Albert Pujols is back with the Cardinals, and he’ll wrap up his career where it began. Speaking to reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) at a press conference announcing his return to St. Louis, Pujols confirmed he’s planning to retire after the upcoming season. “This is it for me. This is my last run,” he told the group.
Pujols is headed into the 22nd season of a Hall of Fame career. He has spent a bit more than half that in Cardinal red, breaking into the big leagues with a Rookie of the Year-winning 2001 campaign. The slugging first baseman finished fourth in NL MVP voting his debut season, and he’d remain among the top five finishers in that balloting for all but one season in St. Louis ( a 2007 campaign in which he finished ninth).
During that run, Pujols claimed the MVP award on three separate occasions. He led MLB in OPS+ in four of the five seasons between 2006-10, claiming the Silver Slugger Award in each of the latter three years. Pujols went to the Midsummer Classic in nine of his first 11 seasons with the Cards and helped the club to a pair of World Series championships. Over his time in St. Louis, he posted an incredible .328/.420/.617 slash, averaging more than 40 home runs per season.
Of course, the second half of Pujols’ career wasn’t close to the otherworldly heights he reached during that time. Pujols posted above-average offensive numbers for each of his first five seasons in Orange County after signing a ten-year pact with the Angels during the 2011-12 offseason. He only put up excellent numbers during his first season with the Halos (.285/.343/.516 with 30 homers) as his batting average and on-base numbers sharply declined, although Pujols twice more eclipsed 30 longballs in Anaheim.
As his production continued to wane towards the end of that deal, the Angels released Pujols last May. He landed with the Dodgers and served as a righty platoon/bench bat before hitting the open market again this winter. In a full-circle moment, the 42-year-old agreed to head back to St. Louis for one final run last night.
Pujols has already racked up a laundry list of career accomplishments. His name dots the all-time leaderboards in most major categories. He’s 12th with 3,301 hits, and he’s just 18 knocks away from supplanting Paul Molitor in the top ten. Barring injury, he’s sure to get there this year. It’ll be harder — but not impossible — for Pujols to set another pair of achievements in the home run department. Already 5th all-time with 679 big flies, he needs 18 more to pass Alex Rodríguez for fourth-place and 21 homers to reach the 700-mark plateau. Pujols is 64 RBI from Babe Ruth for second-place in that category, and he has a chance to leapfrog both Willie Mays (38 away) and Stan Musial (92 away) on the total bases leaderboard.
Obviously, Pujols won’t shoulder the kind of workload he did early in his career. Paul Goldschmidt is the regular first baseman with the Cards, leaving the designated hitter role as the cleanest path to at-bats for Pujols. In recent seasons, he hasn’t hit well enough that a win-now St. Louis team will be committed to playing him everyday in that capacity, but he figures to pick up some pinch-hit work and starts against left-handed pitching. Cardinals fans will get an opportunity to watch Pujols chase those various milestones for a final six months, and he’ll go out alongside the two other players most synonymous with the past two decades of Cardinal baseball.
Yadier Molina has already announced plans to retire after this year himself. Adam Wainwright, who turns 41 in August, returned for a 17th season on a one-year deal over the offseason. There has been plenty of speculation over the past few seasons that Wainwright could soon step away himself, although he has yet to commit one way or the other. The three-time All-Star starter again demurred on his future this afternoon, telling reporters he’s “not crossing that bridge” at the moment (via John Denton of MLB.com).
To Wainwright’s credit, he has remained highly productive deep into his 30’s, showing even less of a drop-off in performance than either of his legendary teammates. All three players have been iconic members of the organization, and they’re now officially reunited for one last run. Whether Wainwright will join Molina and Pujols as outgoing stars remains to be seen, but the trio will be together this year in hopes of bringing a third World Series to St. Louis.
I thought he retired in 2012?
In order to retire, you need to put a period after you gave your best. Whatever he gave to LAA after he was traded, he’s about to give everyone a period with STL. HOF career
He was never traded.
My bad, correct, never traded but a well respected period due after a stint with STL in 2022.. Please don’t anyone throw dirt on this mans career. I’d often wondered if he stayed with STL, what would have been?
He’d have aged same way. His 10 year run first time around was amazing. We’re in his lull…later we’ll appreciate him much more. He was human in Anaheim.
