Having struggled to remain healthy and produce with any sort of consistency, there was a growing belief the 2021 regular season could be the last for Albert Pujols as it was the final year on his contract.
Pujols’ wife inadvertently stoked the fire back in Spring Training with an Instagram post that announced her husband would indeed retire at the end of the season. However, she later clarified it was merely a possibility, and Pujols himself continued to push the topic off.
Pujols appeared reinvigorated after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the remainder of the year and continued to state his focus solely was on helping the team pursue a second consecutive World Series title.
Now playing in the Dominican Winter League for the first time in his illustrious career, Pujols strongly suggested he would not yet retire, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
He wasn’t asked directly if he would definitively return next season, but the 41-year-old said he’s not yet ready to announce his retirement.
“I’ve always said that I’m going to retire when I feel it’s time,” Pujols said in Spanish. “I don’t think my time to retire has come. I don’t want to sit in my house next year, knowing that I can still keep playing.”
The idea that the future Hall of Famer would continue playing at the Major League level in 2022 first surfaced once it was reported Pujols would join the Leones del Escogido (LIDOM) this winter.
The 41-year-old is poised to be among the 11 Dodgers who reach free agency once the World Series concludes. It can be presume there would be some level of interest between the parties on continuing the relationship.
Roberts believes in Pujols
If Pujols indeed continues to playing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts would be among his supporters and hardly surprised.
“I think Albert can do whatever he wants to do and if he wants to play next year he’s certainly going to be a really good contributor to whatever ballclub,” Roberts said during the postseason.
“You learn not to bet against Hall of Fame ballplayers because they understand what it takes to have success and they understand how their bodies, skillset might have changed or diminished a little bit because of age, which that happens to everyone, but how to still be productive and he’s a winning baseball player and he’s been huge for us.”
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