals the team is sending is that they can hire Pujols as a bench coach and retain Suzuki as manager for one more year so there’s a bit of a glide path.

Angels may have to try a different way to get Albert Pujols ready and keep Kurt Suzuki around

Of course, Suzuki may not love that arrangement. If the Angels did that he’d have to know his days as manager were numbered unless the team had some sort of miracle season so chances are he wouldn’t want his replacement-in-waiting serving directly under him.

Maybe a more likely arrangement is that the Angels reassign Suzuki to some sort of front office role so he can stay in the organization if he wants, and then they hire Pujols as manager. Even though he doesn’t have the big league managerial experience, he’s Albert freaking Pujols so everyone in that clubhouse is going to instantly respect him. This isn’t going to be like the Tony Vitello situation in San Francisco where he has to win guys over.

There will be a learning curve and Pujols will make mistakes, but that’s totally fine on a team like the Angels that isn’t expected to be competitive in 2027. We will see how it all works out but there is a way that the Angels can keep Suzuki in the fold while also getting Pujols to take on a more prominent role in the organization. 

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