NEW YORK — The extent of interest in Benji Gil from affiliated baseball consisted of a couple of phone interviews for coaching positions with minor-league clubs. He wasn’t sure how serious the teams were. He wasn’t invited to meet in person. He was never offered a job.

All Gil had done as a manager in Mexico was win. He won the Mexican Pacific League championship in 2015. Then again in 2018. He left for a year in 2019. But came back in 2020 and won a championship. Then again in 2021. A few months later, he managed a summer league Mexican team to a 46-17 record.

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The stage might’ve been small. The success was undeniable. But major-league teams either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

“I really thought I was going to get consideration after my fourth year managing,” Gil said. “Now I’ve won three of the last four years. And then I won again. And I’m like, ‘OK, for certain, somebody’s got to notice it, right?’”

Team Mexico reunion in Boston! 🇲🇽

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) April 17, 2023

His first real chance ended him where he is today. An in-person interview at the 2021 GM meetings in San Diego, and his hiring was announced two months later. A job in Major League Baseball. Finally. He now serves as the Angels’ infield coach.

Less than two years later, Gil has his sights set on even more. He’s blunt about his aspirations. To become a major-league manager. A role he believes he can handle. A fact he believes he’s proven with his success in the Mexican Pacific League and Mexican Baseball League as well as a profile-raising run as the Team Mexico manager at the World Baseball Classic.

“He’s really good with the infielders,” said Angels manager Phil Nevin. “He studies it, too. He sees the things that (Braves coach) Ron Washington and (Mariners coach) Perry Hill do. They are considered two of the best. I’ll put Benji right up there with them. He’s got a great rapport with the players. He’s stern, he holds them accountable. But he’s a guy that guys like to talk to.

“It would shock me if he’s not considered some jobs this offseason to manage.”

What makes Gil a good manager? A good coach? He knows what it’s like to be a player. He knows what it’s like to be a journeyman, having played for the Rangers and Angels but also for several other minor-league organizations, in the Mexican league as well as independent ball. He understands that there are always trials and tribulations on the field and off. A light-hitting but versatile infielder, Gil batted .237/.283/.358 over eight seasons in the majors.

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A player that’s doing well — that’s not where Gil might place his focus.

“I try and kind of find my way over to guys that are having what might seem like a difficult time, and just try and keep it positive,” Gil said. “Have a positive outlook. ‘Hey, you’re in the big leagues. If you’re in a battle or a bad stretch it’s going to change.’

“I think players appreciate that. They see it coming from somebody that played the game.”

Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval was one of the breakout stars of the WBC. He threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in the semifinals against eventual champion Team Japan. And locked down the other finalist, Team USA — a club that could have, but didn’t, ask Sandoval to join their roster.

It was Gil who brought Sandoval onto the team when he’d been overlooked elsewhere. The two knew each other, of course, from interacting over the course of the 2022 season.

But it wasn’t until Mexico lost its first game of the tournament to Colombia that Sandoval truly saw who Gil was.

“We were all in the locker room and it was pretty quiet,” Sandoval said. “And he came in kind of hot. He was like, ‘Don’t put your heads down. You played a great game. … If we play like this, we will be celebrating at the end of this.’ He was always very confident in the group that we had. And he let us know.”

Mexico ended up winning the group stage, upsetting Team USA in the process. Mexico won in the quarterfinals and lost a heartbreaking walk-off in the semifinals.

But Gil’s name was out there. There’s an argument to be made that he’d already proven himself in Mexico years before. And, he said, if he ever does become a major-league manager, he’ll use the platform to tell people that there are great baseball minds in Latin American countries that often get overlooked in hiring processes.

He is no longer unfairly typecast as the winter ball manager from Mexico. He said after their WBC loss that it was a win for “the baseball world.” It was, in many respects, a win for Gil. He showed managerial chops.

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“Benji’s been outstanding,” Angels GM Perry Minasian said. “Watching Benji mature over the years, and what he’s become, it’s impressive. We’re excited about it and how he helps us at the end of the day — make guys better.”

All of the Angels players, coaches, and support staff lined up along the third-base line minutes before the home opener. It’s a baseball tradition to introduce everyone individually to the fans before the first game.

Typically the biggest ovations are reserved for the players. The best players. Mike Trout. Shohei Ohtani. And, of course, Ohtani’s beloved interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Gil’s response was louder than almost everyone’s. Sure, Gil won a ring as a role player with the 2002 Angels. So the fans know him to some extent. But that cheer was about something more. It was about how he’d represented himself, his country and the Angels at the WBC.

More than that, it was an acknowledgment of his abilities and prowess. The fans will always applaud who they think will help them and who they think makes their team better. Gil proved that.

For Gil, the Angels represent his “home.” A team that gave him a chance when no one else would. And he’s parlayed that chance into a meteoric rise.

“There’s 30 jobs. Thirty jobs in the big leagues to be a major-league manager,” Gil said. “I think everybody that has that opportunity is privileged and has done great things in the game to get that opportunity. I hope I’m one of those that do enough.”

(Photo of Benji Gil from 2022: Paul Sancya / Associated Press)