He gave about 75% of what he could have with the Angels. What a complete waste of time and money, I imagine he wasn’t willing to take a role as a bench player and that’s why he was released only to fill in as a bench player with the Dodgers. He caused drama from the moment he walked in the door until he left.
Anyone playing for the Angels is in a kind of soft-retirement.
I thought Albert Pujols was never a team player for the Angels always pulling the outside pictures trying to always hit home runs very selfish
After watching him for 10 years
I’ve always had a suspicion, that his ego wasn’t even to stomach that he was never really the team star. He always struck me as a hood extremely competitive guy, that tried to pretend like he didn’t have an ego. His foray to the dodgers was literally about showing the selfish people who called him selfish that he wasn’t selfish… which was selfish.
He had several lower body issues that dampened his power. Adding the leg kick and becoming pull focused was his only way to produce any power.
He previously hit home runs all over the field so there would be no other reason for him to randomly decide to pull.
They loved signing guys for a decade on the backside of their careers.
Ohtani doesn’t seem like he’s in retirement mood. Looks like the big 3 for the cards this year are in “soft-retirement” mode. Wain=0, Yadier, and Uncle Albert.
he just continued to collect a paycheck
Everyone giving Pujols flack for the Angels years should actually be mad at Moreno. Artie outbid himself for Pujols. The Cardinals and Marlins were the other two teams and it wasn’t close.
Nah, that’s just when he stopped taking PEDs.
That’s a nasty accusation, what’s your proof?
Their comment is speculative, sure, but there’s no doubt his numbers dropped off drastically right after he secured a huge payoff
Easy Big Mac!!
Nothing to do with PEDs. Just likely lying about his age, the whispers of which the front office should’ve been aware of at the time.
I coached collegiate summer league and Pujols was in our league. It was open even then that he was older than reported. He was probably close to 35 when the Angels handed that contract.
But wow did he take off wh3n the pitching in pro ball improved.
Respect.
I get all the BS, but I shall be checking in daily o his pursuit of 700. Hope he gets it….
that he’s in this conversation shows “the BS” is assuredly BS. Maybe he wasn’t great as an Angel, but he grinded his way up the MLB All Time leaderboards. Respect.
Agreed DarkSide, he was one of the best ever while with the Cards.
When you consider the fact he’s likely a bit older than his stated age, it makes his accomplishments all the more impressive rather than the other way around.
I’m hardly a Pujols apologist, but his stint with the Angels saw the mass use of data metrics that basically took away his singles via shift. Sabermetrics also showed no 30+ year old should receive a 10 year contract. Add that his plantar fasciitis got exponentially worse and you’ve got a terrible contract for a seemingly solid dude.
And while I would say you won’t see these horrible contracts again, the Rangers went out and gave Corey Seager $325 million. So what do I know.
That was not hard to predict.
Bye bye- guy that mysteriously went from a fringe prospect to a superstar. Probably glad he met McGuire
No mystery – we all know what that was. Allegedly.
He was never a fringe prospect. He put up huge numbers in HS and JC.
The reason he was drafted so late was the legitimate concerns about his age. A 20 year old should obliterate pitching at those levels.
His career minor league slash line is .317/.378/.543.
Adjust his career for his real age and his meteoric rise and career decline become logical.
He was 20-24 in the minors. He was 24 when he debuted in St. Louis, started to decline at 32 with the Cards, still good until 34, then fell off a cliff at age 35 with the Angels.
Yet I look at him today at 42 and he looks 42.
Tom Brady looks younger than some of the 36 year olds I work with. Doesn’t mean much.
Healthy eating, exercise, Hair dye and Botox does wonders
He was probably the 3rd best hitter in our collegiate summer league. Adam LaRoche was there too. He took off the better the pitching got. But if he’s 42 I’d be shocked. HE might not even know his age. That was open way back before he was anything.
Hopefully the Mets eliminate the Cardinals in the playoffs and end Molina, Wainwright and Pujols’ careers.
Wow, where did they hurt you??
2006 NLCS
Legend has it Beltran is stands still at home to this day waiting for that curve ball
For that to happen, the Mets would first need to make the playoffs. Good to be hopeful. Albert will have a nice send off in St. Louis, whether he deserves it or not. Best right handed hitter of our time. Too bad he ditched baseball heaven for Arte’s cash but it worked out fine for the Cardinals.
