Just over a month after being fired by the Phillies, Gabe Kapler has found another managerial job in the majors with the San Francisco Giants.
Kapler will succeed Bruce Bochy, the team announced Tuesday night. You can read more on the news here.
It is a surprisingly quick turnaround for Kapler, even with the well-documented connection he has with Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. The two worked together in the Dodgers' front office when Zaidi was GM from 2014-18, and Kapler was a finalist for the managerial job in L.A. that went to Dave Roberts ahead of the '16 season.
Kapler went 161-163 in two seasons as Phillies manager. There was a slight chance he could return for a third season and it's what GM Matt Klentak wanted, but ownership was ready to move on and Joe Girardi was hired to lead the Phillies' core into the future.
It will be a shock to some that Kapler landed on his feet so quickly after a rocky two-year tenure in Philly. His team exceeded expectations in Year 1 and fell well short in Year 2, with two straight horrible Septembers playing a large role.
Kapler does, however, have qualities that appeal to franchises ready to get creative. The Phillies were in that position when they hired him after 2017 and the Giants are now. The Giants are embarking upon a rebuild that will take years. They lack top-end talent and have numerous players aging out of their effective years. They'll need marginal advantages to win games. Enter Kapler.
It will be interesting to see how Kapler's managerial style changes at his second stop. Surely, he will have learned many lessons from the two years in Philadelphia. How to get your message across. How to communicate with players in a way that leaves no room for uncertainty. What not to say after a bad loss. How to better handle a bullpen.
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The members of Kapler's staff have also resurfaced. Former Phillies pitching coach Chris Young took the bullpen coach job with the Cubs, former hitting coach John Mallee is now an assistant hitting coach with the Angels, and infield coach Bobby Dickerson is the new bench coach in San Diego.
The other members of Kapler's staff — Rob Thomson, Dusty Wathan, Jim Gott, Dave Lundquist, Paco Figueroa, Pedro Guerrero, Bob Stumpo and Craig Driver — have remained in their roles under Girardi.
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