Plans may already be set for what Albert Pujols’ full return to Angels would look like

For years, the name Albert Pujols has existed at the forefront of the Los Angeles Angels as a franchise. Pujols' struggles during his later years caused no shortage of debate amongst Angels fans, and, more recently, there had been open discussion about Pujols managing the Angels until talks broke down last offseason and LA went with Kurt Suzuki instead. Well, the "Pujols for Manager" campaign is far from dead, as it turns out.

As soon as John Mozeliak was named interim GM of the Angels, there was speculation that that connection could bring Pujols back in a more active role to the organization beyond his existing player services contract. While that could very well happen, Mozeliak's answer during a Q&A with The Athletic regarding Pujols may have laid the blueprint for Pujols' eventual takeover of the Angels' manager job.

If Albert Pujols wants to manage the Angels, it sounds like he is going to need more on-the-job training first

As has been customary (so far), Mozeliak was candid when talking about Pujols. Mozeliak did say that he had been in touch with Pujols already, although there weren't any in-depth conversations there just yet. As someone who is obviously and intimately familiar with Pujols and what he brings to the table, Mozeliak made sure to say that the door is always open to him to do so. However, managing the Angels may require him to work in the lower levels of the organization first. Here's exactly what Mozeliak had to say in that same Q&A with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal:

"We both know his goal right now is to be a manager somewhere. But if there’s something that helps bridge that in terms of having him available more to our minor leagues, big leagues, whatever that might look like, we haven’t discussed it. But obviously, we’re going to be open to it."

That is pretty interesting, and it does seem to indicate that Mozeliak is willing to give Pujols some opportunities to get more involved that could help prepare him to be a big league manager. It doesn't seem likely that he would fire a minor league manager just to accommodate Pujols (although this is the Angels we're talking about), but some sort of roving coach/instructor role or being an additional coach somewhere could easily happen. If that ends up being the move, you can bet that Suzuki's job security will be in even more jeopardy than it already is.

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