Albert Pujols clears the air about so-called dramatic Angels exit

Albert Pujols attempted to squash any beef between he and the Los Angeles Angels.

Ahead of his Los Angeles Dodgers debut, longtime Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols took the time to clear the air about his abrupt Anaheim departure.

Pujols is nowhere near the superstar player he used to be when he won MVPs and World Series as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Though proudly a member of the 600-home run club and the 3,000-hit club, Pujols was mostly stat-chasing at this point in relative anonymity with the Angels. However, he did say he did not demand the Angels play him every day at this point in his career.

When you are hitting .198 on the season in your age-41 season, it’x safe to say you are no longer an everyday player.

Albert Pujols was no longer an every day player with the Los Angeles Angels

Pujols signing with the Dodgers was incredibly strange. One would have thought that only American League teams would be in the market for him because he could still get starts for them at DH. However, Dodgers general manager Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts apparently have a plan for him. Whatever it is, it has to work, because the Dodgers need help.

After starting off the year blisteringly hot, the Dodgers have cooled down considerably. While they have a decent record of 22-18 heading into Monday night’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers find themselves in an unfamiliar third place in the division, two games back of the arch-rival San Francisco Giants. Maybe adding Pujols to the mix is a means to shake things up?

No matter how things ended between Pujols and the Angels, it is time for both parties to move on.