Trout says he "broke down" over Pujols' departure from Halos

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mike Trout was cooling down after the Los Angeles Angels' game Wednesday night when he was told Albert Pujols was hugging teammates in the locker room.

Trout tracked down Pujols inside Angel Stadium and learned the stunning news: His 41-year-old mentor and fellow three-time league MVP was leaving the team early in their 10th season together in Orange County.

“I broke down a little bit,” Trout said Friday in his first public comments on the decision. “Just knowing that he’s been here for the whole time I’ve been here, and knowing it could be done just like that.”

The superstars' decade-long partnership is over, and Trout is still stunned. The Angels designated Pujols for assignment on Thursday after a late-night meeting between the team's top brass and Pujols, who was disappointed about the prospect of not playing every day for the Halos, and eager to join a new team that would allow him to do so.

“It was tough,” Trout said. “I think we were all in shock when the news broke and when we found out about it. But after talking to Albert, and the competitor Albert is, he wants to play every day. You can tell when he’s not playing, he wants to be out there with the team. I hope he finds a team that can let him play every day and what his body allows him to do, because he’s a competitor. You want him out there. It was a tough situation, but Albert is in a good place, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Trout and Pujols have been together since 2012, when Trout was in his AL Rookie of the Year season and Pujols was in the first year of his $240 million free agent contract with the Angels.

While Trout grew into arguably the greatest player of the decade, he always had Pujols at his side for on-field support and off-field advice. Although Pujols' numbers in...

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