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ANAHEIM 鈥� Albert Pujols鈥� career with the Angels ended abruptly in a shocking development on Thursday morning.

The Angels announced they had designated Pujols for assignment, essentially releasing the future Hall of Famer. The Angels were hamstrung in the way they could frame the parting of ways with Pujols because he made it clear to the organization that he intends to keep playing.

Pujols did not release a statement and his representatives did not make him available to the media. He had said before the season that .

Pujols, 41, is in the final year of a 10-year, $240聽million deal, including $30 million in salary this year. The Angels will be responsible for paying for the entire remaining amount of his salary, less the major league minimum, if another team picks him up.

Pujols has struggled to a .198 average and a .622 OPS this season. He has hit five home runs.

General Manager Perry Minasian said that they had been pondering this decision for a couple of weeks, and ultimately decided that they wanted Jared Walsh to be the everyday first baseman and Shohei Ohtani to be the everyday DH, which left no room for Pujols.

鈥淗e鈥檚 motivated to play,鈥� Minasian said. 鈥淔or us, him on the bench not getting the at-bats he wants doesn鈥檛 do him any good, doesn鈥檛 do us any good. We felt it best for us to move forward and change directions to a certain extent.鈥�

Owner Arte Moreno, who agreed to sign Pujols in December 2011, said in a statement that he was grateful for what Pujols had contributed in nearly a decade in Anaheim.

鈥淭he Angels Organization proudly signed Albert Pujols in 2011, and are honored that he has worn an Angels jersey for nearly half of his Hall-of-Fame career,鈥� Moreno said. 鈥淎lbert抖阴ap historical accomplishments, both on and off the field, serve as an inspiration to athletes everywhere, and his actions define what it means to be a true Superstar. Since his Rookie of the Year Season in 2001, Albert and his wife Deidre have generously given their time and resources to countless charities throughout the world. We are thankful to the entire Pujols Family.鈥�

Pujols鈥� contract includes a 10-year personal services contract that begins after he retires. Of course, there is no indication that his retirement is imminent.

Minasian said Pujols made it clear in their conversations on Wednesday night that he wants to play.

鈥淗e鈥檚 as motivated as he鈥檚 ever been,鈥� Minasian said. 鈥淚f there were at-bats for him here, it鈥檇 be different. Let me put it this way, if he does go somewhere else and pursue playing somewhere else, I would not bet against him.鈥�

Angels president John Carpino said Pujols was 鈥減assionate鈥� during their conversation on Wednesday night. Minasian said Pujols did not get angry, though.

鈥淭here was no fight,鈥� Minasian said. 鈥淭here was no argument. This was a conversation that went back and forth. He expressed his feelings. We expressed ours. He understood where we stood with the situation. Things did not end badly. I gave him a big hug.鈥�

Pujols said last week, when he was hitting .224, that he was satisfied with the way he was swinging the bat.

鈥淢y swing is always there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you look at the batting average, you can be discouraged if you see .224, .226, but I think I could be hitting .350 if I had better luck. I鈥檓 swinging the bat really well since Day 1 of spring training.鈥�

In spring training the Angels certainly did not plan for Pujols to play every day in 2021, but there were avenues for him to get some playing time.

When Ohtani was a two-way player in 2018, the Angels gave him frequent days off as a DH around his pitching assignments. He didn鈥檛 hit the day before or after he pitched, or the day he pitched. Had they done that again, that would have created built-in days for Pujols to be the DH. However, Ohtani proved through the season鈥檚 first month that he can be productive without those days off, and the Angels have put him in the lineup just about every day.

The Angels were also unsure if Walsh was an everyday first baseman because his entire r茅sum茅 to win that job consisted of one hot month at the end of 2020, followed by a disappointing spring in 2021. A month into the season, though, Walsh has picked up where he left off, hitting .333 with six homers and a .988 OPS.

After outfielder Dexter Fowler was suffered a season-ending knee injury in early April, Walsh spent some time in right field while Pujols played first. But the Angels eventually decided they were a better team with Walsh at first and someone else 鈥� Juan Lagares or Taylor Ward 鈥� playing right.

Pujols is one of just four players with 3,000 hits and 600 homers, joining Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Alex Rodriguez.

He will certainly be remembered more for his days with the St. Louis Cardinals than with the Angels. He hit .328 with a 1.037 OPS in 11 years in St. Louis, including three National League MVP awards and two World Series titles. With the Angels, Pujols hit .256 with a .758 OPS.

He hit his 500th and 600th homers with the Angels, and he also collected his 3,000th hit and 2,000th RBI in an Angels uniform.

While maintaining he was still productive, Pujols conceded last week that age had caught up to him after he joined the Angels.

鈥淚 had the best 10 years ever that anybody had,鈥� Pujols said. 鈥淚 thought that I was gonna have the best career. I was gonna continue to do it for the rest of my life. It抖阴ap just impossible to do that, man.鈥