The Boston Red Sox's ongoing hunt to find a new top baseball operations executive now reportedly includes an unexpected name. Former San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler recently interviewed with the Red Sox about the job, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. The Red Sox fired Chaim Bloom after he missed the postseason for the third time in four seasons.
Kapler joins a list of known candidates that includes several internal figures as well as Chicago Cubs assistant general manager Craig Breslow, Minnesota Twins GM Thad Levine, and former Pittsburgh Pirates executive Neal Huntington. (CBS Sports explained on Friday morning why the Red Sox have had trouble attracting perceived blue-chip executive talent to the position.)
Kapler, 48, was fired by the Giants after failing to guide them to the playoffs for the third time in four tries. Overall, he posted a 54.3% winning percentage with San Francisco, though that figure was skewed by an outstanding 107-win effort in 2021. The Giants otherwise played like a .500 team under Kapler, same as the Philadelphia Phillies during his two-year stint at the helm there.
Granted, Kapler's teams did appear to overachieve based on the roster's talent level. He received criticism late in the season for the laidback manner of the clubhouse and how that may have led to a lack of focus that precipitated a second-half collapse.
Kapler does have past front-office experience with both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, albeit not at the decision-making level. He was heavily scrutinized during his time as Dodgers farm director for how he handled severe allegations of sexual abuse made against several of his players.
Kapler, a 12-year big-league veteran, played in four seasons as a member of the Red Sox. That was the longest amount of time he spent with any MLB team.
