Gabe Kapler was never the most popular Giants manager. Now he’s done before he could finish his fourth year, as the organization decided the team’s late-season collapse and clubhouse culture required a leadership change.
Farhan Zaidi said he talked to Kapler for over an hour on Friday, when the president of baseball operations informed him the news. The conversation was professional and productive, Zaidi said, which wasn’t at all surprising.
After saying goodbye to the players and staffers who had already arrived to Oracle Park, Kapler biked home to North Beach. On his ride, he reflected on his time with the Giants, and later shared some thoughts in an Instagram post.
“I know I was lucky to be manager of the San Francisco Giants,” Kapler wrote, in part.
Under Kapler, the Giants went 295-249, with one postseason berth. This season’s second-half collapse has plenty of blame to go around, but Kapler was handed a flawed roster to maximize. Because the team played so poorly with the playoffs on the line, and how some noise emanated from the clubhouse, the Giants had to make a leadership change, and in MLB, the manager is usually the first to go.
“There were a lot of debates and challenging conversations every day, and that’s inspiring because it’s real,” Kapler wrote. “I felt like I had a chance to help people grow and people helped me to grow, and I am grateful for that opportunity. We didn’t win enough to satisfy me or our fans; that sucks. But each morning and late night riding my bike along the Embarcadero or North Beach, I felt like I had the support of so many in this city, and I’ll carry that with me.”
