Two weeks ago, it was clear that Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler would return for the 2024 MLB season.
Now, it’s reasonable to wonder if that’s still true.
Giants owner Greg Johnson recently told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that Zaidi and Kapler will be back next season, but in an appearance KNBR 680 “Tolbert & Copes” on Thursday, Zaidi himself would not confirm that his manager would return next season.
“I mean, I clearly said that at the time [of Johnson’s comments] I really appreciate the support from ownership and the plan to have us both back,” Zaidi told Copeland and Tolbert. “Right now our focus is to get through these last games, finish strong, finish .500. I think we all need to look at how we can improve across the board.
“That’s the personnel on the roster, that’s our culture in the clubhouse — that I think when you’re playing well, certain things in the culture are portrayed as, ‘Hey this group likes to be together, they’re having fun .’ But if you’re not doing well those things will be seen in a negative light.”
The Giants had a wild-card spot before the recent 10-game road trip and needed to finish the season strong to punch their ticket to the playoffs. However, after going 2-8 on the trip, San Francisco fell out of playoff contention and was officially eliminated after Tuesday’s loss to the San Diego Padres.
How important the road trip is for the Giants and the general feeling around the team is that Zaidi believes the organization needs to examine every aspect of the team this offseason.
“I think we have to look at everything and make sure there is a time and place for everything,” Zaidi added. “I’ve talked to a few people about how 162 games is a grind and we want our players to be comfortable and wash away some tough losses and things like that.
“But when you’re in do-or-die games like the Arizona games, you want them to feel different and I think we have to ask ourselves if we’re ready to raise our level of focus. and play for the games that really matter.”
Wednesday’s loss ended any hope the Giants had of finishing the 2023 season with a winning record. With three games remaining, the Giants will look to sweep the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and finish the season with another mediocre .500 record before beginning work on what could be a busy offseason.
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