Raul Ibanez on managing: ‘It’s not the right time for me’

Former Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez may have turned out to be one of the hottest managerial candidates this offseason, but he apparently plans to tell interested teams “thanks, but no thanks” this winter.

“It’s not the right time for me,” Ibanez said to Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times.

Ibanez was a finalist to replace Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay in December of 2014, but ultimately withdrew his name from consideration and Kevin Cash was hired. Since then, Ibanez hasn’t been interested in interviewing for managerial openings.

Now 47, Ibanez and his wife, Teryvette, have five children. When Ibanez interviewed for the Rays job, it was immediately after the final season of his 19-year career. After a few seasons away from the 162-game grind, it may not sound appealing to Ibanez to jump back into things, at least right this moment.

MLB.com‘s Jon Morosi reported last week that Ibanez was expected to be “considered” for the Chicago Cubs managerial vacancy, after the team parted ways with Joe Maddon at the end of the season. He also added that Ibanez could be a candidate to replace Bruce Bochy as San Francisco Giants manager. That makes sense considering Ibanez has been a special assistant to the general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers since February of 2016. Farhan Zaidi, the Giants president of baseball operations, was the Dodgers general manager from 2014-2018.

The Phillies have yet to decide on the future of Gabe Kapler as manager, though Ibanez would have been an intriguing candidate if a change was made and he was interested. Of course, if the Phillies retain Kapler for 2020 and are looking for a new manager next offseason, Ibanez’s name figures to emerge once again.

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