Former Phillies Friday: Raúl Ibañez gets special assignment for All-Star Game

Raul Ibanez will manage the NL team in the 2023 MLB Futures Game. (Rich Kane/Icon Sportswire)

14 years after he represented the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 All-Star Game, Raúl Ibañez will be back at the midsummer classic.

Ibañez is set to manage the National League team in the 2023 MLB Futures Game on Saturday, July 8 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. He’ll be opposed by Harold Reynolds, who will be the skipper for the American League team:

Ibañez, of course, will get this honor because he spent parts of 11 seasons over two stints with the Mariners, who are hosting this year’s All-Star Game.

Still, Ibañez’s finest Major League season came with the Phillies in 2009. After signing a three-year/$31.5 million deal with the Phillies in free agency, Ibañez rode a torrid start to his first and only All-Star Game appearance. In total, Ibañez slashed .272/.347/.552 with 34 home runs, 93 RBIs and an .899 OPS, becoming a fan-favorite for a team that would ultimately win the NL pennant.

Since retiring after the 2009 season, Ibañez has done analyst work for both FOX and ESPN, worked as a special assistant to Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and now serves as one of two senior vice presidents of on-field operations.

Ibañez managing in the Futures game will no doubt reignite speculation about him one day being an MLB manager. He’s bilingual, had an excellent playing career and would be a great face of a franchise. He interviewed for the Tampa Bay Rays managerial job after the 2014 season, and was a finalist before withdrawing

. Kevin Cash ultimately got the job. Since then, he’s declined opportunities to interview for various vacancies.

In April of 2020, while he was still working with the Dodgers, Ibañez told Meghan Montemurro in a piece for The Athletic that while he had interest in managing one day, family was his No. 1 focus currently.

“My ongoing commitment right now has been to my family and being the best dad and husband that I can be and then trying to help the Dodgers as much as I can and make an impact any way that I can in [the Dodgers] organization,” Ibañez said. “So, I think in the future, that’s something that I’m definitely interested in at some point. The time has not been right yet. But I think one day that day will come, and hopefully that opportunity is there.”

It’s entirely possible that Ibañez ends up being content in his current MLB role, or decides that he would prefer to work in a prominent front office role. But maybe managing in the Futures Game will make Ibañez, now 50, realize he’s ready to begin his coaching journey in 2024.