Dodgers Rumors: Gabe Kapler In Talks To Join Front Office
While the Chicago Cubs announced Friday they fired Rick Renteria, the hiring of Joe Maddon as the team’s new manager appears to be all but a formality. With Andrew Friedman’s position in the the Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office, there was some belief Maddon would wind up in Los Angeles.
Friedman maintained his support for manager Don Mattingly and Maddon’s hiring elsewhere will bring an end to any speculation of him joining the Dodgers. Although the Dodgers do not have a managerial vacancy to fill, the same can’t be said about the front office.
Friedman has yet to hire a general manager and although it’s been reported Josh Byrnes is expected to join the front office, the position he would hold is currently unclear. Another name that surfaced for a front office job is Chad McDonald, who worked with Byrnes in Arizona and San Diego.
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, Friedman has also held conversations with Gabe Kapler for a position with the team:
#Dodgers have been talking to Gabe Kapler about a front office job. Andrew Friedman is a Kapler fan from #rays days.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) October 31, 2014
Crasnick’s tweet comes after Kapler tweeted a response to Crasnick’s direct message, which has since been deleted. Joon Lee of Over The Monster managed to capture Kapler’s response that includes profanity:
So Gabe Kapler tweeted and deleted this tweet… #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/ee94pEUzuw
— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) October 31, 2014
Kapler not only has ties to the Dodgers — he was a non-roster invitee in Spring Training of 2011 — and Friedman — Kapler played with the Rays from 2009-2010 — but he also is a local product. Kapler attended Taft High School, then Moorpark College and ultimately Cal State Fullerton.
Kapler played 12 seasons in the Majors and has worked as a baseball analyst for FOX Sports since retiring. He’s a proponent of analytics that could also serve as a bridge between the front office and roster given his experience as a player.
whoopee….so what? Kapler was a so so bench guy, seems smart on TV, but that stuff is scripted…
Friedman is the supposed genius…let him be the GM