Pujols Sits Down With Astros as Houston Weighs a Bold Call on Its Next Manager

There are managerial interviews, and then there is Albert Pujols walking into Daikin Park to talk about running the Houston Astros. The future Hall of Famer sat down with the club this week, according to The Athletic's Chandler Rome, in the most eye-catching twist yet of a search that has already remade the top of the organisation.

Pujols arrived in Houston on Wednesday night and interviewed on Thursday, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reported, meeting the man who will ultimately make the call: Randy Flores, the Astros' newly hired general manager and a former St. Louis Cardinals teammate. The two men played together in St. Louis from 2004 to 2008 and won the 2006 World Series side by side. Now Flores, hired this week after the club parted ways with general manager Dana Brown in August, is deciding whether to hand his old teammate the keys to the dugout.

It would be quite the appointment. Pujols, 46, retired in 2022 as one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen — an 11-time All-Star, a three-time National League MVP, and the owner of 703 career home runs. He has been open since the day he stopped playing that he wants to manage, and he has been building the case ever since. He managed Leones del Escogido to Dominican Winter League and Caribbean Series titles in 2024-25, and he led the Dominican Republic at this year's World Baseball Classic. He interviewed for the Angels' and Padres' openings last winter, going deep into the process in San Diego before the Padres opted for Craig Stammen, and he let it be known in June that he was interested when the Mets' job came open.

None of that makes him a safe hire, and Houston knows it. Pujols has never managed in the major leagues, and the Astros are not a rebuilding club looking for a patient teacher — they are a proud franchise coming off an 81-81 season and a wild-card elimination, with a fanbase that expects to be back in October. They parted ways with Joe Espada after three seasons in charge, and the next manager will be judged from the first week of spring training. A famous name buys no grace period in that job.

But there is a logic to it that goes beyond the name. Pujols is in the fourth year of a 10-year personal-services contract with the Angels, where he works as a consultant, and he has spent his retirement studying the game from the other side of the white lines. His winter-ball title and his World Baseball Classic run showed he can handle a clubhouse full of stars and egos. And Flores, who played with him for five seasons, knows better than anyone what kind of leader he is when the pressure comes.

The Astros have not confirmed any interviews, and Pujols is far from the only name in the frame. Former catcher Brad Ausmus, who has managed the Tigers and Angels, is on their radar, Texas Rangers bench coach Luis Urueta is due to interview this weekend, and former Astro Morgan Ensberg will also get a sit-down. But none of those names will move the needle in Houston the way this one does. If the Astros want a new era, they could hardly pick a louder way to announce it.