Gabe Kapler fired: Giants dismiss manager after four years; San Francisco made playoffs just once

The San Francisco Giants are firing manager Gabe Kapler after missing the postseason for a third time in four tries, the team announced Friday.

Executive Farhan Zaidi issued the following statement:

“After making this recommendation to ownership and receiving their approval, I met with Gabe today to inform him of our decision. In his tenure as Giants manager, Gabe led our team through an unprecedented pandemic in 2020 and a franchise-record 107 wins and postseason berth in 2021. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the San Francisco Giants and I have tremendous respect for him as a colleague and friend.”

Kapler, 48, led the Giants to the playoffs in 2021 on the heels of a 107-win regular season. That amazing season aside, the Giants otherwise played .500 ball during his other three years at the helm. San Francisco was in the midst of the playoff race this season, but suffered a disappointing second half that saw them close out the year with three consecutive losing months. That tailspin included a horrific September that evidently soured the club on Kapler.

Roger Craig, Teacher of an Era-Defining Pitch, Is Dead at 93

Roger Craig, who pitched or managed in five World Series and changed the face of pitching in the 1980s as the guru of the split-fingered fastball, died Sunday. He was 93.
...
A lanky 6-foot-4 right-hander who, it was often noted, bore a remarkable resemblance to President Lyndon B. Johnson, Craig pitched in three World Series for the Dodgers in the 1950s and another with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964. In managing the Giants to the 1989 N.L. pennant, he implored his players to hustle with the mantra “Humm baby” and taught his pitchers to throw the split-fingered fastball.

Craig spread the gospel of the split, thrown with the same motion as a traditional fastball but able to confound batters because the pitcher gripped the baseball with his index and middle finger spread widely apart, and parallel to the seams instead of across them.

Logan Webb, Giants reach $90M extension through 2028

The San Francisco Giants have reached a five-year, $90 million extension with right-handed pitcher Logan Webb through the 2028 season, it was announced Friday.

Webb has a 31-22 record with a 3.59 ERA in 80 starts since entering the majors with the Giants in 2019, including an 0-3 mark with a 6.35 ERA to begin this season.

He will make $8 million in 2024, $12 million in 2025, $23 million in 2026 and 2027, and $24 million in 2028.

Orlando Cabrera To Retire From Baseball

OH NO, EXPO!

Last season, Orlando Cabrera batted .238 with the Indians and Giants, posting a 61 OPS+. The season before that, he posted a 76 OPS+. The season before that, he posted an 85 OPS+. Orlando Cabrera has been declining, and just turned 37 years old. As a free agent, Cabrera didn’t drum up much interest, which I’m guessing is why he’s intending to hang ‘em up. Enrique Rojas:

  “Orlando Cabrera to retire from baseball, he said in Colombia radio station. Thanks for memories!”

Cabrera had a long career that’ll be difficult to forget. He debuted with the Expos in 1997, and remained there until the giant Nomar Garciaparra three-way trade in 2004. That year, with the Red Sox, Cabrera won a World Series. He wound up with the Angels, earning the unfortunate nickname “The Wizard of O.C.”, and then he wound up with the White Sox, and the A’s, and the Twins, and the Reds, and the Indians, and the Giants ... He remained a shortstop to the end, and collected 2,055 hits. He will always be remembered as a pest. An absolute pest.

Giants and Pablo Sandoval agree to a three-year, $17.15 million contract

That can buy 1,715,000 Kung Fu Panda dolls

While the Giants have some work to do in order to keep Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain for the long haul, they have at least locked up a key position player through his arbitration seasons.

The Giants just announced that they have agreed to a three-year contract with third baseman Pablo Sandoval. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the deal is worth $17.15 million guaranteed and includes some performance-based incentives. He’ll make $3.2 million this season, $5.7 million in 2013 and $8.25 million in 2014.

Sandoval was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter after batting .315/.357/.552 with 23 home runs, 70 RBI and a .909 OPS over 117 games in 2011. The 25-year-old owns a .307/.356/.501 batting line over his first four seasons in the majors. If he can stay in shape and continue to produce similar numbers, he’ll be a tremendous bargain.

Tim Lincecum asks $21.5M in arbitration

That’s still just barely more than what Barry Zito will make.

Giants ace Tim Lincecum asked for $21.5 million in salary arbitration Tuesday and was offered $17 million by the club.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner’s request neared the record amount sought in arbitration. Houston pitcher Roger Clemens asked for $22 million in 2005.

San Francisco’s offer was the highest in arbitration history, topping the $14.25 million the New York Yankees proposed for shortstop Derek Jeter in 2001.

“I’m overall optimistic that we’ll find common ground without a hearing room,” Bobby Evans, Giants vice president of baseball operations, said before seeing Lincecum’s filing numbers. “It’s a process that begins long before today in terms of conversations about possible deals that work for both sides. That process has continued in a mutual fashion. At this point we haven’t reached a conclusion.”

