Albert Pujols signs with St. Louis Cardinals. Here’s what his new teammates are saying

The only thing anyone wanted to talk about at St. Louis Cardinals camp Monday morning is the one thing team officials were trying their hardest not to talk about at all.

The bashfulness evaporated when Albert Pujols walked through the right field gate and into the dugout, waving to a crowd that burst into excitement at his arrival.

His imminent arrival hung heavier than the humidity in the Florida air Monday morning, and the palpable giddiness of his once and future teammates more than overwhelmed the reticence of decision makers who weren’t yet able to confirm Pujols’s return on a one-year, $2.5 million contract.

“Y’all are standing around like something happened,” a grinning Adam Wainwright said to a throng of assembled media on his way into the Cardinals clubhouse before Monday’s start against the Houston Astros.

Later in the day, as Wainwright snuck in his customary pregame nap, he was rudely awakened in the most polite way.

“I had about a minute and a half left until my alarm went off,” he said, “and I just feel a giant man on top of me giving me the biggest hug ever.”

Pujols arrived in Florida after traveling from southern California on Monday to complete his physical and finalize his contract — at least, that was the travel schedule conveyed to reporters by Yadier Molina.

“Me and Albert, the relationship that we have is like a brother,” Molina said. “I’m happy for him to be here. It’s gonna be a fun year.”

Even Blake Parker, Pujols’s third former teammate in the Cardinals clubhouse (he played with Pujols for the 2017 and 2018 Angels) was excited to have him back around.

“Good teammate,” Parker said. “Great teammate, actually.”

Parker, in camp on a minor league contract, doesn’t have the guarantee of being Pujols’s teammate that some of Monday’s other excited Cardinals enjoy. Reliever Giovanny Gallegos and bullpen catcher Kleininger Teran huddled with Molina in his locker, loud laughs shared around.

“Pretty good day,” Teran said later. “Huge day.”

Paul Goldschmidt walked out of the hallway which leads to the coaches’ offices with a wide smile on his face, calling behind him, “whatever we’ve gotta do to get better, I’m in.”

Harrison Bader waited for the clubhouse doors to be closed to the press and a new addition to be hung in front of a locker, which he graciously shared in a black and white photo posted to Instagram: a Cardinals spring training jersey, embroidered on the back with the familiar PUJOLS 5.

“Nothing we can announce just yet,” said an unconvincingly coy manager Oliver Marmol. “But it’s a good day.”

Pujols a commanding presence

Marmol agreed to discuss in general, nonspecific terms what a hitter like Pujols could bring to the team’s lineup as its designated hitter. He spoke of the importance of a “presence,” and of the value of “someone like that.”

“Crazy important,” he said. “What he does to that clubhouse outside of the skill set is unbelievable. And what he adds with his skill set is gonna be incredible.”

The two rendezvoused on the field at Dodger Stadium before the Wild Card game last October, embracing each other in an enthusiastic hug. Marmol’s four minor league seasons as a player came during the height of Pujols’s powers in his first stint as a Cardinal; the now-manager is more than six years younger than his new DH.

“A ton of respect for him,” Marmol said. “It goes both ways, and he’s a good friend. He’s a good leader. He does things right. I respect the heck out of the guy, and what he brings to a clubhouse, it’s hard to match.”

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Whether there’s a perfect on-field fit for Pujols remains to be seen. He regained some of his prior magic during his abbreviated stretch with the Dodgers, but his steady decline in prior years is impossible to ignore. Those who know him say he’s highly motivated and has undergone a rigorous workout plan this offseason; not the best shape of his life, perhaps, but down at least a few dozen pounds.

“It’s something that’s learned,” Marmol said of the comfort with serving as a designated hitter. “It’s something that experience definitely helps. “I had a great conversation with (Corey) Dickerson this morning regarding putting someone that hasn’t done it before in that spot, and it’s a tough ask.”

It’s also a tough ask to request that Juan Yepez looks for a place to live in Memphis rather than St. Louis, but the addition of Pujols seems to make that move an inevitability. His presence might limit Dickerson’s opportunities as a designated hitter, and as Dickerson’s spots recede, so too will Lars Nootbaar’s, to an extent.

‘He’s got some left’

The Cardinals will profess picking spots for Pujols and a mutual understanding of his role and best fit, but when rubber meets the road, it will fall to Marmol to balance the needs and wants of a franchise legend chasing immortal milestones with the choices which might best serve winning on a given day.

If nothing else, Marmol is convinced those two decisions aren’t in direct conflict.

“Oh, he’s got some left,” the manager said with conviction. “He’s got more than some left. Albert wants to play this year because he can help the team win. He’s wanting to finish well, and I believe he will do that.”