Sept. 29, 2023
Morgan Killian-Moseley
"Kapler223" by Johnmaxmena2 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=openverse.
The 2023 MLB regular season almost made it to the finish line without seeing a single manager lose their job. Alas, twas not to be.
The San Francisco Giants relieved manager Gabe Kapler of his duties today, after San Fran's September freefall that dropped them from the last National League Wild Card berth to fourth in the NL West and out of playoff contention.
This was Kapler's second managerial job, after managing the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2018 & 2019 seasons. The Phils went 161-163 over those two seasons.
Kapler was hired as the Giants' manager in 2020. After the 29-31 "COVID season", Kapler won the 2021 National League Manager of the Year Award, leading the Giants to a franchise-best 107-55 record, beating the Dodgers by one game for the NL West Title, but losing to L.A. in the Division Series in five games.
2022 saw San Francisco drop back down to .500, and they will finish below that unless they can sweep the Dodgers at home this weekend.
Giants bench coach Kai Correa will serve as interim manager for those final three games.
San Francisco is the second team confirmed to be searching for a new skipper. The Cleveland Guardians will also be hunting for a new manager, as Terry Francona will retire after this weekend. Francona's retirement will make Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash the longest-tenured skipper in Major League Baseball. The Rays face the Blue Jays in Toronto this weekend while preparing for an AL Wild Card Series matchup at home