Angels News: Veteran Reveals Surprising Reason Why He Has No Interest in Full-Time Coaching

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 26, 2024

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Kevin Pillar has been obsessed with baseball since he was a teenager.

Now, at 35, he is contemplating how many playing days he has left.

Earlier this season, the veteran outfielder thought he was going to retire at the end of the year. If he did, he would have played for at least nine major league teams in his career.

As Kevin Pillar looks towards the future, he reflects on where it all began with the @BlueJays.

Read more from @KPILLAR4 as he sits down with the MLBPA to discuss "The Next Chapter" of his life and career: https://t.co/FRSMGn2bFQ pic.twitter.com/r9XSU3iPl0

— MLBPA (@MLBPA) September 24, 2024

This season has been a whirlwind for Pillar.

He joined the White Sox in February but found himself with the Los Angeles Angels after being designated for assignment in late April. In May, he celebrated his 1,000th career hit, and in July, he reached a significant milestone by completing 10 years of service in Major League Baseball.

Pillar is beginning to embrace the end of his career and surprisingly, he isn't interested in immediately jumping into coaching or broadcasting. His sights are set on farm life.

"I just bought a 17-acre ranch in Texas," he told Jerry Crasnick of the MLB Players Association. "That's where we're moving. So I’m going to get pretty heavily involved in that – raising cattle, goats, cows and chickens. We have a couple of llamas on the property. I want to spend a little more time fishing in the pond that we have and immersing myself in hunting culture. I’ve done it a couple of times and I’ve always been very interested in that.

"I’ve done some real estate investing and some house flipping. I bought a couple of rental properties, and they kind of run themselves. When a check's not coming in anymore from baseball, and push comes to shove and I need to make money for my family, I'm excited to focus my time and energy on something else when I don’t have to worry about performing on the field."

Pillar thought broadcasting would be his future "four or five years ago."

"Now I'm a little bit more interested in the coaching side, even though I don't want to be in the dugout full-time," he said. "Front office stuff intrigues me, too.

"I still have some thoughts and ideas in terms of content or TV shows coming from (the viewpoint of) a current or former ballplayer. These are things I think about when I get up in the morning or before I go to bed at night, when I'm not thinking about my job."

As the season's end nears, Pillar has a few big life decisions to make but it seems that no matter what, he will be happy.