The San Francisco Giants Have Fired Gabe Kapler Two Years After Winning NL Manager Of The Year

I’m kind of surprised, but I feel like I shouldn’t be. Gabe Kapler has always been a divisive manager. He managed the Philadelphia Phillies for two years, and the fans and media just hated them. His insistence on abiding by the analytics rubbed people the wrong way. He was ultimately let go in Philadelphia but was immediately given a job in San Francisco, where things were going great for a while. He won a National League Manager of the Year two years ago when the Giants had that magical 107-win season. It’s been over two years, and I’m still baffled about how that season happened. It really was an anomaly. 

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As I said, Kapler has always been a bit divisive with his style, but when I look at the Giants roster, it’s a bit hard for me to blame the manager for why they’ve underachieved. They always have some good pitching, but as a whole, their offense has been lacking star power for years. Their best hitter this season was Wilmer Flores. They whiffed in free agency when they tried to get both Carlos Correa and Aaron Judge. Again, maybe there were some internal issues with Kapel that the players didn’t respond to, but I am slightly surprised by this move. I feel like he’s being scapegoated. 

Two different teams have now fired Kapler. This begs the question, will he ever manage in the big leagues again? Getting fired twice doesn’t help your chances, but I will still say yes. He’s relatively young by managerial standards. He’ll be a bench coach for a while and ultimately find his way back into a Major League dugout. If and when he does, it will be met with skepticism. He changed his managerial style a bit when he got to San Francisco, and he’ll need to do it again if he wants to succeed in the big leagues in the future.