When Albert Pujols was designated for assignment last week, then subsequently released, the conventional thought centered on how difficult it seemed to identify a fit for the 10-time All-Star, particularly within a National League that is no longer utilizing the designated hitter. The fact that Pujols ultimately agreed to sign not just with a National League team but with the National League team certainly registered as a shock. But here's the thing:
A 41-year-old Albert Pujols joining the Los Angeles Dodgers actually makes some sense.
You just have to look a little closer.
The Dodgers, of course, are set at first base with Max Muncy, who has started 33 of the team's first 39 games at the position. But Muncy also has the ability to play second or third base. If the Dodgers want to give Muncy or Justin Turner a day off -- or back off a bit on Gavin Lux, the young second baseman who slashed only .235/.267/.327 through his first 105 plate appearances -- Pujols can play first base. Mostly, though, he will be counted on to drive in runs off the bench.
The Dodgers are an overwhelming, consistent offensive force, but they have been a little worse against left-handed pitching in recent years. Heading into Saturday, their 2021 OPS against lefties stood at .663, 49 points below the major league average. Pujols, meanwhile, possesses an .878 OPS against lefties in what has otherwise been another down year. His splits had hardly ever been drastic, but Pujols is OPS'ing 120 points higher against lefties than righties since the start of the 2019 season.
What he can ultimately provide the Dodgers remains to be seen. Pujols owns a .198/.250/.372 slash line in 92 plate appearances in 2021 and has been a below-average hitter by park-adjusted OPS over the past five years, a stretch in which he has been worth negative-1.8 Baseball-Reference wins above replacement.
But his expected slugging percentage of .513 -- his best since Statcast burst onto the scene in 2015 -- suggests he has also been unlucky this year. He will be motivated, both by the idea of disproving doubters -- on the Angels and beyond them -- and the prospect of playing on a championship contender. And given the Dodgers' reputation, which includes getting important contributions from the likes of Chase Utley and David Freese at the end of their respective careers, Pujols will probably be placed in situations to succeed.
"You never know what Albert has up his sleeve," Mike Trout said, with a noticeable grin, shortly after the Angels let him go. "It's gonna be interesting."
But will it ultimately get uncomfortable?
Pujols, like most elite superstars, doesn't like sitting on the bench. The Angels framed their decision to cut ties with him so suddenly and coldly as a reaction to Pujols' desire to play regularly. With Jared Walsh at first base and Shohei Ohtani at DH, regular playing time was no longer possible in Anaheim.
"He wants to play every day at first base," Angels president John Carpino said. "His passion is driving there. He really believes it."
Now he'll play part time for a superior team that resides only 30 miles north, a route navigated by Bobby Abreu 10 years earlier. The Dodgers were up front with Pujols about his limited role, which will mostly involve late-game pinch-hitting, and believe he is fully on board. They wouldn't have signed him otherwise. But that role will require a lot of adjusting.
Pujols, a three-time NL MVP, has taken 12,486 career plate appearances and only 41 of them -- 0.33% -- have come as a pinch hitter. His last hit in that situation came in 2009. Pujols yearns to play -- so much so that he is open to the possibility of extending his career into 2022, when a universal DH is expected to be implemented for good. But he also yearns to win. And he didn't do any of the latter in nine-plus years with the Angels, who consistently failed to put together a good enough pitching staff in support of Trout.
Maybe his brief stint as a free agent taught him that this is a role he needs to accept.
Maybe he'll give the Dodgers just enough.