Angels hire 3 time All-Star Omar Vizquel as minor league instructor
After a long offseason of rather conservative moves made by the Halos brass with one monster splash made in the free agent market the Angels put the finishing touches on a long offseason. The Angels have hired 11 time All-Star and future Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel as a “roving middle infield coach” to the organization. Omar Vizquel spent 23 years in the major leagues with six different teams, one of those teams being the Angels most hated rival the Texas Rangers as recently as 2009.
Vizquel is one of 29 major league players to play professional baseball games throughout 4 different decades with his career starting in 1989 with the Seattle Mariners and ending in 2012 with the Toronto Blue Jays. Throughout his career he amassed the most hits out of any Venezualen baseball player in MLB history, clocking in at 2,877. He also leads the MLB with most double plays made from the shortstop position.
Vizquel brings a very unique perspective to the Angels organization. His entire career has been built off of his incredible defensive talents at shortstop. In his 23 year career in the majors Omar Vizquel cemented himself one of the most talented defenders in baseball history. Vizquel earned 11 Gold Gloves throughout his career, 2nd out of all major league shortstops just behind Ozzie Smith with 13 Gold Gloves. It becomes very clear why Vizquel earned so many accolades throughout his career when you look at his achivements. Vizquel is tied for the record for lowest number of errors in a single season by a a shortstop with 3 errors in 2000 as well the highest career fielding percentage by a shortstop with at least 1,000 games played. Vizquel also become the oldest shortstop to receive the Gold Glove award in 2005 at the age of 38, which he promptly broke a year later by winning another Gold Glove at age 39.
With the Angels minor league system comprised of many defensively talented infielders it’s clear why the Angels would hire him to coach their budding stars. The Angels organization has built itself off of a philopshy based on strong pitching and defense, having one of the best defenders of all time mentoring the minor league kids will pay off in massive dividends.
This move may not be as immediately effective as the signing of superstar Josh Hamilton, but give it 3-5 years and once the products of Vizquel’s instruction reaches the major leagues the genius of this move will become incredibly apparent.