SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants hope to begin interviewing internal managerial candidates this week as they seek to replace Gabe Kapler, who was fired last Friday with three games left in a second straight losing season.
President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said discussions are underway about who the club would like to speak with from inside the organization initially, probably a couple of people — and Zaidi is relying on input from retired catcher Buster Posey, who's now part of the ownership group.
Zaidi also noted he hopes to begin reaching out to other franchises early next week to receive permission to interview people on those staffs.
While Zaidi has one year remaining on his contract and that brings potential instability, he stressed that San Francisco is a desirable destination nonetheless. His said his focus right now is finding a manager and not on his own negotiations for an extension.
“The amount on incoming calls we've gotten serves to support the view that this is a really highly sought position and an organization that's really well regarded in the game and in the industry,” Zaidi said Tuesday.
“So I don't anticipate any issues there. Some of our candidates may be people that I've had some past relationship with and maybe that helps provide some reassurance there. But even for people who don't, you're coming in to be the manager of this team, this organization, and I haven't sensed any concerns from people on that.”
The Giants finished 79-83 after going 81-81 in 2022. They were held to two or fewer runs in each of their final eight games to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive year after winning a franchise-record 107 games in 2021 to capture the NL West with one more victory than the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 48-year-old Kapler had a 295-248 record over four seasons. Bench coach Kai Correa, who could be one of those considered, managed the team during the final three-game series against Los Angeles.
Zaidi will lean on players like ace right-hander Logan Webb to provide thoughts on what the clubhouse culture needs — Webb has already weighed in and plans to be part of the process as allowed.
“He's very interested and I've already had a couple of conversations with him. I will probably be soliciting Logan's thoughts and I am expecting some unsolicited thoughts as well," Zaidi said of Webb. “I think he's very interested, and he should be. We definitely, I value his input for sure."
Zaidi said “there’s no template” for whether the next manager will be experienced or a first-timer on the top dugout step.
“One of the things we talked about last week, which I think will factor into the choice, is we want somebody who can be an effective recruiter as we go into free agency,” he said. “Like every organization we want to sort of build a brand of players wanting to come here and play here, and I think the manager is a big part of that.”
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