Cleveland Indians: Omar Vizquel hired as minor league manager

Cleveland Indians fans are hoping Omar Vizquel makes it into the Hall of Fame, but in the meantime he has a new job to focus on.

Omar Vizquel’s name has come up a lot in the past few weeks as the former Cleveland Indians great is on the 2018 Hall of Fame ballot.

His chances are in between the point of being slim and being a lock, making it unknown on his status. That’s in direct contrast to Jim Thome, who seems to be a sure thing for induction in 2018.

But Vizquel’s name is back in the news as he has been named the manager of the Winston-Salem Dash, a Single-A team in the Chicago White Sox organization. This comes after several years on the Detroit Tigers coaching staff.

This managerial role is not major news, but it could set up Vizquel to land a manager job in the majors in the next several years. A solid year or two of experience serving as a manager in Winston-Salem improves his resume, and looks much better than simply serving as a first-base coach, even if it is with a major league team.

Sandy Alomar is another Indians great whose name sometimes comes up in the discussion of potential new managers, so it is possible one day that both Alomar and Vizquel face off against one another as managers of MLB teams.

It is always weird to see players you rooted for end up as managers, but it is nice to see at the same time. A player like Vizquel gave fans so many great memories, so hopefully he can pass off his knowledge of the game onto the next generation.

Next: HOF chances for Thome and Vizquel

That is, as long as he doesn’t coach a team that beats the Indians in the playoffs.