Lincecum, the winning pitcher in the Game 5 World Series clincher at Texas in 2010, earned $13.1 million last season and completed a two-year deal worth $23.2 million.

MLB Trade Rumors: Bartolo Colon Agrees to Sign With Unknown Team

Bartolo Colon has agreed to a deal with an unknown club reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). The right-hander wouldn’t divulge the team because he has not yet passed his physical.

Pretty sure it’s either the All-Stars or the Champs.

BN: A Proposal To Break The Territorial-Rights Logjam Between The A’s And The Giants

With a doff of the chapeau to Mr. Calcaterra, a modest proposal indeed:

All of the two-team territories but one share the same counties: the Yankees and Mets; the White Sox and Cubs; and the Dodgers and Angels. Only the Giants and A’s split the counties surrounding their home cities. The A’s territory includes Alameda and Contra Costa counties; the Giants’ territory includes San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Marin counties, “plus Santa Clara County with respect to another major league team.” San Jose is in Santa Clara county.

St. Louisian Don Mueller, former big-league star, dies

Don Mueller...

St. Louis native Don Mueller, who led the majors in hits in 1954 and roamed the outfield with Willie Mays of the New York Giants, died on Wednesday. He was 84.

Mueller, who played at CBC, was signed by the Giants in 1944 and made his big-league debut four years later.

At age 23, he became a starter for the Giants in right field and hit .291 in his first full season.

...A career .296 hitter, Mueller became known as “Mandrake the Magician.” He finished his career with two seasons with the White Sox in 1958 and 59.

Oakland Athletics Will Be Granted Permission To Move To San Jose, According To Report

Rosicrucia

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l Park!

The Oakland Athletics may not be in Oakland for much longer, if new reports about the prove true: USA Today writer Bob Nightengale reports that sources say the Athletics will be granted permission to move to San Jose by February.

This move has been a possibility simmering on a back burner for some time now; Rob Neyer wrote about the potential of the San Jose A’s in September. But while it has been a possibility for many years, with the A’s looking to improve their accommodations from the outdated O.co Coliseum to a new ballpark and/or get out from under the shadow of the successful San Francisco Giants, this new approval may accelerate a timeline to get the A’s out of the city they have called home since 1968.

Schulman: Giants: The winter of our disconnect

Coherentism rocks! Sabean’s team-building philosophy rolls!

I’m bringing up ancient history because it is very relevant this morning in illustrating Sabean’s team-building philosophy.

Sabean always has believed that it makes little sense to have one or two big players if the supporting cast is weak. He would rather own a room full of toys than one Xbox 360. He was ripped for that philosophy in 1996, ripped for it again after the 2003 season when he didn’t make a move for Vlad Guerrero and is being ripped for it today. But he is not budging.

...Two months later, we know it’s not going to be this way. If the Giants’ heavy lifting is over, Cabrera and Angel Pagan will have been the primary additions for 2012. I must admit I think folks are underestimating Cabrera’s potential impact. The guy did come to bat 706 times for Kansas City last year and hit .305/.340/.470 with 18 home runs from the second spot in the order and playing 81 home games in a pitchers’ park. An outlier year? Kind of hard to say that when the guy is supposed to be 27 years old.

To compete for another division title, the Giants are banking on a healthy Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez, a fitter and more determined Huff in another contract year, Panda being Panda, a few more hits from Brandon Crawford, the potential emergence of Brandon Belt, better defense and athleticism, and the usual strong pitching staff, which largely remained intact.

NYT: Bonds Avoids Prison - Sentenced To 30 Days Home Confinement

Starts with GWB’s attack in the State of the Union, ends with a whimper. Parallels to Iraq at your own risk.

Baseball America’s Top 10 Prospects: San Francisco Giants

Come back Kenny Kolkhorst, wherever you are.

1. Gary Brown, OF
2. Tommy Joseph, 1B/C
3. Heath Hembree, RHP
4. Joe Panik, SS
5. Francisco Peguero, OF
6. Andrew Susac, C
7. Eric Surkamp, LHP
8. Kyle Crick, RHP
9. Ehire Adrianza, SS
10. Hector Sanchez, C

The current strength of San Francisco’s system is in position players, led by speedster Gary Brown and longball threat Tommy Joseph. Brandon Belt, who graduated to the majors in 2011, could make an impact for years to come. Scouting director John Barr added two polished college hitters in the 2011 draft, with St. John’s shortstop Joe Panik in the first round and Oregon State catcher Andrew Susac in the second.

However, the Giants don’t have another can’t-miss position player like Posey in the system. He’s determined to catch again and club officials will relent to his wishes, but they’ve talked about moving their best hitter out of harm’s way in the not too distant future.

