5 candidates to replace Gabe Kapler if the SF Giants fire him

George Lombard - Tigers Bench Coach

Former Dodgers first base coach and current Tigers bench coach George Lombard could be candidate for the Giants as a compromise between old school and new school. He has been coaching with AJ Hinch in Detroit so he clearly has experience is using data effectively, but Lombard is also a former player and is very adept at continuing to develop young players especially in regards to baserunning and defense.

Once the 2023 season comes to an end, Lombard is likely to be in high demand which could force the Giants' hand if they want a crack at him. He has interviewed for managerial openings recently and given the number of openings we could see this offseason, it doesn't seem super likely that he will be on the market for long. One thing that the Giants have going for them is that they are almost assuredly going to be going for it over the next few years which could be appealing to candidates that want to coach a winning team.

Unfortunately, he did also work for the Dodgers previously, but we can forgive him for that….probably.

Walt Weiss - Braves Bench Coach

This last one is tougher to envision happening for a number of reasons, but Walt Weiss would be a fine option to replace Kapler if the Giants decide to move on. Weiss is the only candidate here that actually has experience managing in the big leagues and while his time in Colorado wasn't overly successful, no one has figured out how to win there successfully. He also has been a very highly regarded bench coach for the Braves since the 2018 season and they are clearly doing a lot of things right over there.

One potential issue in getting Weiss is that he may be eyeing the Braves' job long-term. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker hasn't shown signs of slowing down, but he has been in the game for a long time and is 67 years old. At some point, he will call it a career and taking over the Braves' juggernaut has to be appealing to a guy like Weiss. The Giants may also prefer a younger, more data-driven skipper and that is a reasonable position. The Braves certainly utilize analytics effectively, but Weiss comes across as having some old school tendencies which may not be a great fit for the Giants' organizational philosophy.

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