Omar Vizquel, who retired from his playing days following the 2012 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, announced his next career step at the annual Shaw Jewish Community Center sports dinner in Akron last night.
Vizquel, now 45 years old and with 2,877 career hits, will be a roving infield instructor for the Los Angeles Angels in 2013. He mentioned that he will travel from team-to-team in the Angels organization, reporting back on various players to his boss, likely Angels GM Jerry Dipoto.
The 11-time Gold Glove winner said he called the Cleveland Indians about a position, but they were not hiring. So he eventually was able to latch on with the Angels, while still maintaining hope that he will find a managing job at some point and maybe return to Cleveland.
Last night’s announcement of his new job appears to be the first report of Vizquel’s 2013 plans. He said he also hopes to continue speaking engagements throughout the country, especially in Northeast Ohio, and hinted that there is an summer announcement in the works with the Indians. Perhaps it will be a jersey retirement ceremony?
Also in attendance at the Shaw JCC sports dinner were 1590 WAKR’s Ray Horner, Indians Senior VP for public affairs Bob DiBiasio, Indians announcer Jim Rosenhaus, new Akron Aeros owner Ken Babby and several other staffers for the Indians/Aeros. I’ll have more from the dinner later this week at WFNY.
[Related: 15 Years Ago: The Team Of (Almost) Destiny]