The fact that he didn’t come back to St. Louis for 9 years, never sniffed a postseason win, and his numbers fell off while someone else was paying him really blunted the initial sting of him bailing for California.
He did sniff a postseason win, just with the Dodgers. Only took 10 years.
Yep, you’re right. I was thinking of the time between him leaving and the 2019 homecoming.
Despite his career numbers being a shell of what they were in st Luis this guy is one of the greatest hitters of our generation. I’m glad he’s going back to his home to end his HOF career
Just in time to apply for social security.
Finishes his career where it all began.. Great story arc, especially when it could be the last ride for Molina and Wainwright as well.
Over or under 57 years old for Albert?
At times I wondered if he lied about his age. The fact his production tanked so suddenly after leaving st Luis always amazed me
I pointed out when he left St. L that I thought he was 3 years older than he said he was. All 3 of his slash lines went down his last 3 seasons in st l. that shouldn’t happen in your age 29,30,31 seasons.
I won’t speculate about Pujols’ real age, but I will say that his declining production could be attributed to chronic injuries. His batting stance took a toll on his back and knees. Once those started to go, he was never the same player. Look at Don Mattingly’s career numbers before and after developing back trouble. There is no definitive age when those problems can occur. Everybody breaks down differently. Pujols rarely came out of the lineup while in St. Louis. He developed nagging injuries like everyone else but chose to play through them and remained remarkably productive in spite of them. The wear and tear of ten years of playing every day could cause a player to develop chronic conditions at an early age.
The increasing use of shifts hurt him.
He hit to all fields with the cards so that’s moot
While yes he did, as he aged he lost bat Soren which meant swinging sooner and pulling more
Did he really fall off a cliff though? I mean yeah he wasn’t “The Machine” anymore, but a lot of guys would kill to hit 222 home runs and drove in close to 800 in a ten year span is nothing to sneeze at and honestly perfectly fine as far as simply padding stats as he could have retired after 2011 and got in.
Under. Based on repeated remarks from Albert he’s 45.
Although I love to make jokes.
Yadi, Waino, and Pujols all retiring the same year. As a Dodger fan, that’s pretty sweet. Thanks for contributing to the history of the Cardinals. 3 of the best Cardinals of all time. Nothing but respect for all 3.
*tips hat*
Probably the greatest player of my generation I’ve ever seen play baseball besides A Rod and Miggy. All jokes aside, does anyone think he took steroids? His stats offensively are so otherworldly, it’s almost hard to imagine he didn’t juice. Not saying he juiced but I’m curious. His stats are crazy good from 2001 – 2011
It’s possible. But he also got better with better pro pitching. Some guys are like that. I saw both versions of him. Anyone says they saw that coming is a liar. He was 3 miles from Kauffman Stadium and KC past on him. No one saw that coming.
I really want him to play two more years. I’d like him to get 700 HRs, and once they ban the shift, he’ll be a much much better hitter.
He still hits the ball hard and down and can’t run. Countless hits have been taken away with the shift. I would guess hundreds.
@Halo11fan Why does the shift have to be banned? To quote Wee Willie Keeler “hit’em where they ain’t” Take the outside pitch the other way, all it takes is a few ground balls to the right side that dribble through and the defense will align to defend it. If a basketball player, hockey player, football player or soccer player always goes to their left and the defense loads that side are we going to ban that too? No, these are professional athletes, learn to use the whole field or perish hitting into the shift.
My thoughts exactly. “Adapt and overcome” has morphed into “that’s too hard so it should be banned”.
I HATE the idea of banning the shift. Learn to hit to the opposite field.
Even my beer league softball team plays the shift depending on the handedness of the batter. It’s just common sense to move to where the ball is most likely to be hit.
Last year he said he wouldn’t make an announcement and make it all about him.
Then again he’s said a lot of things.
Anyway, enjoy the victory lap old man. After he’s gone there really won’t be anyone in MLB my age for the rest of my life.
He also wasn’t expecting to be released by the Angels. Things change. Makes sense to make the announcement on the situation that he is in now.
It’ll be nice for him to retire at 47 years old.
