On Monday the Phillies announced the hiring of Gabe Kapler as their next Manager for the 2018 season.  Kapler has spent the last three years working for the Los Angeles Dodgers as the club’s director of player development, overseeing their entire minor league system.  During his 12-year MLB career, Kapler played Outfield for the Tigers, Rangers, Rockies, Red Sox, Brewers, and Rays.  He won a World Series ring as a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

Baseball Insider Jayson Stark joined The Sports Bash on Tuesday and discussed why the Phillies decided to hire Kapler:

“When I started to get a feel for the different candidates, I knew Gabe Kapler would be their pick.  I knew that Gabe would come in there and dazzle them in the interview process.  He’s an incredibly bright guy, he’s brilliant, he’s got a presence to him…I just knew that when you combined that with his background in two deeply analytic driven organizations in Tampa Bay (Rays) and (Los Angeles Dodgers) that he was the perfect fit for what they were looking for.  Now I don’t know if he is the perfect fit for this franchise going forward, we don’t know because he has never managed (at the Major League Level).  But he’s a really fascinating choice.”

Checkout what Stark had to say about the type of personality Kapler brings to the Phillies organization and his analysis of the 2017 World Series ahead of Game 6

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