Former Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols could be once step closer to a potential job as the club’s next manager.<\/p>\n
Pujols met with Angels general manager Perry Minasian on Thursday for “preliminary discussions” on a potential managerial deal, The Athletic’s Sam Blum and Katie Woo<\/a> reported Friday.<\/p>\n Blum and Woo wrote that the meeting with Minasian “is believed to have gone very well” and that “at this point, sources say, it is essentially Pujols’ choice of whether he wants the job.”<\/p>\n According to Blum and Woo, “an announcement is not expected to be imminent.”<\/p>\n Pujols spent parts of 10 seasons with the Angels as a player from 2012 to 2021. He rejoined<\/a> the club as a special assistant ahead of the 2023 season.<\/p>\n The Angels announced<\/a> earlier this month that neither manager Ron Washington nor interim manager Ray Montgomery would retain their roles in 2026.<\/p>\n Los Angeles declined a 2026 option for Washington, who spent the end of the 2025 season away from the team after undergoing heart surgery. Montgomery, who finished out the campaign in Washington’s place, was offered<\/a> a different role in the organization.<\/p>\n The New York Post’s Jon Heyman<\/a> originally reported on Oct. 1 that Pujols would “be among those interviewed” for the Angels’ vacancy.<\/p>\n