The Chicago Cubs shocked the baseball world on Monday, when it was revealed they broke the market to bring in manager Craig Counsell to lead their ambitious project.
The development was quite surprising for many reasons, mainly because they showered Counsell in money and made him the highest-paid manager in baseball; and because they already had a manager in David Ross.
It didn’t matter, though: with a shocking five-year, $40 million contract, Counsell will now be the skipper of the Cubs.
He will make $8 million per season, and no one else in the game makes more than $4.5 million.
Counsell had been the skipper of the Milwaukee Brewers since 2015, making them a perennial contender.
Staying in Milwaukee was one of his options, but the Cubs came knocking on his door and there was no way he was going to say no to that amount of cash.
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio offered his thoughts about the situation just hours after losing Counsell, per Talkin’ Baseball.
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio shares his thoughts after Craig Counsell’s departure pic.twitter.com/aTmOinwjQP
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) November 6, 2023
He said that yes, they lost Counsell; but in reality, Counsell lost the Brewers, too, and everything he built over there.
Attanasio state that Milwaukee is a really special place to be, reminding the world that the 2018-23 Brewers were not exclusively a product of Counsell.
Now the Brewers are looking for a skipper, as are other teams.
They won the NL Central this year and have a solid core to keep competing in the upcoming years.
However, the Cubs went from being good to really dangerous while being led by the talented Counsell, and the Brewers know it.
