Albert Pujols: We knew he had turned down the Marlins, but here’s the amount

After leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title in 2011, Albert Pujols tested the free-agent market for the first time in his career. And to the surprise of many, he signed a ten-year, $254 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

In an interview with Santiago Matias, founder of Alofoke Media Group, the Dominican revealed that he had accepted significantly less money to sign with the Angels.

In fact, the now 46-year-old did not name the team in question, but he said that another club had offered him no less than $315 million on the free-agent market in 2011. If Pujols had accepted, it would have been the first $300 million contract in MLB history.

According to Pujols himself, the team that made the offer is an hour and forty minutes away from the Dominican Republic. Based on this information, what we already knew, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today, it was the Miami Marlins who made this staggering offer.

It was the Marlins who had the highest offer for Pujols https://t.co/FHFxs5K0DL

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 13, 2026

The Merlinpinpins, as my colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois calls them, had spent heavily before the 2012 season, signing shortstop Jose Reyes to a $106 million contract, starting pitcher Mark Buehrle to a $58 million deal, and reliever Heath Bell to a $27 million contract.

We'll never know what would have happened if Pujols had ended up under the hot Florida sun, but it certainly would have been interesting to find out.

Expectations weren't met with the Angels, who made the playoffs only once during Pujols' tenure, culminating in a sweep by the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 American League Division Series.

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