Dodgers: Albert Pujols disputes Angels exit story and swears by secret plan

The Los Angeles Dodgers have Albert Pujols on the roster, but not the payroll (thanks, Angels!) for the remainder of 2021, and they seem to know exactly what they’d like to do with him.

What … what, exactly? Well, that’s for Pujols and the team to know, and you to find out.

The Dodgers introduced their new Hall of Famer (casual) to the media Monday, and a few hours after it was revealed that he’d be wearing the double nickel in Dodger Blue, he answered questions about what had been perceived as a confusing exit from Anaheim.

The baseball reasons behind the Angels cutting Pujols loose made sense; after all, he hasn’t performed at an above-average level as a full-timer for several seasons now. We’d also heard tell, though, that he had no interest in being a bench player when approached by team brass, which did not mesh with him signing with the Dodgers, a team that will not be starting him.

So, what gives?

According to Pujols, none of what we heard was true — though this is obviously only one side of the disagreement.

Albert Pujols understands he won’t be playing every day with the Dodgers.

The cold-hearted version of the Pujols story seems fairly easy to map out. Whether naively or not, the Angels’ ownership group believed the slugger might turn himself around and reach several hard-to-capture milestones with the club (either that, or they were satisfied enough by him passing 660 home runs in 2020).

Once it became clear there wasn’t much more there to squeeze out of the tube, the LAA absorbed a hefty financial loss to remove Pujols from their roster … though, oddly, there wasn’t a clear need to do so. They didn’t promote a top prospect or move a different player back to their natural position. They just ditched Pujols.

What’s next for the icon of the game in a part-time role? Only the Dodgers and Pujols’ people know the extent of the secret plan that’s about to unfold in real time. Andrew Friedman, you genius.

We may not know for sure, but we can take a stab at what exactly is “between them”: Pujols hit .259 with three homers in 27 at-bats against lefties this season after hitting .261 with 11 homers off them in 2019 (.236 with 12 bombs off righties).

From one side of the plate, the 41-year-old has been downright useful, and though the Dodgers don’t have a DH spot, they do have this trick up their sleeve.

We’re excited to see Pujols get a chance to build on his legacy, from the starting nine or in a key bench spot.

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