Awkward in the NL Central: Counsell leaving for Cubs dials up rivalry

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — They stood 20 feet from one another Wednesday afternoon, with microphones and notepads in their face, but not once did they speak.

It had been two days since the Chicago Cubs stole Craig Counsell away from the Milwaukee Brewers, and still, Matt Arnold, Brewers president of baseball operations and Jed Hoyer, Cubs president of baseball operations, have yet to talk.

One day, it will happen.

Apparently, just not any time soon.

The wound is too fresh, the cut is too deep, and the emotions are too raw.

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The good folks of Wisconsin are livid that Counsell, who was nearly as beloved as broadcaster Bob Uecker, departed for the Cubs, of all teams.

Sure, they would have been disappointed if Counsell had left for the New York Mets, but they would have understood the reasoning, all $40 million worth.

They would have been upset if Counsell had left for the Cleveland Guardians, replacing Terry Francona, but at least he would have been in the other league and warmly welcomed every time he returned.

But the Cubs?

The hated Cubs?

The team that fills their own ballpark and mocks their tailgate parties and sausage races?

Come on, anyone but the Cubs, their bitter NL Central Division rivals.

Arnold was ‘very, very shocked’ that Counsell left for the Cubs, but said that they will continue to be friends, and, at least for now, neighbors in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.

‘All the accolades, he deserves,’ Arnold said. ‘I certainly enjoyed our time together. I’ll always have good memories working with Craig Counsell.

‘He’s still my friend and neighbor, but at the same time we’re going to be competing against each other.’

The Brewers are now scrambling to find a replacement, with bench coach Pat Murphy a candidate to manage. But if Murphy doesn’t get the job, he very well could be joining Counsell in Chicago, too.

‘Mark Attanasio’s a very loyal person, and so if it ends up with Pat Murphy not being our manager,’ Arnold said, ‘he will absolutely have a home here with the Brewers.’

Time will tell whether Counsell will ever be forgiven by their fans.

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This is the second time the Cubs hired a current manager and fired their own. They did it nine years ago when they hired Joe Maddon away from the Tampa Bay Rays, and fired Rick Renteria. Maddon led the Cubs to the NLCS in 2015 and won the World Series a year later. The move infuriated several veteran managers believing it was wrong to take someone else’s job.

This time, several mangers have privately expressed their anger toward Counsell for doing the same to David Ross. The Cubs planned to keep Ross, who had a year left on his contract, firing him only after hiring Counsell. If Counsell had not accepted the job, Ross would have been back.

The Cubs didn’t even approach Counsell until his contract officially expired Oct. 31. The Guardians and Mets asked the Brewers for permission to interview Counsell after the Brewers lost their wild-card series to the Arizona Diamondbacks in October, but the Cubs simply waited. Hoyer met him in Chicago on Nov. 1, told him about their plans to be aggressive in free agency – yes, that includes bidding for Shohei Ohtani — and the two hit it off.

‘I sat down with him for hours and hours, and just loved the conversation,’ Hoyer said. ‘He’s super engaging. Had a really great back-and-forth. And it was clear that not only his ability – his ability is obvious – but I felt there was a connection, and a commonness of purpose. From that point, I knew that obviously it had to be kept very quiet, because I couldn’t risk that publicly with David.’

The Cubs, of course, also made their job more attractive by offering Counsell a five-year, $40 million contract, making him the highest-paid manager in baseball history – twice as much as the Brewers’ four-year, $20 million offer.

‘In looking at my decision, you’re considering a number of things,’ Counsell told Milwaukee reporters, ‘and the challenging part of this industry is that there’s one job in 30 places in 30 different cities and me still preserving what I think is a great situation (working just 90 miles from his home). I was able to do that, yet also get a professional challenge. But the proximity made this attractive…

‘I understand that it was a decision that affected a lot of people. And I take that very seriously. … But as I went through it, it just became clear that I needed a new challenge.’

Hoyer, who watched Ross help win a World Series for the Cubs before spending the last four seasons working together, acknowledged this was the most emotional decision of his career. He took a flight to Ross’ home in Tallahassee, Florida, to inform him of his decision, one described as tense and emotional. Hoyer insisted Wednesday that he believes the move will be pivotal in their quest to return to the World Series.

‘I felt like it was a move that could help us win more games in the short term, more games in the long term,’ Hoyer said, ‘and I felt like that’s my responsibility in this job to make moves like that. … It was a difficult move, but a move I felt we had to do for the interest of the organization.’

The Cubs now will shift their focus to free agency, trying to sign everyone from Ohtani to Aaron Nola to Cody Bellinger, believing they can return atop the NL Central and win postseason games for the first time since 2017. Their plans to immediately win was an integral part of their recruiting pitch to Counsell.

Counsell wasn’t about to come to Chicago and settle for mediocrity.

‘We talked a lot about what our plan is,’ Hoyer said. ‘He was clearly very curious and obviously I’ve been open with him what our plans are, but you have to keep your cards a little bit close to the vest because I had no sense whether this was something he was going to do.’

Now, Counsell can share all of his secrets about the Brewers, while Arnold scrambles to find his replacement.

‘We’ve had a lot of success here, and I think Craig is part of that,’ Arnold said, ‘but Craig is not the only part of that. Our franchise has been successful because of a lot of people. Craig is certainly one of those people, but there are a lot of people here and a lot of reasons why we have had success. So now, it’s just doubling down on the good people we have.’

This heated Midwest rivalry, with the Brewers reaching the postseason in five of the past six years, and constantly reminding Cubs fans of their success, is about to become a doozy.