Logan Webb throws subtle shade at polarizing former SF Giants manager

SF Giants staff ace Logan Webb is never afraid to speak his mind and he was asked about his willingness to call out other players. His response definitely came off as a subtle critique of former Giants manager Gabe Kapler.

In remarks to KNBR, Webb talked about being a leader on the team and not being afraid to tell guys that there is a standard to uphold. The question was not included in the video so some context is missing, but Webb's response is still revealing:

"I came up with a lot of great players, guys that wore Giants uniforms very proudly. You know, there was a certain way of doing things and I think in those times we got away from being Giants. That's just when I kind of started to feel that way. There's not a ton of us who were here when Buster was here, and Brandon, the Brandons. I was here for Bum for two months and got to watch what he did and how he took pride in it. I love the Giants, I love the history of the Giants. I think that's why in those moments I feel like we aren't representing the Giants very well."

SF Giants ace Logan Webb takes subtle jab at Gabe Kapler

It seems as if the interviewer was asking about the 2022 and 2023 seasons which were transition years for the team. Buster Posey retired following the historic 107-win 2021 season, so the team was without its franchise player for the first time in a decade.

Middling baseball ensued, and Webb was among the more vocal voices in the organization calling for change in 2023 which was right before Kapler was fired. Webb was clear after the firing that he believed the players let Kapler down to a certain extent, but if he feels that players were not living up to the Giants standard that Webb spoke about then that does not reflect well on Kapler.

We do not need to relitigate Kapler's tenure or his shortcomings. We know from reports that he was a hands-off manager who let players police themselves which probably had some benefits but also clearly had some drawbacks in the form of Filipino card games.

That is why Bob Melvin was hired to restore some order and respectability to a clubhouse that had seemingly become too disjointed. Even though the 2024 season did not bring about drastically different results, there was not an obvious sense that there were troubles in the clubhouse like there was in 2023.

The organization is trying to restore that Giants brand of baseball that Webb spoke about. It is clear he feels the Giants drifted away from that under the Kapler-Zaidi regime which may not be entirely their fault, but right or wrong they will get the blame since they were the ones in charge at the time.

Webb was probably not even intending to throw shade at Kapler with his comments, but it is clear that the Giants drifted in the wrong direction towards the end of Kapler's reign which is what forced Webb to be more vocal as a leader on the team. One hopes that Webb will not need to be as vocal this season, especially since Posey is back and running the show in the front office, but we know he is always going to hold both himself and others accountable if he feels the team is not playing up to the standard established by the players that came before.