Raul Ibanez Named Vice President of Baseball Development & Special Projects for Los Angeles Dodgers

Raul Ibanez is getting a special promotion…

The Los Angeles Dodgers have rehired the 51-year-old Cuban American former professional baseball player, an MLB All-Star in 2009, as their new vice president of baseball development and special projects.

Raul IbanezIbanez spent the past two years working with Major League Baseball as a senior vice president of on-field operations, reporting directly to executive vice president Morgan Sword — who helped spearhead last year’s rule changes — while working on issues related to rules, equipment and on-field technology.

Prior to that, Ibanez spent six years as a special assistant within the Dodgers’ baseball operations department.

Ibanez’s current Dodgers role is full-time, which means he will relinquish his duties with MLB.

Ibanez spent 19 years in the big leagues, accumulating 2,034 hits and 305 home runs while playing for the Seattle MarinersPhiladelphia PhilliesKansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees from 1996 to 2014.

Ibanez’s most productive years were spent in Seattle, but he made his only All-Star team as a member of the Phillies in 2009 and later starred for them in the postseason.

With the Yankees, he had perhaps the most memorable moment of his career, hitting the tying, pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 2012 American League Division Series then the walk-off homer in the 12th.

Major League Baseball Hires Former Mets General Manager Omar Minaya as Amateur Scouting Consultant

Omar Minaya has scouted a new opportunity…

The 63-year-old Dominican former New York Mets general manager has been hired by Major League Baseball as a consultant for amateur scouting.

Omar MinayaHe’ll advise the baseball operations department on both domestic and international scouting initiatives.

Minaya will report to Morgan Sword, the executive vice president of baseball operations.

Minaya became a scout with the Texas Rangers in 1984 and signed Sammy Sosa. He moved up eventually to director of professional and international scouting and left in September 1997 to become an assistant general manager with his hometown Mets.

He joined the Montreal Expos as major league baseball’s first Hispanic GM in February 2002.

Minaya returned to the Mets as GM from September 2004 until October 2010, then was fired and became the San Diego Padres‘ senior vice president of baseball operations from December 2011 until January 2015.

He served as senior adviser to players’ association head Tony Clark until December 2017, then rejoined the Mets as a special assistant until November 2020.