Steve Webb
After a weekend of rumors and things almost but not quite confirmed, the Dodgers and future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols made it official on Monday. The slugging first baseman will be in Dodger Blue for the rest of the 2021 season.
Pujols takes to Twitter to confirm deal
Albert himself was on social media today as well, releasing a statement through his Twitter account. It said, in part, “The role that Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts have presented to me is one that I embrace.”
“I am excited to be part of the Dodger family and want to thank Andrew, Dave and the rest of the Dodger organization for this opportunity,” the Tweet continued. “My goal is the same as it’s always been – to help the ballclub win a championship in 2021. I’ve seen up close just how talented this team is and I look forward to contributing.”
Pujols comes with a hefty resumé
Pujols is the Majors’ active leader in home runs (667), RBIs (2,112), runs scored (1,852) and games played (2,886), and he’s fourth among active players in career OPS (.921). He was designated for assignment by the Angels on May 6 and cleared waivers on Thursday.
But let’s be honest, this is not the superstar Pujols the Dodgers are getting. He’s 41 years old. He was .198 with five homers and 12 RBIs over 86 at-bats for the Angels before they cut him loose. He’ll be a bench player to be sure, but he joins a bench that has been depleted of late.
So where could the Dodgers use him? Well, certainly he can give Max Muncy a break from time to time at first base. And, in inter-league play, he can be a DH in the American League parks. Plus, with the injury to Corey Seager over the weekend, I could see Muncy moving to second occasionally with Lux or Taylor playing short.
Obviously, he will be a better pinch-hitting option than the minor-league call-ups that have been getting the late inning at bats of late. With five home runs on the season, Pujols has shown that he still has quite a bit of pop in that bat of his. I’m sure there’ll be numerous opportunities this year for him to get a big hit for the Dodgers after so many times he got that big hit against the Dodgers in the last twenty years.
At the end of the day, I’m just excited to have this opportunity to wear this uniform.
Albert Pujols
Pujols focuses on positive to press
Pujols was introduced to the media in a Monday afternoon press conference. Wearing a Dodger hat and shirt, Pujols was all smiles and said that he didn’t hold any hard feelings to the rather unceremonious way that he was let go from the Halos. He said that after talking to Roberts and Friedman, he became convinced that he could be happy to join this time on its question to be repeat champions. “Whatever,” he said when asked about his role with the team. “Pinch hit, first base, whatever they want. At the end of the day, I’m just excited to have this opportunity to wear this uniform.”
Okay, let’s do this…
