Much-maligned former San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler is returning back to the MLB spotlight in his new Miami home.

On Monday, the Marlins announced that Kapler had been promoted to their general manager role. The Marlins have had Peter Bendix as their president of baseball operations for the past two seasons and had Kapler listed as one of two assistant general managers, but had been without a true GM for this time.

Hand-picked by former Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, Kapler managed the Giants from 2020 to 2023 and led San Francisco to a 107-win season in 2021, which was the most wins in a single season in franchise history and beat out the Dodgers by one game for the NL West crown. (It remains the only time Los Angeles hasn’t won the division in the past 13 seasons.) 

But before he managed the Phillies for two seasons and the Giants for four, Kapler had worked in the Dodgers’ front office and helped establish their player development pipeline. He was considered for top front office jobs immediately after his dismissal in SF, though he said he didn’t intend to return to the front office right away in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle in 2024. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

Kapler did another interview during that Giants-Marlins series in April 2024 with a local outlet, but otherwise has stayed out of the spotlight. This reporter spotted Kapler back in San Francisco when the Marlins came to face the Giants at Oracle Park in June, and the former Giants manager got to watch his new team sweep his old team in a three-game series.

With Monday’s news, he’ll be back in a more prominent and forward-facing role in the sport — and potentially work on deals with his former catcher, Buster Posey.