San Francisco Giants fire manager Gabe Kapler as team limps into final weekend
The San Francisco Giants announced Friday the team had fired manager Gabe Kapler with three games left in the regular season.
"After making this recommendation to ownership and receiving their approval, I met with Gabe today to inform him of our decision," said Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in a prepared statement. "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."
At a news conference Friday about Kapler's dismissal, Zaidi said he had nothing negative to say about the former manager.
"He's thoughtful, he's creative, he's incredibly hard working, he's loyal, he's diligent. He's really passionate about this game, he was passionate about the job that he had and did and we obviously reached some really high highs during his tenure here. And that's what makes it so difficult for us to be here and have to turn the page on his tenure," Zaidi said.
Zaidi told reporters that it was his recommendation to ownership to dismiss Kapler.
When asked about the search for a new manager, Zaidi said the team would cast a "wide net". He also said that Buster Posey, a crucial part of the team's three World Series titles and now a part owner of the Giants, would have influence on the next hire.
The 2023 season was Kapler's 4th with the club, with their sole playoff appearance during his tenure in 2021 when the team finished with a franchise-record 107-55 record. That playoff run ended with a loss to the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series.
This year's Giants saw their faint playoff hopes fizzle away as they lost 18 out of 25 games in September heading into Friday evening. San Francisco was eliminated earlier this week from playoff contention and will close out the season with three games at Oracle Park against the Dodgers, who have clinched the National League West.
Zaidi said that bench coach Kai Correa would serve as interim manager for the final three games of the regular season.
The Giants finished at .500 last season and will need to sweep the Dodgers this weekend to match that record. San Francisco has finished over .500 just once under Kapler.
In his four seasons with the Giants, Kapler compiled a record of 295-248.
