The Los Angeles Angels are in a very weird spot right now. They let go of their manager Kurt Suzuki and their interim general manager John Mozeliak said that he will not be staying on beyond December. The team has not been officially sold to new principal owner Stan Kroenke yet and while it was assumed that would happen at the GM meetings, that is now unclear based on reporting from Jeff Fletcher. The Angels aren’t going to hire a new GM until the sale officially goes through and they probably won’t hire a new manager until they have a GM in place which means that they are essentially in limbo.
As if things could not get any worse, Albert Pujols is going to interview with the Houston Astros for their managerial vacancy. Pujols has been seen as a logical fit as the manager of the Angels given the fact that he played for the Halos for years and is still technically on their payroll, so if he were to instead end up as the manager of an American League West rival that would really be a gut punch to Los Angeles.
The tough thing is that the Angels can’t really do anything about it. They could bring Pujols in to interview, as he did last year, but if they offered him the job without a GM in place that runs the risk that whoever they hire might not get along with Pujols and the two may butt heads. It is standard practice for the GM or president of baseball operations to select the manager so until they hire that person they are basically just frozen.
Albert Pujols has wanted to be a big league manager for a while
Pujols has made his desire to manage in the big leagues quite clear. He has managed a Dominican Winter League team and managed the Dominican Republic team during the 2026 World Baseball Classic so he has some coaching experience in addition to his Hall of Fame career as a player. He would make so much sense for an Angels organization that is in desperate need of excitement and could really capitalize on Arte Moreno’s departure as majority owner of the franchise.
The product on the field has not been very good for a long time as the Angels have not had a winning season since 2015 and they lost 100 games for the first time in franchise history in 2026. A big name like Pujols could be the guy they need to get things turned around but if he ends up going to the Astros while the Halos are essentially stuck in neutral then he could end up tormenting the franchise for years to come.
Angels’ Nightmare Albert Pujols Scenario Is Coming True With GM Search In Limbo