Tom Krasovic: Albert Pujols could be ideal fit for Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Padres
If Albert Pujols becomes manager of the Padres, Manny Machado might feel like he’s gone to baseball heaven.
Manny being Manny would become easier, what with Pujols, 45, serving as a big brother across an annual journey that spans up to nine full months.
Game recognizes game, and Machado, 33, knows Pujols was a baseball god.
When the former St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Angels first baseman goes onto the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for 2028, voters will check his name without any debate or research needed.
Machado has played for numerous managers who helped out.
Buck Showalter brought rare attention to detail with the Baltimore Orioles. Bob Melvin lent a former big league catcher’s savvy to a Machado-led Padres run to the 2022 National League Championship Series. Mike Shildt, on the helm for consecutive Padres seasons of 90 wins or more, drew from the teachings of St. Louis Cardinals greats.
Pujols, who is set to interview with the club on Wednesday, would bring a player’s wisdom to Machado and his Padres teammates.
The moment he pulled on a Padres cap, he would command respect for the greatness he attained as a player.
Especially for a manager-star relationship, that’s a fertile place to begin.
If Machado needed to hear hard truths, such as, say, being more open to reducing mileage on his body, Pujols could do it.
Pujols is well-acquainted, too, with the burdens of being the face of a franchise with World Series title aspirations every year.
It’s hard to overstate the level of attention Pujols received from Cardinals fans and media.
On top of being close to a perfect baseball player, Pujols attended high school and college in Missouri and was drafted by the Cardinals.
I learned about Cardinals fandom through several relatives in St. Louis and covering many games at Busch Stadium.
Fans clung to Pujols, if from afar.
An elderly relative of mine, confined by health challenges, found relief and joy from Cardinals telecasts every day. More than any player, she urged on “Poojie.” When Pujols was told how he brightened her days, he smiled, nodded and said he’d heard many many such testimonies. Some Cardinals fans, he added, chose to be buried with his jersey.
Handling the hyper-attention, Pujols led the Cardinals to a pair of World Series titles.
Padres star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., 26, and shortstop Xander Bogaerts, 33, would join Machado in gaining a manager who lived the life of an everyday player on a lucrative long-term contract.
But he could relate firsthand to many other Padres players.
Take Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill, whose bright rookie season at age 21 spurred outside expectations of stardom.
Pujols inflated expectations to absurd levels via a rookie year in which he, at 21, had 37 home runs, 47 doubles and a .329 batting average.
Familiar with how unheralded players have to overcome preconceptions, he proved to be undaunted as a 13th-round pick.
Accustomed to position changes, like one Machado someday may face, Pujols was moved from third base to first base after his first minor league season.
Importantly, he understands the career phase Machado and Bogaerts face. The infielders are both under contract through age 40.
Pujols was entering his age-32 season when he joined the Angels on a 10-year, $240-million contract in 2011.
Ultimately, he would author one more big surprise — hitting 24 home runs at age 42 after joining the Cardinals for his final season.
Machado carries extra importance to Padres teams and player payroll implications because his salary will soar some $14 million beyond that of Bogaerts to $39 million per year for the contract’s final six years.
Fluent in English and Spanish, Pujols was born in the Dominican Republic, a country Machado has represented in the World Baseball Classic.
The Dominican Republic was the homeland of Machado’s grandfather, Francisco Nunez, a mentor who lived with the family when Manny was a boy in Miami. Honoring his grandfather, Machado carves “FN” into the dirt at Padres games.
Dominican culture being what it is, Pujols would be family, too.
“Dominican culture is very family-oriented,” wrote Machado, who was born in Miami, in The Players’ Tribune eight years ago. “Family is everything to us, and we treat all Dominicans as if they were family.”
If the next Padres manager is someone who walked for many years in baseball cleats bigger than his own and qualifies as family, here’s predicting Machado would have an extra bounce to his step for a while.
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