Buster Posey’s leg rehabilitation progressing nicely in Georgia | SFGiants.com: News

Giants catcher Buster Posey is continuing his smooth recovery from extensive left leg injuries and appears poised to intensify his training, head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said Friday.

Interpreting Scott Boras’ Comments On Prince Fielder: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

The big concern for anyone signing Prince is that he will age like his father.

There has been some talk of Boras trying to get Fielder signed to a three or four year contract, so that Prince gets another bite at the free agency apple. That strategy, I would think, would work best for teams and Prince’s long-term earnings. Of course, who knows what silly offer could already be on the table? I am just glad the Red Sox already have Adrian Gonzalez.

Episode 60: ZiP It, Thomas

Noticed on Twitter that Szym did a long Giants podcast, so I figured I’d send it to Repoz since Szym didn’t.

NY Times: Prosecutors Seek 15 Months in Barry Bonds Case

In court documents filed late Thursday, prosecutors objected to a recommendation by a federal probation officer that Bonds get only probation when he’s sentenced for obstruction of justice on Dec. 16.

In the documents, prosecutors asked that Bonds be sentenced to 15 months in prison. ...

Federal sentencing guidelines for conviction on the obstruction charge recommend a prison sentence between 15 and 21 months. But Bonds’ lawyers have cited an investigative report prepared by a federal probation officer for the judge that recommended a sentence of probation.

Defense lawyers said in a previous motion they disagreed, however, with the probation report’s recommendation that Bonds spend an unspecified time under “location monitoring,” a form of house arrest.

Giants Acquire Pagan From Mets For Torres, Ramirez

The Giants and Mets have agreed on a deal that will send Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez to New York and Angel Pagan to San Francisco, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The deal is pending physicals, Sherman reports (via Twitter).

Thanks to Magoo.

Billy Beane dives into A’s stadium issue

Billy Beane should have never written this article.

“It’s now impacting our baseball planning,” Beane said, “so I feel a need to get involved with this.”

According to a major-league source, Beane accompanied owner Lew Wolff to meet with Commissioner Bud Selig in Scottsdale, Ariz., two weeks ago. Beane declined to confirm or deny his presence or that the meeting even took place…

Oakland lost money last season for the first time this century, with an expected shortfall of several million dollars, according to Beane. The team is consistently a recipient of $20 million or more in revenue sharing, and Oakland’s attendance actually went up in 2011, but the payroll also went up $15 million, from $52 million to $67 million.

Many fans point to the deep pockets of A’s ownership, which includes the Gap’s John Fisher, as a reason the team should spend more on payroll no matter what the revenue.

“It’s a business,” Beane said. “And the business should be able to stand on its own two feet.”

Rosenthal: New push in A’s San Jose quest

“Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass”

Finally, there is movement toward solving one of baseball’s most vexing problems.

Baseball is trying to accelerate a decision on whether to allow the Oakland Athletics to relocate to San Jose, according to major league sources.

Commissioner Bud Selig met with top A’s officials earlier this month and plans to meet with San Francisco Giants executives within two weeks, sources say.

The meetings represent the biggest step toward a resolution of the Athletics’ quest to relocate since Selig appointed a three-member committee to study the franchise’s’ situation in March 2009.

...The Athletics, independent of the Giants’ opposition, are “checking off boxes” to ensure that baseball is satisfied with their plan to relocate, sources say.

The team, according to one source, has agreed to expand the capacity of Cisco Field, its proposed 32,000-seat ballpark, as one of the conditions for a move.

Cleared of murder charges, Angel Villalona added to Giants’ 40-man roster

the Giants have added former top prospect Angel Villalona to their 40-man roster.

Villalona, who received a club-record $2.1 million signing bonus as a 16-year-old in 2006, hasn’t played professionally in over two years after being accused of killing a 25-year-old man in a Dominican Republic nightclub in September of 2009. Charges were eventually dismissed as part of a $139,000 settlement with the victim’s family, but Villalona sued the Giants for $5 million earlier this summer claiming they violated the terms of his contract following his arrest. After the two sides settled the lawsuit in September, the Giants were prepared to welcome him back in the organization.

Villalona is currently at the Giants’ complex in the Dominican working his way into baseball shape, but he isn’t completely out of the woods yet. While Giants president of baseball operations Bobby Evans told Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that he was removed from the restricted list about a month ago, he is still awaiting a work visa to return to the United States.

Heyman: Why Bobby Valentine is getting a look in Red Sox managerial search

BMark Buehrle presumably no relation to B’wana Beast, or for that matter, sveunm.

