Giants Fire Kapler After 4 Seasons – In a surprising move, just two days before the end of the regular season, the San Francisco Giants fired manager Gabe Kapler on Friday after a late-season collapse of epic proportion that dropped the team out of playoff contention and prompted more questions than answers 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 relieve Kapler of his duties and then did so after “receiving their approval.”
Kai Correa will manage the Giants’ last three games.
Kapler, 48 years old, took over as Giants skipper in 2020, and by 2021 guided 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. However, the Dodgers got their revenge, beating the Giants in the division series that year, and San Francisco struggled relight that flame to replicate its success last season in route to a .500 record at 81-81.
While owner Greg Johnson had committed to keeping Zaidi and Kapler on through at least the end of their contracts in 2024, he backtracked on Kapler, opening up another managerial spot in a winter that is expected to be chocked full of vacancies.
The Guardians’ Terry Francona will retire after this weekend, and the statuses of Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell, Houston’s Dusty Baker and the Los Angeles Angels’ Phil Nevin, whose contracts are set to expire, as well as the New York Mets’ Buck Showalter and San Diego’s Bob Melvin remain a mystery.
In the days following the ‘Mid-Summer Classic’, the Giants seemed well on their way to a rebound. They were a season-high 13 games over .500 and just 1½ games back of the Dodgers. Since July 18, San Francisco’s 24-40 record is the second-worst in the NL, and the Giants have fallen behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Padres in the standings.
The frustration boiled over toward the surface in recent weeks, as the Giants wrapped up a September to forget, in which they sport an 8-17 record. Ace Logan Webb, who is 11-13 this season despite leading the NL in innings pitched and strikeout-to-walk ratio, said this week: “I’m tired of losing. It’s not enjoyable. It’s not fun. We have to make some big changes in here to create that winning culture that we want to show up every single year and try to win the whole thing.”
With only $110 million committed to their payroll in 2024 and just $45 million in 2025, the Giants are expected to be huge players in free agency market this winter, including targeting superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Angels.
Also…
Cabrera to be Tigers’ Front Office Special Assistant – Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera is going to make the transition from the field to upstairs and already has another job lined up as his decorated playing career winds down.
The Tigers announced Friday that the 12-time All-Star will begin his new role with the team as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations. That job begins Sunday, following the conclusion of Detroit’s season finale against the visiting Cleveland Guardians.
“It’s been incredible to watch Miggy passing names on all-time leaderboards, but even more impressive to see how he’s handled the attention behind the scenes,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said in a statement released by the team on Friday.
“It’s no secret that the personal spotlight isn’t super comfortable to Miggy, and there’s something to be said about the humility he carries each and every day even when fans across the league are chanting his name while wearing another team’s jersey on their backs. Lessons like how to deal with praise and pressure are exactly what we want him teaching players throughout our organization. I’m honored to have him as part of our staff and know he will continue to make the Tigers better in his new role.”
Cabrera, 40 years-of-age, was acquired from the then-Florida Marlins prior to the 2008 campaign.
He joined the exclusive 500-homer club in 2021 and the 3,000-hit club last season. He won a World Series with the Marlins in his rookie year in 2003. The Tigers have made it to the World Series once since Cabrera joined them, but they lost to the San Francisco Giants in 2012.
Cabrera hit his 511th career homer on Wednesday during a game the Tigers eventually won 8-0 against the Kansas City Royals. That contest was suspended after four innings and completed on Thursday afternoon, before the regularly scheduled game.
