SF Giants fire Gabe Kapler after 4 seasons, 1 playoff trip

[usonian]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38522501/giants-fire-gabe-kapler-4-seasons-1-playoff-trip

The San Francisco Giants fired manager Gabe Kapler on Friday after a late-season collapse that dropped the team out of playoff contention and prompted questions about the franchise's direction going forward.

The firing comes with three games remaining in the season and the Giants sporting a 78-81 record. In a statement, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said he made the "recommendation to ownership" to fire Kapler and then did so after "receiving their approval."

Kai Correa will manage the Giants' last three games.

Kapler, 48, took over as Giants manager in 2020, and by 2021 shepherded the club to a 107-55 season -- the only time in the past 11 years a team finished ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. The Dodgers beat the Giants in the division series that year, and San Francisco struggled to replicate its success last season en route to an 81-81 record.

Rumors are that Bob Melvin is on the outs with San Diego .... Bob? (managed the Athletics for many years) Bob?

I always had trouble mixing up Gabe Kapler with Gabe Kaplan.

After going above .500 and being 3 games behind the first place Dodgers (IIRC) he team collapsed like "yogurt in a rainstorm" according to Mike Krukow. I think he wanted to use a naughtier analogy, but ... radio.

[Auggie]

1. Wow -- I thought Kapler was staying for another season

That's some flip-flop from owner Greg Johnson. According to the link, Johnson wanted to keep Kapler but Zaidi talked him out of it.

[usonian]

2. Chat is that management didn't want the last weekend to be a downer

especially with the Willie Mac award tonight, and what may be Crawford's last weekend with the team.
He's been badly beaten up this year, and it's up to him to decide his future as a free agent.

My own suspicion is that when Mike Yastrzemski made a brain fart in the field and owned up to it, while Gabe was making excuses, it showed a bit too lax of an attitude, and it's when the team is down that you need a strong manager, more so than when things are going great.

Leaving the bases loaded three times in a recent Dodger game showed the lack of a real "star" batter. But other than injuries, that's on Farhan's tab.

It just got worse, there were more brain farts in the field, and the team has the highest number of errors in MLB, no doubt helped by players being in a different position every game. "Versatile" has its limits, and most fans recall all-star position players who actually played their position, and could hit RH and LH pitchers.

Buster Posey left Florida and moved to the Bay Area this year, having a new seat on the board.
Nobody knows the game better, but we don't know if he had any influence on this decision.

[ificandream]

3. With all the bad press recently, it's not much of a surprise

It was predictable.

[ificandream]

4. I still liked Kapler a lot and am sorry to see him go.

But I could tell the end was near from some of the clubhouse remarks. And then there was the story that Kapler's use of opening pitchers and then changing them almost every inning affected their confidence. That's one thing I hope won't be happening next year.

[usonian]

5. It's really hard to say what's his doing and what is Farhan's.

Last edited Sat Oct 21, 2023, 02:52 AM - Edit history (1)

Update: word is that Gabe interviewed with the Red Sox, perhaps for a front office job. He played there.
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Besides pitchers not knowing when they would start, if they did start, fielders never seemed to be in the same position two games in a row. Players have routines, because a lot of what they do is reflexive, and not computed on the spot. In short, creatures of habit.

Probably Farhan's call, like the absence of a fearsome hitter in the lineup, a miss at trade time.

Gabe is very personable and liked by the players (so they say) but there was some grousing when pitchers got pulled. For the times he defied math and left pitchers in, he showed real growth from a "spreadsheet" guy, and "let's play the law in of averages" guy to someone who judged strengths and weaknesses on the spot and used the rule of "this is what I see". Bochy was and is the king of that, and since statistics are unreliable in a short series, he cleaned house in playoffs.

Interviewees should ask, and should be told what grand strategy will be set from Farhan, who is on the last year of his contract. Oops! Platooning, playing hockey line change might stay or go. It sure worked badly this season. Again, with two or three decent hitters. No masher, so maybe that was optimal.

But, I think the killer was the team's flat as a pancake performance at the end of the season. The announcers were saying it out loud. No life in the lineup. And that almost always means bye bye to the manager, because players then have to cheerlead, and there was no "giant" among them, despite some who gave great effort.

Only outside interviewee to date is Stephen Vogt, an aspiring manager. Others besides Bob Melvin, who is under contract, are busy winning. TBD.

Gabe could land anywhere but SF and Philly.

Good luck to him. But managing is a job with a limited shelf life.