3 MLB teams who should hire Gabe Kapler after Giants firing

Three teams should consider pursuing Gabe Kapler in free agency following his firing from the SF Giants. All three of these teams have talented players and could benefit from a good coach to turn them into contenders.

San Francisco Giants v San Diego Padres / Sean M. Haffey/GettyImages

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No. 2 team that should hire Gabe Kapler: San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres decided to replace Jayce Tingler with another subpar manager in Bob Melvin, who was unable to take one of the most talented teams in MLB in 2023 to the postseason.

The Padres are probably one of the worst best teams; they have talent everywhere on the team and at most positions. They have Ha-Seong Kim, one of the best defensive second basemen; then they have Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado on the other side of the infield. In the outfield, besides Trent Grisham, they have two of the best outfielders in Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr.

You can’t even blame the pitching for the failure to win games because they have the likely Cy Young Award winner in Blake Snell and a talented core of starting pitchers in Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Joe Musgrove. The relievers and closers aren’t the problem either, as they have Josh Hader, who is unhittable, and others like Tom Cosgrove, Nick Martinez, Scott Barlow, and others.

Going into this season, FanGraphs gave the Padres a 55.4 percent chance to win the division and an 85.3 percent chance to make the postseason, with an absurd 11.1 percent chance to win the World Series.

The Padres were the favorite to win the division and the second favorite to win the World Series, but they failed to even make the postseason, currently holding an abysmal record of 79-80. They've been one of the best teams to finish the season with a record of 17-7 in September, but it’s too little too late.

There is a metric called Pythagorean Win-Loss that estimates how many games a team should have won, and it says the Padres should have a record of 90-69. Currently, with a record of 79-80, it shows they’ve underperformed and lost 11 games they should’ve won.

They’ve been by far the worst team in MLB in one-point games, holding a record of 7-23. It’s one point, and they can’t even score one point when they need it most. The Padres have been a disgrace in 2023, and they need to move on from Melvin, who has never won anything in his 20-year career.

The Padres need a coach who can lead them to the postseason, and Gabe Kapler might not be the best fit, but he is at least better than Bob Melvin has ever been.

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