The San Francisco Giants found the man that will lead them beyond the Bruce Bochy era of their franchise, hiring Gabe Kapler as their new manager on Tuesday night. This news comes just one month after the Philadelphia Phillies fired Kapler from the same position, as they have since brought in Joe Girardi for that position. That gig was Kapler's first major league managerial stint of his career, as he struggled over two seasons, despite mid-season hope both years. With the Phillies missing out on the Postseason in their first year with Bryce Harper, they felt Kapler was not the man to lead that franchise in to what they are hoping will be plenty of October success during the slugger's long contract.
Kapler will be replacing Bochy, who retired after this past season following 13 years in the bay area, which included three World Series appearances and one title. The former Phillies manager reportedly beat out Joe Espada of the Houston Astros and Matt Quatraro of the Tampa Bay Rays for the job. He is now reunited with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi from their time together when Kapler was a director of player development with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 44-year-old new manager of the Giants went just 161-163 over two seasons with the Phillies, including 81-81 this past season, as he failed to bring Philadelphia back to the Postseason for the first time since 2012. He does also carry a bit of controversy with him, as Kapler reportedly did not alert police of an alleged assault against one of his players when he was with the Dodgers in 2015. The player allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old girl, who emailed the team about the incident. Kapler insists that he handled the matter by following team policy, but then added that he was unaware of the claims.
That aside for now, the Giants are hoping Kapler can take what he has learned in his short time as a major league manager to keep the Giants overall success moving along. This hiring now leaves the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only team left searching for a new manager this off-season.
Kapler will be replacing Bochy, who retired after this past season following 13 years in the bay area, which included three World Series appearances and one title. The former Phillies manager reportedly beat out Joe Espada of the Houston Astros and Matt Quatraro of the Tampa Bay Rays for the job. He is now reunited with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi from their time together when Kapler was a director of player development with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 44-year-old new manager of the Giants went just 161-163 over two seasons with the Phillies, including 81-81 this past season, as he failed to bring Philadelphia back to the Postseason for the first time since 2012. He does also carry a bit of controversy with him, as Kapler reportedly did not alert police of an alleged assault against one of his players when he was with the Dodgers in 2015. The player allegedly assaulted a 17-year-old girl, who emailed the team about the incident. Kapler insists that he handled the matter by following team policy, but then added that he was unaware of the claims.
That aside for now, the Giants are hoping Kapler can take what he has learned in his short time as a major league manager to keep the Giants overall success moving along. This hiring now leaves the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only team left searching for a new manager this off-season.