The general consensus and rule of thumb is two fold:
1) the guys out of Cuba and the Dominican tend to fudge their age by 2-3 years, on average, so Pujols’ real age is likely 44-46 years old,
2) most power guys not on PEDs tend to hit their stride, peak and level off between 27-34 years old.
Based on these two unofficial rules of thumb, I think Pujols is actually 45.
Pujols doesn’t even know himself I bet
Oh brother. He wasn’t a prospect. No one cared how old he was when he came here, so why bother.
He went to a Junior College; He was drafted in the 13 round and got a 60,000-dollar bonus.
If he lied about his age subject to a federal criminal charge
But it doesn’t stop you people from making accusations based on zero evidence. After all, this is the internet, and you don’t need evidence to write whatever stupid thing you want.
What about quotes directly from Albert and people who have known him his entire life.
Should we not take Albert and Octavio Dotel at their word after two decades of interviews saying they were childhood friends who played baseball against each other in the DR?
Yes, people did care when he moved here: high school administrators. If he was past a certain cutoff no high school. His family made sure he got into high school.
the “rule of thumb” should be to find proof if you claim a dude is lying, but I guess the real rule of thumb is dead.
Add in the fact he’s often said he’s two years younger than his good friend Octavio Dotel, who revealed his real age after his playing career.
He might as well go until he hits his 700th Home run.
But he can’t run. He needs a wheelchair….
youtube.com/watch?v=N4nwMDZYXTI
This hasn’t been funny the last few times you posted it.
Interesting
1. It’s not funny.
2. I never posted that before.
3. Mute
He needs to get to 700 Home Runs this year.
I’ll take the under on that. 700 home runs in one year will be tough.
Cardinals over Orioles in 2031
Translation: the Cards said they absolutely, under no circumstances, will consider signing him again for the ’23 season (and every other team already said that for this season) so he’s pretending its his decision..plus he can get a full season retirement tour.
I have my doubts he’ll reach it, but suppose he finishes 2022 with 699 homers. Think he’ll stick with his retirement plans? Not a criticism. Just throwing it out there.
The Brewers could sign Brett Farve to throw him a soft toss the first week of the 2023 season. Pujols hits 700. He retires after crossing home. The Cards let Yelich have an inside the park homer to start the next inning.
If Pujols can get to 10 HRs by the end of May or early June, he’ll have a real chance at 700 so long as he can stay healthy. St. Louis will get a ton of national attention should he get to 690 that early. Smart move by St. Louis to do this. They will get national games scheduled during the Pujols watch; the contract will pay for itself should he get close.
@Dorothy_Mantooth, that does not seem probable. The Cards faced 37 LH starters in 2021. Assuming the same for 2022, Pujols will get about 6 starts per month. April and May about 48 at bats as a starter. In 2021 AL teams only averaged about 80 pinch hit at at bats per team vs the NL without the DH averaging 270 per team. With the DH in the NL, 80 should be expected, that would be 14 per month. Even if half of those are vs lefties, it’s only 14 at bats for Pujols in April and May combined. Given the above, Pujols will end May with about 62 at bats. 10 home runs in 62 at bats would be incredible….four home runs at the end of May is more likely.
You got crickets on MLB right now.. Pujols is an old generation now. They already sell games at Busch. It’s a blip. Shouldn’t be. But that’s how long and awful MLB has been at marketing it’s own product. Also what happens when your model is tarnishing records.
Ends season at 699. Does he retire?
Pujols is one of the 10 greatest hitters of all time by so many metrics and you bozos in the comments accusing him of steroids or lying about his age aren’t going to change that;)
I don’t believe he ever used steroids but he looks older than he says. He performed as if he was older with the Angels in a way Father Time would. That’s still not proof so end of day he is still a first ballot hall of famer.
I love the older-than-he-looks line. I’m old enough to remember Tiger 3Bman Don Wert. The guy was maybe 28 and he looked 60.
I’ve never accused him of steroids but his own comments reveal the lies about his age. I don’t even judge him for that, either. I’d want my kid to get an education if I was an immigrant.
I do look down on his not coming clean after the first contract extension with St. Louis.
Then again, most of baseball assumed he was lying about his age. Only Arte Moreno thought otherwise.
Pujols is both an all time great hitter and older than he says. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
The age doesn’t mean crap to me. He’s an amazing hitter. I don’t know about the roids….he got better in life as the pitching got better.