The Red Sox say first-list [managerial] candidates Sandy Alomar Jr., Torey Lovullo and Gene Lamont are still in play (curiously, the Phillies’ respected bench coach, Pete Mackanin, was the one called on Tuesday and told that he is out of the running; “I was a little bit surprised. Maybe I didn’t have what they were looking for ... I didn’t insult them,’’ Mackanin said by phone ). None of them looks particularly likely, however, now that it’s clear Red Sox ownership is involved and seems to have vastly different ideas… Cherington, an extremely bright young executive who’d been Theo Epstein’s righthand man until being promoted to replace the departed Epstein four weeks ago, put together a list of pleasant get-along candidates. That roster was definitely OK for the Cubs, as it was basically their list, too. But Red Sox honchos, who know they operate in a fishbowl, appear to feel the need to make a more serious choice…

The perception that [Boston team president Larry] Lucchino was now heavily involved was inescapable, especially after the name of [Bobby] Valentine, who is a longtime friend of Lucchino’s and is viewed as a of his favorite [sic], surfaced. And Lucchino did admit to reporters here that the search is a “collective’’ process. A longtime Boston person said that one of strengths [sic] of [Theo] Epstein, who earned near-full autonomy after winning his second World Series as GM in 2007, was “helping save some people from themselves.” The perception now will be that Cherington’s power isn’t what was believed… There was… no suggestion that Valentine or anyone like him was on Cherington’s radar in the first go-around… it looks like Valentine would be mostly Lucchino’s call, and one of the others Cherington’s. Word is, Cherington had spoken once before to Valentine, but it wasn’t made clear whether that discussion was at Lucchino’s direction. What is clear is that, heading into the meeting here, Cherington was ready to make [Dale] Sveum the manager.

With Valentine’s name the first to surface, the new direction is undeniable. Sveum is seen as another player’s manager who isn’t likely to rock the boat, while Valentine has all his own ideas. Bobby V is widely respected as a brilliant and accomplished baseball man, but he is a curiously strong personality for a team that uses Moneyball principles and has been run more from the front office than the manager’s office in recent years. That would have to change if he gets the job, of course.

The Miami Marlins are said to have a good feeling about their chances to sign Jose Reyes. But even they know they will have to do better than what was described as a “preliminary’’ offer. Sources suggest it was actually less than the reported $90 million over six years by $10-to-20 million. However, Miami is thought to be eventually willing to come up to $90-to-100 million on a five-year deal. People familiar with their situation continue to describe the Albert Pujols offer as a lowball special designed to work only if Pujols has some incredible and unknown desire to play in Miami.

The Yankees may be gun shy bidding on acclaimed Japanese league pitcher Yu Darvish following their disastrous Kei Igawa signing. They seem more interested in C.J. Wilson, Edwin Jackson, BMark Buehrle and perhaps [John] Danks at the moment.

The Mariners could wind up as a player for free agent Prince Fielder. They are badly in need of offense, and their GM, Jack Zduriencik, is the one who drafted Fielder for Milwaukee.

Though new Astros owner Jim Crane was unanimously approved, some teams would have been opposed had there been any chance they could have voted him down. The Angels, for one, were against him. But as is usually the case in baseball, the vote was 30-0 in Crane’s favor. No matter what anyone thinks of Crane, having 15 teams in each league and a balanced schedule—ripple effects of the approval, which was contingent upon Crane agreeing to move the Astros to the AL West—are major benefits.

The Bat Stands Pat: Pat Burrell Hangs It Up

Burrell was elected into the University of Miami Hall of Fame in 2008 and was followed two seasons later by Aubrey Huff(notes) and Jason Michaels(notes). Huff later credited Pat with helping him overcome his shyness by saying “I broke out of my shell at the University of Miami when I got around guys like Burrell.”

How did Burrell help? Well, here’s one story Huff has told:

  “After two weeks at Miami, I wanted to go home [...] So my mom flies out, trying to convince me to stay. I was living with two seniors and they ragged me, too. I just didn’t understand all this baseball ragging nonsense. She’s in my room one night and I’m sitting on my bed and she’s telling me to give it another two weeks.

  “Anyway, there’s a knock on the door, and before I can even get off the bed, Pat comes barging in with a six-pack in his hand, dripping wet, buck naked.”

El Tour de Tucson: Ride features Barry Bonds

Thought Bonds said he never cycled…

Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball’s disputed home run king, is expected to ride in El Tour de Tucson on Saturday.

Founder Richard DeBernardis said Bonds, who broke baseball’s single-season (73) and career (762) home run records amid accusations of steroid abuse, has registered for the ride.

The former Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants outfielder - who retired after the 2007 season - will attend with Olympic cyclist Mari Holden, a friend, DeBernardis said.

“It’ll be really nice to have him here,” DeBernardis said.

Freakonomics: Boo . . . Who?

The newest Freakonomics podcast explores the why of booing, including an interview with Johnnie “Boo” LeMaster that begins at about 23 minutes and 45 seconds.