After years of poor performance and age catching up to him, the Los Angeles Angels finally bit the bullet and released future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.
His tenure with the Angels, which started in 2012 and ended a couple of weeks ago, wasn’t extremely fruitful.
The Angels advanced to the postseason only one time with Pujols on the roster, in 2014.
It’s extremely disappointing, since the Angels had not only Pujols, but also Mike Trout.
Pujols arrived in 2012, and judging by weighted Runs Created Plus (a stat that compiles offensive performance and adjusts it to era and ballparks), or wRC+, he was above-average for five seasons with the Halos.
But when he signed with the Angels, he was already declining, albeit slightly.
His performance dropped off a cliff by 2017, and he was never an above-average hitter again from that point on.
In any case, even though he was released, not every moment of his stay in Los Angeles was bad.
Here are two positives from his stay with the Angels.
Mike Trout on Albert Pujols: “I can’t thank him enough.”
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) May 7, 2021
He Achieved Some Milestones With An Eye On The Hall Of Fame
By now, we know that Albert Pujols is a surefire Hall of Famer.
When he decides to call it quits, he will have a plaque in Cooperstown in the next five years after that.
But the perception wasn’t so obvious when he left St. Louis, and he needed to keep playing and achieve some totals to convince voters of all ages and eras.
Now, we can say that he probably had a case for Cooperstown even if he didn’t sign that second contract.
But it wasn’t a sure thing back then, and of course, he wanted to keep playing and earning money doing what he loves.
With the Angels, Pujols hit home runs No. 500 and No. 600, for example.
He also had his 3,000th hit in an Angels uniform, and those are moments he won’t forget for a long time.
He Was A Positive Influence For Mike Trout
By the time Pujols signed his mammoth contract with the Angels, the organization had a talented right-handed hitter coming through the minor league system.
In fact, this rookie had made his debut in 2011, struggling in September.
But in 2012, Trout took over the league, won the American League Rookie of the Year award, and challenged for the MVP, an award that Miguel Cabrera ended up taking home.
We don’t have the details, but it’s likely that Pujols, one of the greatest right-handed hitters of his generation, helped Trout with a piece of advice throughout all these years.
Pujols’ presence as an accomplished veteran and on and off-the-field role model likely helped shape a wonderful career for Trout.
Cody Bellinger, one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ best players, recently said that he would try to absorb as much knowledge from Pujols as possible.
Cody Bellinger has a new locker and it’s next to Albert Pujols. “I know I’ll take full advantage of being next to a future Hall of Famer and try to learn from him as much as I can.” … Mike Trout had that opportunity for the last nine years. #Dodgers
— Jill Painter Lopez (@jillpainter) May 29, 2021
Imagine Trout, who had the privilege of having him as a teammate for 10 years.
Pujols’ time with the Angels perhaps wasn’t what he, or the front office, expected at the moment of signing the pact.
However, we can’t say there weren’t any positives to take from it.
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