Albert Pujols still belongs first to the St. Louis Cardinals, even when the latest managerial chatter comes out of Anaheim.

The Angels just finished a 100-loss season under Kurt Suzuki, and new ownership under Stan Kroenke now holds the decision on whether Suzuki stays.

That uncertainty has Cardinals fans watching a familiar name drift back into the conversation.

Curt Bishop of Heavy.com stated that general manager John Mozeliak wants Suzuki back for 2027, but that the choice ultimately belongs to the incoming ownership group, not the front office.

Bishop noted that Mozeliak has been coordinating with Kevin Demoff at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which leaves the door cracked for Pujols if the new owners want a different voice in the dugout.

For Cardinals supporters, that sentence lands with extra weight. Mozeliak was in St. Louis when Pujols was drafted and later ran the club during the years that produced a second World Series title in 2011. The two men already share a history that no other Angels candidate can match.

Pujols left St. Louis after 2011 for a long Angels contract that ended poorly, then came home in 2022 to close his playing career where it began.

He has since worked under a personal-services deal with Anaheim, appearing at spring training and staying attached to the franchise that once released him. He has also managed in the Dominican winter league and skippered the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.

Those jobs are not the same as running a major-league clubhouse through 162 games, but they are more than ceremonial. Cardinals fans who watched him command a lineup for a decade already know how teammates respond when he talks.

The first time the Angels considered him as manager, former owner Arte Moreno reportedly favored Pujols until contract talks stalled. That opening closed.

This one is different because ownership itself has changed and because Mozeliak, the man who once built around Pujols in St. Louis, is now the general manager in Anaheim. If Suzuki is retained, Pujols may look elsewhere.

If he is not, the most decorated hitter in Cardinals history could take his first major-league managing job in the same uniform he wore after he left Busch Stadium.

That possibility does not rewrite the years he spent away from St. Louis. It does remind Cardinals fans that the player they inducted into their Hall of Fame still carries the gravitas of those two championships.

Whether Anaheim uses that history or lets it walk is now a question for new owners. In St. Louis, the interest is simpler.

Fans want to see if the man who defined an era here gets the chance to lead somewhere else, and whether the connection he still has with Mozeliak finally matters.