Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
If the words of Phillies personnel who endorsed him, the full approval of Farhan Zaidi and the perhaps tacit approval of Giants executives won’t sway fans on the hiring of Gabe Kapler, Zaidi hopes the everlasting goodwill of Bruce Bochy and Buster Posey might.
The team’s president of baseball operations invoked the names of Grandpa Giant and Captain Giant on Wednesday, stating both the former longtime manager and legendary catcher met with Kapler during the process and suggesting they gave their approval.
Zaidi, making the media rounds ahead of the introductory news conference to attempt to spin an unpopular hire, said Bochy met with all the candidates before the decision was made.
“I don’t want to speak for Boch, but the feedback I got from both guys was it was a really positive conversation,” Zaidi said on KNBR’s “Murph & Mac” Wednesday morning. “They really bonded over the fact that … Boch felt like his second time around, he really got traction, got better on the job. Obviously the record speaks for himself.
“… I think Gabe is gonna be smart about using Boch as a resource. Not just as somebody who knows this team and organization better than anybody but someone who has gone through that process the second time around, what you can learn and what you can do better.”
The second time around for Kapler follows a 161-163 record with Philadelphia, after which he was fired. The bigger red flag on his resume stems from his time with the Dodgers, when he did not reportedly alert police to alleged assaults involving Dodgers minor leaguers, instead reporting the cases to Dodgers personnel and attempting to deal with at least one case personally.
By Kapler getting the nod from Giants greats, Zaidi hopes San Francisco will give him a chance.
“He actually did meet Buster and get a chance to talk with him. We did that with a bunch of our candidates,” Zaidi said. “They’ve got some prior history, too.”