Sources: Pujols to manage in ’24-25 winter ball

Future Hall of Fame first baseman Albert Pujols has agreed to manage the Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido during the 2024-25 winter league, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

The Leones play in Santo Domingo, where Pujols grew up. He later played for Escogido in the lead-up to a 2022 season that became his last as a major league player. Pujols — one of only two men, along with Hank Aaron, to reach 700 home runs, 3,000 hits and 2,000 RBIs — aspires to someday be a major league manager. His stint with Escogido will be a first step in his hopes of accomplishing that goal.

Since retiring after the 2022 season, Pujols, 44, has done on-air work for MLB Network and has been hired by Major League Baseball as a special assistant focusing mostly on the sport’s outreach in the Dominican Republic.

Pujols’ longtime St. Louis Cardinals teammate, Yadier Molina, managed the Puerto Rican Criollos de Caguas team that reached this year’s Caribbean Series.