Veteran first baseman Albert Pujols officially joined the Dodgers on Monday and said in his introductory press conference that he never told the Angels he wouldn’t accept a reduced role with the club, which goes against what manager Joe Maddon, club president John Carpino and general manager Perry Minasian said when Pujols was designated for assignment on May 6.

Pujols, speaking via Zoom, never disparaged the Angels, but he said refusing reduced playing time wasn’t why he was eventually released by the club on Thursday after clearing waivers.

• 'Never a right time' as Angels DFA Pujols

"My goal over the last two years, it was never to be an everyday first baseman," Pujols said. "I told you guys in Spring Training, whatever role they have for me, I'm going to go with. They made that decision as an organization, a business decision. And there are no hard feelings. They had a talk with me and that was it. Move forward. I'm just glad to get another opportunity.

"There's a lot of things said out there, that I wanted more playing time and I wanted to play every day. That never came out of my mouth. You guys ask me that question over and over so many times, and I always say, 'However the team wants to use me.'"

Maddon declined to comment on the matter, outside of saying that he wishes nothing but the best for Pujols going forward.

“I’m not here to get into a war over semantics of any kind,” Maddon said. “I really dig coming back from Boston right now and the guys are in a very good place. But I wish Albert nothing but the best. I mean that sincerely. I think it’s great he gets to go to work right down the street and doesn’t have to move and have that transitional stuff. That’s it. I wasn’t even in the room, but regardless of that, it doesn’t matter at this point.”

Pujols did contradict himself with his statements on Monday, however, as he said in late April that he trained this offseason with the intention of playing regularly this season.

“My expectation is to be in the lineup every day," Pujols said at the time. "That’s what I trained for. I mean, your guys’ expectation was a little bit different because you are the writers and you like to make stories, but for me, since Day 1 when I came to Spring Training, I expected to play every day."

Maddon celebrates American Legion Week

Maddon has historically held what he calls “American Legion Week” once a season, when he tells his players to relax and show up to the ballpark later, much like kids would show up to the park and just play at American Legion baseball fields across the country. Maddon usually waits until the dog days of August to host it, but he decided to do it this week with the Angels coming off a tough road trip and starting a 10-game homestand.

Maddon spoke to the media with the flag from local American Legion Post 132 from Orange, Calif., behind him and said he’s sponsoring that post and is buying beers for its members all week. The American Legion is an organization composed of veterans that served their country during war time.

"Coming off that trip and playing eight games in the next seven days, I thought it might be interesting and fun to get it done now," Maddon said. "I really like the guys to get reconnected. I want them to conserve their energy now. And a big part of it is just to come out and play the game and don't overthink it."

Angels tidbits

• Second baseman David Fletcher was held out of the lineup for a second straight game with a minor groin injury, but Maddon said he doesn’t believe it will require a stint on the injured list. Fletcher is day to day. Phil Gosselin started in his place Monday against Cleveland.

• Though he's not injured, left fielder Justin Upton was also held out of the lineup for a second game in a row. Maddon said he just wants to get a better look at Juan Lagares and what he can do in left field in the short-term.

• Catcher Max Stassi (concussion) felt much better on Sunday and is nearing a return, Maddon said. But he didn’t have an exact target date for Stassi just yet, given the difficult and unpredictable nature of concussions.