Pujols undergoes minor knee surgery

ANAHEIM -- Angels first baseman Albert Pujols recently had minor surgery to clean up his right knee, general manager Jerry Dipoto confirmed Wednesday. The news was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Dipoto said the Angels "don't anticipate any down time" because of the arthroscopic procedure, which was performed in St. Louis on Oct. 9. Pujols can have a somewhat normal offseason and it will not jeopardize him for the start of Spring Training.

Pujols' knee pain seemingly stems from an Aug. 22 game at Fenway Park, when the 32-year-old slugger was diagnosed with a right calf injury, prompting him to miss the next four games and start the following 16 as the designated hitter.

As the calf healed, though, it was mainly the knee that made him extra cautious on the basepaths and prompted manager Mike Scioscia to limit his starts at first base. Pujols started 24 of his final 33 games at DH -- 34 total for the season -- and posted a .291/.340/.455 slash line in that span.

The only game Pujols missed during that time was following the birth of his daughter. He finished the season batting .285 with 30 home runs and 105 RBIs in 154 games.