Giants may not settle on 1 closer this season
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — And the 2020 Giants closer will be … nobody?
That is possible. Manager Gabe Kapler would not commit Friday to naming a single replacement for Will Smith, during a broader conversation about the evolution of roles in baseball.
“I think if somebody grabs hold of that position and makes it unequivocally clear that this person is the right player for the role, sure,” Kapler said. “I think there’s some value in naming a closer. We have to be flexible enough to say, ‘You know, right now we don’t have to name somebody the closer.’
“But I think that decision is going to be made for us as we go through camp.”
Kapler had set closers during most of his two seasons managing the Phillies. While 14 pitchers earned 80 saves, Hector Neris (39) and Seran
general manager their jobs and has dominated the baseball news cycle for weeks.
“I was up and down in 2017 and once I got there in September, the system was already in place,” Kemp said of the team’s signstealing scheme. “I just tried to keep my head down and play hard and not really concern myself with it.”
Kemp said he was approached about using the scheme — which involved relaying information about pitch type to hitters at the plate — and he declined.
“It was kind of out of my hands at that point, just having four months in the big leagues at that point,” said Kemp, who declined to disclose which player or players mentioned the sign stealing to him. “I got asked if I wanted to use the system and I said no. I felt like I was having a pretty good season at the plate in TripleA so I just wanted to continue to do that.”
Kemp said he wasn’t sure how widespread the scheme was, because he tried to stay out of it. “I was comfortable with how I was swinging the bat at the time, and I didn’t want any distractions,” he said.
Manager Bob Melvin spoke to Kemp on Friday and was satisfied with what he heard.
“He’s got a real clear conscience about what happened,” said Melvin, who later alluded to analysis of Astros’ atbats that appears to show Kemp wasn’t part of the scheme. “Everything I heard was all good, and we’ll move forward. We’re happy to have him.”
Fiers approached Kemp for a chat about 15 minutes before Kemp spoke to a group of reporters and, Kemp said, “It went well. I understand where he comes from. He’s my teammate now, he was my teammate in Houston. Nothing changes.”
Kemp said Fiers was in a tough spot and it’s understandable he’d alert the A’s that they’d need to switch their signs against Houston. “It’s a sticky situation to be in,” Kemp said.
Fiers, who has not discussed his role as a whistleblower since making his initial public comments to the Athletic website in November, was satisfied with the conversation, but he didn’t go into any details.
“I’ve always respected Kemp,” Fiers said. “He’s always been a good guy, I’ve always gotten along with him. He’s a good dude to have on the field and as a teammate . ... Everyone is going to love him here. Everyone’s excited he’s here, and I think it will be great for him. It’s a great fit.”
Kemp, who was not asked to speak to MLB investigators, said he doesn’t feel the need to apologize or speak to the A’s as a group, but said, “I’m sure I’m going to go around the locker room. I don’t think I’m really going to make a statement. If I was more involved, I think a statement would be the right thing to do.
“We’re all grown men. If you have a question, you can come up and ask me, I’ll be straightforward with you.”
A’s first baseman Matt Olson, who played with Kemp in the 2015 Futures Game, said Kemp doesn’t need to make a teamwide apology whether he was involved in the scheme or not.
“I’m sure it helps a little that he wasn’t” participating, Olson said, “but whether he was or wasn’t, he’s over here now and it’s something that’s in the past. I think that’s a lot of people’s stance: If he’s on our team, we’re going to go to battle with him regardless.”
Does Kemp believe the Astros’ 2017 title is tainted? “That’s a good question,” he said. “Everyone is going to have their own speculation about it, everyone is going to have their own opinion about it. But I’m not sure.”
In the wake of the Astros’ apologies Thursday — some of which sounded rehearsed, some vague, several more heartfelt — Kemp said, “If you say you’re sorry, people aren’t going to want that apology and if you say something different, people aren’t going to want that, they’re going to say, ‘Wow, they didn’t even say they’re sorry.’ I’m feeling for those guys over there, they’re going through a rough time.
“I’m not going to say things going over there were right — those things were wrong. I think they’re feeling remorse now, you see how they’re acting, and you can tell there was some wrongdoing there. To see the remorse they’re showing is good. It’s sincere.”
On Jan. 13, the A’s traded minorleague first baseman Alfonso Rivas to the Cubs for Kemp, and he’ll either play second base or be the team’s lefthanded hitting utility player.
Fiers said he believes Kemp will “make it tough” for anyone else to win the secondbase spot, and Melvin said, “We’re going to get a good long look at him at second base. I don’t think he cares where he plays, he just wants to help out. That’s a good attitude to have. But especially early on, he’s going to get a lot reps at second base; all our analytics suggest he did really well over there.”