Craig Counsell agreed to phrases with the Chicago Cubs on Monday on a five-year contract price $40 million that can make him the highest-paid supervisor in Main League Baseball historical past. Counsell, a Wisconsin native, had spent the final 9 seasons managing the Milwaukee Brewers, successful 53% of his regular-season contests and guiding them to 5 postseason appearances alongside the way in which.
Whereas Counsell’s friends are undoubtedly thrilled that he is reset the marketplace for managers, not everybody seems to be blissful for him. Brewers proprietor Mark Attanasio spoke with reporters on Monday evening about Counsell’s choice to depart.
“Craig was undoubtedly a key a part of our success but when I needed to record all the explanations we’re profitable, we might be on one other half an hour,” Attanasio mentioned, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I am not going to talk for Craig, he spoke a lot over the previous a number of weeks as to what he was making an attempt to do. We’ll see if it was profitable or if this was a one-off.”
Attanasio confirmed that the Brewers provided Counsell a contract that may have made him the highest-paid supervisor within the sport. Counsell, whose contract expired on the finish of October, selected to change into a real free agent — he then leveraged the open market to get a greater deal. You’d suppose that Attanasio, who labored in finance, would perceive free-market forces — or, is the concept that one thing is price what somebody is prepared to pay for it solely legitimate when it advantages him?
At minimal, Attanasio can not declare that Counsell’s departure was a shock. The Brewers themselves gave each the New York Mets and Cleveland Guardians permission to talk with Counsell earlier than his contract expired. Attanasio additionally indicated that he had heard months in the past that Counsell might depart the Brewers.
Nonetheless, Attanasio raised eyebrows with the top of his opening assertion about Counsell, saying: “[We’re all here] as we speak as a result of we have misplaced Craig, however I’ve mirrored on this — Craig has misplaced us and he is misplaced our neighborhood additionally.”
Attanasio’s feedback look somewhat completely different on Tuesday morning, seeing as how someone vandalized the sign for Craig Counsell Park in Whitefish Bay, Wisc. — somewhat league discipline in Counsell’s hometown.
