Kapler reflects on ‘rocky’ tenure
MIAMI — Gabe Kapler had no intention of getting back into baseball so soon.
Weeks after the San Francisco Giants fired him as manager, one series short of last season’s end, Kapler set off on an adventure through North America, traveling and posting video blogs on his social media from Montana to Tulum, Mexico.
While traveling, Kapler was in touch with other teams but didn’t expect those conversations to bear fruit.
“I was also planning lots of travel,” Kapler said with a laugh. “I say that comically because there was a part of me that was still like, ‘Hmm, I’m working every day in baseball, I don’t really need to be right now.’ ”
Then, Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix called with an invitation to just have a conversation in South Beach. Soon, Kapler ended his North American travel and moved to the front office of a franchise in flux as Bendix’s assistant general manager.
“I thought he was a good leader and a genuinely good human being and someone I could work closely with,” Kapler said.
The weeks he spent in nature allowed Kapler time to reflect on the highs and lows he experienced during his four years as a manager in San Francisco. He won a franchise-high 107 games and Manager of the Year in 2021, traversed the challenges of COVID, found a home he loved in San Francisco and, in the end, was the casualty of an underwhelming 2023 season.
He couldn’t help but be disappointed at how his Giants tenure ended. With his former team in town for a three-game series, Kapler took a little extra time before first pitch Tuesday to share his reflections.
“Winning is the only thing that matters — and when I say it’s the only thing that matters, what I mean is that, in baseball and sports, the manager is oftentimes responsible for whether the team wins enough or doesn’t,” Kapler said. “My job is to always be accountable first. We didn’t win enough games. How else is a manager to be judged?”
His new job recalls Kapler’s roots with the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he was farm director under now Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in the mid-2010s. In Miami, he advises at every level of the Marlins’ system — working closely with the big leaguers and minor leaguers.
“I personally believe it’s an area of the game where there is a lot of meat on the bone,” Kapler said. “If you ask me which area has more meat on the bone, player evaluation or player development, I would say player development.”
Kapler feels at home in Miami, but couldn’t lie that he missed San Francisco. Ultimately, his topsy-turvy career there made him stronger, he said.
“I love the city, I felt extremely, extremely supported and connected to the people in the city,” Kapler said. “That’s not to say all my moves as a manager were supported, I know those were not, at times. But I felt like I was home and like I belonged. There were some rocky times like in any relationship. I thought we got through those rocky times and I felt stronger leaving the city than I did when I showed up.”