Former Phillies Slugger Joins Dodgers’ Front Office
The Philadelphia Phillies stole headlines at the very beginning of the offseason when they re-signed their ace Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract. Their time in the spotlight was quickly overshadowed by moves from other teams, especially the Los Angeles Dodgers who landed two of the most prized free agents and an elite pitcher in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. Now, one of the former Phillies sluggers, Raul Ibanez, has been hired for a front office role within the Dodgers’ organization according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. He reportedly will become their new VP of Baseball Development and Special Projects.
Ibanez spent three seasons with Philadelphia starting in 2009 on the team that made it back to the World Series after winning it the year prior. That year was his only All-star selection in his career. He played in 433 out of the possible 486 games with the Phillies and had a slash line of .263/.329/.469 with 70 home runs and 260 RBI. After leaving Philadelphia, he played for the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels and Kansas City Royals before calling it a career after the 2014 season.
Following his playing days, Ibanez took his first front office role with the Dodgers as he was hired to be the special assistant to their president of baseball operations in 2016. That same year he was hired by ESPN to be an analyst. Ibanez joined Major League Baseball in 2021 as their senior vice presidents of on-field operations, alongside Michael Hill, and oversaw umpiring, discipline, and other on-field issues. He stayed in this role until he took the job in Los Angeles’ front office.
