By Jordan Long
Baseball season is upon us. The Los Angeles Angels will have their first Spring Training game, assuming everything starts on time, February 28th against the Giants. Angels’ first baseman Albert Pujols is in the last year of his current deal. He is scheduled to be a free agent in 2022. His future is up in the air after this year.
Pujols is one of the top hitters in the game. Last year in a shortened season he hit .224 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI’s. In his career to this point, he has smacked 662 home runs, 5th on the All Time list. If he totals 34 more, he will pass Alex Rodriguez for 4th . In hits Pujols is 15th in MLB history with 3,236. His total batting average in his career is .299.
When it comes to fielding, Pujols can be trusted at 1st base. He rarely mishandles a baseball. Last year he committed 2 errors. Even though Pujol’s defense is pretty decent, amazingly he only has 2 Gold Gloves.
Pujols doesn’t have any plans after this season. According to CBSsports.com, Pujols said, “Right now, I don’t have a plan for the future. I have worked all winter to be ready from the first day of training. I will take this year day by day, without creating expectations. There are things that happen that you cannot control.”
Pujols is right. He can’t control what happens after this year. The truth is it could be time for him to walk away. Pujols will be 42 next season which is getting up there for a baseball player. Teams may not want to take a chance on a player of that age at 1st base. It could be an American League team takes a chance with him at the designated hitter spot.
If he retires after the year, Pujols has done a lot in baseball that most athletes only dream of. He has been voted into the All-Star Game 10 times. Pujols won NL MVP 3 times and is a 2 time World Series Champion when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. There is nothing left for him to play for. Pujols career is Hall of Fame worthy. That should be his next stop. Pujols will take his time after this year to decide what his next move will be. Hopefully for him, his career will end on a high note even if the Angels don’t make a run to the World Series.
Leave a Reply