Thoughts on Gabe Kapler

As expected, the Giants announced the hiring of a new Manager shortly on the heels of hiring a new GM.  Their choice of Gabe Kapler has already drawn strong reactions from various corners of the fanbase such as mccoveychronicles.com.  My thoughts are, as always, my opinion and based on information available in the public domain.  I do not personally have any non-public information.

Kapler comes, to put it mildly, with some baggage.  If you want details about his role in two very problematic situations during his tenure running Player Development for the Dodgers, I highly suggest reading two posts from yesterday in the above mentioned McCovey Chronicles.  BTW, Kapler's boss when those situations occurred was none other than Farhan Zaidi himself.  While I believe people are capable of learning from their mistakes, I do hope Giants ownership have done their due diligence in making sure situations like that won't occur during Farhan's and Kapler's tenures with the Giants as well as making sure there is no pending legal jeopardy stemming from their Dodgers employment.

Gabe Kapler's 2-year tenure managing the Phillies was rocky and polarizing to say the least with a string of incidents ranging from in-game decisions to his management of the clubhouse.  Of particular note as an attempt to change pitchers when he had none warmed up in the bullpen and a reported clubhouse incident involving Carlos Santana(not the guitar player) destroying a TV screen being used to play video games.  The moment that sticks in my mind came during an in-game TV interview.  Kapler had just lifted SP Jake Arrieta(who was getting shelled and needed to come out, BTW).  Kapler and Arrieta appeared to exchange words in the dugout that were not completely friendly.  When asked by the TV crew about the exchange with Arrieta, Kapler responded in a sort of faux drill sergeant/jock/Clint Eastwood growly voice, "I told him he was a warrior and had given everything he had and needed to let his teammates pick him up" or something that effect.  From my perch on the recliner chair watching the game, I said out loud, "oh geez!  Can you imaging having to listen to THAT day after day in the dugout and clubhouse?"  Again, everybody has their preferred managing styles.  That is just not mine.  So Gabe Kapler is not my choice to be Bruce Bochy's successor as Manager of the Giants.

On top of his own baggage, Gabe Kapler also has a very tough act to follow in San Francisco.  It helps that the last several years of Bruce Bochy's tenure did not go so well, but he will inevitably be compared to Boch at some point and it's not likely to be a favorable comparison.  Giants fans in general are supportive and forgiving, but they have also come to have high expectations and rightfully so.  I will continue to root for the Giants to win and wish both Kapler and Farhan many rings.  In general, managers tend to perform better in their second gig.  Bruce Bochy himself was once widely scorned for losing his DH in a World Series game when he was managing the Padres.  I personally question whether  Gabe Kapler has had adequate time to reflect on his tenure in Philadelphia or whether he is even capable of said reflection, but I hope his Giants tenure goes better and he proves to be a great manager.