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I covered all of the week’s postseason news on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for paid subscribers. On Tuesday, I wrote about my X-factors for the Wild Card Series. On Wednesday and Thursday, I discussed my takeaways from each Wild Card Series game.
Tomorrow, paid subscribers will receive a newsletter with my X-factors for the four Division Series. Then each day I will write a newsletter with my key takeaways from each Division Series game.
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Today I want to write about some non-postseason news that I didn’t get a chance to cover last week with everything going on in the Wild Card Series.
Many people have asked what I think about the Giants’ decision to fire Gabe Kapler. I’ve given some thoughts on social media and in talking with friends, but haven’t really fleshed out my view in full. Today I do.
I think the Giants made the right decision to move on from Kapler. Based on the excellent reporting of beat writers Andrew Baggarly and Susan Slusser, and the public comments of Logan Webb and other players, it appears that at least some Giants players had lost confidence in Kapler—in his leadership, his hands-off approach in the clubhouse, and in his in-game decision-making. If those are players the Giants value—and Logan Webb certainly should be one—then a change was warranted.
Photo by Wendy Thurm
Is Kapler to blame for the two consecutive mediocre seasons after the miraculous 107-win season in 2021? I don’t think he’s singularly at fault, but he’s not blameless. Every teams goes through highs and lows throughout the season. But in August and September, the Giants played like zombies. Wasted at-bats. Lifeless defense. And yet, nothing changed. Kapler continued to follow the analytics wherever they took him, even when that didn’t bring better results.
The problem with Kapler’s firing is that it’s only a first step—necessary but not sufficient. Kapler was Farhan Zaidi’s guy. Zaidi picked Kapler after Kapler’s two mediocre seasons managing the Phillies (after which he was fired) because Kapler would implement Zaidi’s analytical approach with a roster built almost entirely on the platoon advantage.
In his press conference after Kapler’s firing, and again in his comments after the season ended, Zaidi said that he understood he needed to change. That Kapler wasn’t the only problem. That he had to reevaluate whether his strategic approach had worked and if not, make changes. He said those things, but when pressed, Zaidi also sounded like he didn’t fully understand how much the Giants have veered off course.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Zaidi said:
I think that’s what we want our brand to be; that every second counts, every detail matters. Whether it’s holding runners on, bunting at the right time, hitting the cutoff man, pinch-hitting in the right spot to get a match, if that helps you win the game.
That sounds a lot like trying to win at the margins. It certainly doesn’t sound like a guy who thinks the Giants need to spend more and bring in better players.
Maybe Zaidi doesn’t think the Giants need to spend more. Or maybe Zaidi knows that Giants ownership won’t agree to spend more.
It all goes back to when the Giants hired Zaidi to be the new President of Baseball Operations in November, 2018. At that point, the Giants had suffered through two consecutive losing seasons after making the 2016 postseason as a Wild Card team and losing to the Cubs in the Division Series. In 2018, the Giants’ had the second-highest player payroll at just over $200 million.
The question is: did Giants ownership hire Zaidi with a mandate to bring down the payroll? Or did the Giants hire Zaidi knowing that his approach focused on finding diamonds in the rough at deep salary discounts? What is both?
Either way, the Giants have moved steadily down the list in total player salaries. In 2021, the Giants were 9th with a player payroll of $172 million. In 2022, they fell to 12th at $162.5 million.
We all know that money doesn’t necessarily buy success. We only have to look at this year’s Padres and Mets to see that. But it’s also true that the Giants appear to have made an intentional decision to spend less money on player salaries. And that decision was made before the COVID pandemic. Before downtown San Francisco became a ghost town. Before the Giants attendance cratered this season.
The Giants’ ownership squandered the incredible good will and fan support built up by three World Series Championships in 5 years, plus a postseason run in 2016. Two pretty bad seasons—2017 and 2018—and team owners got cold feet instead of re-investing in all the things that brought them three World Series trophies between 2010 and 2014.
So yes, Kapler had to go. But this franchise needs a lot more than a new manager. Team owners have to understand that the Zaidi-run Giants are not an appealing product for fans used to winning. For fans used to excitement. For fans who grew up watching Will Clark or Barry Bonds or Tim Lincecum or Buster Posey.
This franchise is headed in the wrong direction and has to make a sea change. Fast.
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