The Giants made a significant change this afternoon, skipper Gabe Kapler as his fourth season at the helm was coming to a close. Bench coach Kai Correa will serve as the interim manager for the final series against the Dodgers. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi spoke with reporters after Kaplers dismi sal. He indicated the front offices preference is to have a new hire in place by the beginning of the free agent period ( ). That starts five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Its a pretty universal trait that you want a manager who players want to play for, whether its young players and getting them motivated to get the most out of them or free agents who have heard your manager has a good reputation , Zaidi told the S.F. beat. I think thats going to matter a lot. Zaidi did not indicate that Kaplers presence as manager was harmful to the teams free agent pursuits, to be clear. Yet he noted the club had decided to look for new and different leadership in our clubhouse, a different dynamic there. After Claude Osteen Jersey making the call to move on from Kapler, its understandable theyd prefer to have a new manager in place as they try to sell the organization to upcoming free agent targets. Over his five-year tenure leading baseball operations, Zaidi and his staff have come up short on multiple pursuits of top-of-the-market talents. They pursued over the 2018-19 offseason but reportedly balked at the long-term offer he was seeking (and eventually found from Philadelphia). San Francisco made a run at last winter but came up short when the defending MVP returned to the Yankees on a record-setting deal. They agreed to terms on a $350MM pact with , only for that to fall through on the physical. The Giants have been active in the middle tiers of free agency but havent signed a guarantee larger than the $44MM deal under Zaidi. With roughly $110MM in guaranteed money on the books for next season, San Francisco could try again to land a top-of-the-market player. Theyll surely be among the teams courting , while could be a fallback target if Ohtani heads elsewhere. San Francisco had interest in Bellinger with whom Zaidi is familiar from their time with the Dodgers before he signed with the Cubs on a $17.5MM bounceback deal last offseason. After an excellent rebound campaign, Bellinger seems in line to top $200MM on his next free agent trip. Kolten Wong Jersey
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