Pujols signs 1-year deal with Dodgers
Albert Pujols has signed a major league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, moving 30 miles north to extend his remarkable career after being let go by the Los Angeles Angels.
The 41-year-old Pujols formalized his one-year deal Monday with the defending World Series champions after agreeing to make the move last weekend.
Pujols started Monday night at first base against Arizona and batted fourth. He flied out to center in his first at-bat.
Pujols was unceremoniously cut by the Angels earlier this month in an abrupt end to his largely unsuccessful 10year, $240 million tenure with
the Orange County club. The struggling Halos will pay all but about $420,000 of Pujols’ $30 million salary this season while he plays on with their local rivals.
The Angels said they broke up with Pujols because he wanted to play every day, but they have two players at his positions — first baseman Jared Walsh and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani — with far superior offensive numbers.
Yet Pujols is joining the Dodgers as a clear backup and situational player, suggesting that playing on — and playing for — a title contender again after nine mostly dismal seasons in Anaheim were more important to the 10-time AllStar and two-time World Series champion.
Pujols, who began his career with 11 prolific seasons in St. Louis, has 667 career homers, and he is 13th in big league history with 3,253 hits. He batted .198 with five homers and 12 RBIs this year while playing in 24 of the Angels’ 29 games.
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