Albert Pujols named Dominican Republic manager for 2026 World Baseball Classic
Legendary slugger and future first-ballot Hall of Famer Albert Pujols has been named manager of the Dominican Republic team for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, he told reporters at Angels spring training Sunday.
Pujols, 45, retired from playing following a standout 2022 campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals in which he joined the 700 home run club and authored one of the great final seasons by any hitter. Since stepping away from his playing career, Pujols has waded into managerial waters. Most notably, he recently guided Leones del Escogido to the top of the 2024-25 Dominican Winter League and then a win over Mexico’s Charros de Jalisco in the Caribbean Series. Pujols has also long had MLB managerial aspirations, confirming as much on Sunday.
“Whenever the opportunity comes, if there is something knocking this year or next year, I mean, why not?” he said.
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Mike Axisa
Mets closer Edwin Díaz wants to return to 2026 WBC despite season-ending knee injury during last contest
A native of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Pujols played for the D.R. WBC team in the 2006 tournament. The D.R. is coming off a disappointing showing in the last WBC in 2023, during which they went 2-2 and failed to advance beyond pool play. The Dominican Republic won the WBC in 2013 for the first and only time. Japan, which has won the WBC three times, will go into the 2026 tournament as defending champions.
The 20-team 2026 WBC will be held from March 5 through March 17 of next year. The Dominican Republic will be part of Pool D, which also includes Venezuela, the Netherlands, Israel, and a fifth team to be determined via qualifier play. The top two teams in each pool will advance to the quarterfinals.
The disappointments of 2023 notwithstanding, the Dominican Republic is still very much a baseball powerhouse with a rich collection of talent from which they can assemble a WBC roster. They’ll no doubt enter the 2026 tournament as one of the favorites.