© Sergio Estrada | 2017 Aug 9
The Giants have a managerial opening. World Series winning manager Joe Maddon just got fired by the Cubs. Maddon to the Giants is a no brainer, right?
Not so fast according to Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper, who told Murph & Mac on Tuesday that even if Maddon seems like a good fit on paper, he can’t see Farhan Zaidi being all that interested.
“I think he would be a great choice anywhere, I just don’t see it here,” Kuip said on KNBR. “I think if Farhan’s gonna hire his first manager, it’s gonna be someone that he has a relationship with, and I don’t think he has one with Joe Maddon. I think Joe Maddon’s going to end up — I mean there’s like three or four different choices for him. If I believe what I read, more guys are going to get fired today.
“He’s going to get to pick and choose where he wants to go. It’s just not gonna be here.”
Maddon certainly has the pedigree. The 65-year old has had 11 winning seasons in 14 years as full-time manager, including five consecutive with Chicago, and took both the Rays and Cubs to the World Series, winning with the latter in 2016.
Zaidi announced today that his pool of candidates will be 8-10 deep, and will include internal options in Ron Wotus and Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens. The Giants have also been linked to Bob Geren, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez and Josh Bard.