MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 08: Craig Counsell #30 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts after a call in … [+]
Milwaukee Brewers fans will still get to see homegrown hero Craig Counsell managing baseball games at American Family Field next season.
He’ll just be doing so from the visitors’ dugout.
Counsell, the winningest manager in Brewers history, brought his free agency to a stunning end Monday afternoon when he reportedly agreed to terms on five-year, $40 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.
It was a stunning development for multiple reasons. First and foremost, while many expected Counsell, who played out the 2023 season without a contract for next year, to manage elsewhere in 2024, it seemed like the New York Mets, who recently hired former Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns to run their baseball operation, would be the logical choice should Counsell, in fact, leave Milwaukee.
The Brewers made it clear that the decision to return was Counsell’s and Counsell’s alone. Owner Mark Attanasio emphasized that point multiple times last season, with general manager Matt Arnold reiterating it during the team’s end-of-season press conference last month.
Reports surfaced earlier Monday that the Brewers were prepared to make Counsell the highest-paid manager in all of baseball, but that apparently wasn’t enough to keep him around.
Still, nobody saw the Cubs coming especially since they already had a manager in David Ross, who was signed through next season with a club option for 2025.
Counsell, 53, spent nine seasons at the Brewers’ helm after replacing Ron Roenicke in May 2015. He led the team to five playoff appearances in six seasons and in 2018, got Milwaukee within a game of its first World Series since 1982.
His teams went 707-625 during his tenure and finished with a losing record just three times: 2015, 2016 and again in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
This story will be updated.