Weeks after being fired as manager of the Giants, Gabe Kapler has reportedly interviewed for a job with another team—but not to become a skipper again.
Kapler has interviewed with the Red Sox for the opening at the top of their baseball operations department, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported Friday. Boston is seeking to replace former president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who was fired last month after the team missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Kapler, 48, has been a field manager since 2018, spending two seasons with the Phillies and then four with the Giants. He guided San Francisco to a 107-win regular season in ’21, setting a franchise victories record, but the club was eliminated from the postseason in the NLDS by the Dodgers. That was the only time in six years that a Kapler-led team finished above .500.
Kapler may seem like an unusual choice to lead the Boston front office, given that his most recent experience has been in the dugout, but he also has a background in front office work. After his 12-year MLB career as a player, Kapler worked in the Rays’ front office, in a role he described as “a combination of scouting and player development.” In 2014, the Dodgers hired him as their farm director, a position he held until the Phillies chose him to be their manager in ’18.
As a high-ranking member of a highly successful team, Kapler was well regarded during his time with the Dodgers. He did, however, come under scrutiny in 2019 due to his handling of assault allegations against Los Angeles players during his time with the team. (Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim covered the allegations, and Kapler’s role, in great detail.) The Phillies chose to retain Kapler when the allegations came to light in February of that year but fired him after the season.
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