One of the greatest players this generation will ever see. And for us Cardinal fans we are elated and super excited too see him one last time in Cardinal red and we could care less what you jealous haters have to say.
Smartest thing they did was letting him go…and bringing him back. Solid solid organization
So many haters. No, he wasn’t what he was once he went to California. Age has a way of catching up to us all, and the grievances about him being paid so much-like you wouldn’t take the money? When you’re 55-65 in your prospective field are you gonna just say that your declining talent doesn’t warrant your pay rate? Utter nonsense. The man deserves every penny, and your opinion on that matter isn’t worth two cents. That said, LOL Angels
I hope Albert has a great time in St. Louis, he deserves a parade as one of the all time greats.
Appearances suggest he could have put some more effort into staying in physical shape. After all, they were paying him $30m a year. We have some control over our decline.
Quick maffs…… 10 years 240million.
Seems you might already be in decline.
Sorry. 24m. Still enough for that third bowl of ice cream.
So who’s going to be the nimrod writer who doesn’t vote for him for the HOF?
Someone that wants to keep Mariano as the only unanimous selection.
I think the Jeter mistake was valid because the writer could have voted for ten other guys and left Jeter off because he knew Jeter was getting voted in.
You are only given a finite number of “yes” votes. So if you already know a guy is getting in it actually makes sense to vote “no” on him and save that yes vote for someone who needs it more.
When was the last team to have 3 guys in their 40s?
2006 Giants had: Bonds, Finley, Alou
2007 Mets: Alou, Conine, Glavine, Alomar
Alomar was 39 but point taken- the Mets still had 3
Sandy Alomar Jr. was 40-41 for the 2007 Mets. His younger brother Roberto retired in 2004. I could have been more specific. Those 2007 Mets also had 41 year Orlando Hernandez and 48 year old Julio Franco, so 5 guys over 40.
Pujols wouldn’t get 18 home runs in 2022, even at the home run derby at the all star game with his own hand picked pitcher.
Will they have the stones to cut a franchise icon if he’s only hitting .183 in June?
He’s not going to get cut in his last year before retirement. He would just retire.
I would be willing to bet that he won’t get 64 RBI to pass the Babe. I don’t think he will get the 21 HR to get to 700, nor do I think he’ll get the 18 to pass Alex Rodriguez.
He will however, probably get the 18 hits to pass Molitor.
DH in the NL is gonna do wonders.
Good for him.
I could see him hitting DH against lefties, but I am not sure you will see him getting a bunch of AB’s against righties, but I wish him luck.
This is all for marketing and raise ticket prices, I was mad when he left and wish he stayed gone. I will not be attending a game this year.
Good don’t want Cardinal fans like you there anyway.
Your seat will go to somebody else. Cards will get the same amount of $. You really taught the Cards a lesson.
It only takes 1 to start a revolution….
One of the keys to his success was the fact that with his stance and his swing, his hits down the left field line almost never hooked foul.
Why? The A’s would sign him and he’s be their best player
Next year’s headline if he hits under 21 HRs:
“Albert Pujols Plans to Retire After ’23 Season”
At least 3 years late, but good.
I’m not sure how I feel about players that set themselves up for a farewell tour. Any thoughts?
The first game my Dad took me to was Johnny Bench’s last game in St. Louis. Rousing applause for a great career, plaque ceremony, overall a nice send-off. I’ve seen a few of these through the years at Busch Stadium and really like the farewell tours.
Yes, for the guys who did not cheat, it gives the fans a chance to say goodbye and the player a chance to say thank you.
For the Cardinals, they have a chance to sell a lot more tickets!
To me it means they had phenomenal careers..it’s cool. What I’d love to see is the guys who had flashes get the same. Tim Lincecum….fade away
He didn’t sign for the money as his career earning is roughly 345 million. He certainly didn’t sign for the opportunity to win a championship as that team has a zero shot at even making the postseason. He signed to get those numbers up. If they’re still not there, he’ll latch on somewhere next year until they are.
Zero shot at making the postseason…. somebody come get your boy and explain “baseball” to him…
I hope he gets his 21 homers this year to get him to 700. He did it the legit way without juicing. You can never know for sure, but I hope that’s true.