Cubs’ Craig Counsell gets real on Milwaukee return ahead of Brewers series

“Look, we’re just trying to win a baseball game,” Counsell admitted. “I think you spend most of your time trying to figure out how to beat the team. There are people there that I have really good relationships with. Look, you miss people for sure.”

Counsell played for Milwaukee in 2004 and from 2007-11, the last four years of his career. The former infielder recorded a .285 batting average with eight triples in 2009, finishing top-10 in the NL in the latter stat. In 2010, Counsell was also chosen as the 13th-smartest athlete by Sporting News, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

He went on to manage the club from 2015 to 2023, making the playoffs five times. The Brewers nearly made the 2018 World Series, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in the NLCS. Counsell holds the franchise record with 707 career wins and was inducted into the team’s Wall of Honor.

However, jumping ship to the club’s biggest rival certainly did not sit right with everyone in Milwaukee. What drove Counsell to make the switch?

Craig Counsell’s move to the Cubs is another reminder that money talks

Counsell, a Milwaukee native, explained his reasoning behind the surprise move back in November, via CBS Sports’ Dayn Perry.

“I think as I was going through this process, it became clear that I needed and wanted a new professional challenge,” Counsell said. “At the same time, look, I’m grateful to be part of this community. And that’s going to continue, hopefully, because it has nothing to do with baseball, that part of it. I’m looking forward to being part of a new community and hopefully impact our community well, too. But as I went through it, it just became clear that I needed a new challenge.”

Counsell’s new contract may have had something to do with his desire for “a new challenge.” Chicago gave him a five-year, $40 million deal, making him the highest-paid manager in MLB history.

While the Brewers also offered Counsell a record-setting deal, he appeared to leverage it for an even bigger bag of money with the Cubs. Scorned Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio even spoke out against the decision, via CBS Sports’.

“[We’re all here] today because we’ve lost Craig, but I’ve reflected on this — Craig has lost us and he’s lost our community also,” Attanasio said.

While it’s understandable to be emotional about losing the best manager in club history to an arch-rival, baseball has always been a business first. The only loyalty is to the almighty dollar, and there’s no use in putting any energy towards lamenting that fact. It won’t ever change, so executives should approach the game as a business shark rather than leading with emotions.