Raúl Ibañez joins FOX

Raúl Ibañez auditioned as a baseball analyst for FOX Sports on Jan. 22. He killed it. “After about five minutes, everyone involved looked at each other and said, We’ve got really got something here,” said FOX Sports executive producer John Entz. “He made an immediate impact on both the guys on camera and the producers behind the scenes.”

So much so that the network has hired Ibañez, who played 19 MLB seasons for five teams, as a studio analyst for its pregame and postgame coverage. Ibañez will also contribute to FOX Sports Live, America’s Pregame and MLB Whiparound. “Raul is a guy who has great credibility, is really smart and is well respected by those in and out of the game of baseball,” said Entz. “As an analyst, we think he has an incredibly high ceiling.”