The breaking news just keeps on coming this Friday afternoon as Gabe Kapler is fired as manager of the San Francisco Giants after 4 seasons.
The team peaked in 2021, finishing with a stellar 107-55 record, only to lose in the divisional series against the rival Dodgers. The team has not been able to find its mojo ever since, with essentially .500 baseball over the past two campaigns.
Here is the statement from Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi:
"After making this recommendation to ownership and receiving their approval, I met with Gabe today to inform him of our decision. In his tenure as Giants manager, Gabe led our team through an unprecedented pandemic in 2020 and a franchise-record 107 wins and postseason berth in 2021. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the San Francisco Giants and I have tremendous respect for him as a colleague and friend. On behalf of the Giants organization, we wish Gabe the best of luck in his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions over the last four years."
Mediocrity is not particularly welcome in the SF Bay Area when it comes to athletics, which is something I admire and appreciate coming from New England. Out here, if your team is not getting it done, the leadership is canned pretty quickly or your team literally move cities - A's, Raiders, almost the Kings, Warriors have been a wagon and they still moved, and Niners have been pretty damn consistent since moving down to Santa Clara - so it's kind of life and death in that regard. California has the intensity that other places just don't - and that can often be made manifest in the way the fans appreciate their teams out here.
As an outsider of a fan, I was very surprised to see some of the content coming out of Gabe while the team was struggling. Dude was trying to be a foodie influencer while his team was consistently playing uninspired baseball and losing series after series against divisional opponents down the stretch - can't be getting smacked around by the D-Backs and Padres in September and expect to keep your job out here for too long. In recent weeks, we've been hearing rumors about Bob Marley music playing after losses, pretty relaxed locker room culture, and just an overall lack of intensity from this franchise that expects to be contenders year in and year out - 'every little thing is gonna be alright' is probably a good way to characterize this era in Giants history.
Will be interesting to see where the Giants go next - I hope we can continue to get well edited reels from Gabe about his love of SF burgers and being in his glamor/Ken doll era, but that stuff only works if you're getting it done on the field. Giants will be back, prayers up for our guy Red Rhino.
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