Albert Pujols to interview for Astros manager job

Albert Pujols wants to be a Major League Baseball manager, and one of his former teammates is going to give him a chance at the job.

Pujols is reportedly set to interview for the Houston Astros vacant managerial job on Thursday. 

That report comes from ESPN's Jeff Passan and Aidan Gonzalez, as well as Dominican reporter Mike Rodriguez who was first on the news. 

Albert Pujols set to interview for Astros manager job

The Astros are going through some major organizational turnover following a disappointing 2026 season that resulted in an 81-81 record a wild-card sweep. Those changes started with Randy Flores being hired as the team's new general manager. 

Flores comes to the Astros from the St. Louis Cardinals organization where he was the team's assistant general manager. Prior to his front office career, Flores was a long-time relief pitcher and spent five years with the Cardinals where he was one of Pujols' teammates. 

While Pujols has never managed in the major leagues, he does have some experience in the role.

He has managed in the Dominican Winter League (winning a championship), and was also the manager of the Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, leading the team to the semifinals.

As a player, Pujols is one of the greatest right-handed hitters in the history of the league while his 703 home runs are fourth on the Major League Baseball all-time list.

He spent his career split between the Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels. 

Pujols is technically under contract with the Angels on a 10-year personal services contract that is only halfway through. If he wants to take the Astros job (or if he gets offered it) some sort of buyout would need to be negotiated. 

The Astros have been one of the most successful franchises in the league for more than a decade now, reaching seven consecutive American League Championship Series between 2017 and 2023. That run included four trips to the World Series and two World Series championships (2017 and 2022; they lost in 2019 and 2021). 

Since that last ALCS trip in 2023, the Astros have seen their win total drop every year, going from 88, to 87, to 81 this past season, while they have not won a single playoff game over that stretch, being swept twice and missing the playoffs one time.

Even though the team has remained competitive, it is very clear they are not playing and competing up to the standards that were set for themselves. Now changes are coming. Those changes could include a future Hall of Famer player taking over in the dugout.