Albert Pujols, Angels end talks regarding managerial opening

Albert Pujols won’t be the next manager of the Angels, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman writes that Pujols and the club have broken off talks due to differences between the sides regarding “coaches, resources and compensation.” The Athletic’s Sam Blum reports that while circumstances could change, it’s believed to be “very unlikely” that the sides find common ground after being unable to get close in terms of dollars and years on a hypothetical contract.

It wasn’t long ago that Pujols appeared to be the prohibitive favorite for the job. Blum reports that when Pujols and Minasian met in St. Louis 11 days ago to discuss the managerial job, the conversation went well and there was momentum towards a contract. Clearly, however, there was a financial gap between the sides that they were unable to bridge. 

One wrinkle in the matter is the 10-year, $10M personal services contract Pujols signed with the Angels during his free agent negotiations with the club back in 2011. There are still seven years and $7M remaining on that contract, and previous reporting indicated that the deal could be a factor in negotiations though it’s unclear exactly what role it played.

While Pujols likely won’t be the next manager in Anaheim, that doesn’t mean he won’t be in a dugout next year. The future Hall of Famer is set to interview with both the Padres and Orioles, though he faces more competition in the races for those jobs than he did in Anaheim. 

Pujols was more or less the only candidate being considered by the Halos until talks began to stall. By contrast, both the Padres and Orioles have been connected to Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, while interim Orioles manager Tony Mansolino remains a candidate in Baltimore and the Padres have also been connected to Rangers special assistant Nick Hundley.

As for the Angels, former players Torii Hunter and Kurt Suzuki are set to interview for the position. Blum reports that both are in the mix and that Hunter in particular is still a candidate but “not a slam-dunk” to land the job. He adds that while the team has interest in speaking to former Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, it’s unclear if that interest is mutual with either ex-skipper. Baldelli recently expressed an interest in returning to the dugout at some point but indicated he could look to take some time away from the game to spend with his family. Hyde, meanwhile, is known to have spoken to Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey amid San Francisco’s managerial search.

Perhaps with Pujols no longer in consideration, the Angels will advance their managerial search in the coming days. That could offer some clarity on the status of possible candidates like Hyde and Baldelli, as well as other possible targets like Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and former Astros manager Bo Porter, who served as the Angels’ third base coach this season and has expressed interest in Anaheim’s managerial gig both publicly and privately after interviewing for the position two years ago before the hiring of Ron Washington.