When Craig Counsell bolted for the Chicago Cubs last offseason, he was telling the Milwaukee Brewers loud and clear what he thought about the trajectory of the franchise.
Never mind that the Brew Crew had made the playoffs five times in the last six years, while the Cubs were mired in a seemingly endless post-World Series rebuild.
Chicago had the bigger market, and the larger payroll, and the more lucrative offer; Counsell figured that his time in Milwaukee had bumped up against its ceiling, that he was on to bigger and better things.
12 months later, and the picture looks a whole lot different. The Brewers were once again playing baseball in October, while a new manager wasn’t enough to lift the Cubs out of 83-win purgatory.
While Milwaukee is armed with an exciting, athletic core of young talent, Jed Hoyer has already more or less admitted that Chicago won’t be shopping at the top of the free-agent market.
And as if Counsell and the Cubs needed any more insult added to injury, they got one last dose on Tuesday night.
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Brewers get some revenge on Craig Counsell with Pat Murphy’s Manager of the Year win
Pat Murphy was named NL Manager of the Year on Tuesday night, edging out San Diego Padres skipper Mike Shildt and Carlos Mendoza of the New York Mets to take home the award in his first year at the helm in Milwaukee.
Which sure isn’t a great look for both Counsell and the Cubs.
The fact that Murphy was able to keep things rolling in Milwaukee, winning another division title, would seem to put the lie to Counsell’s assessment of the franchise’s limitations. (Not to mention that Murphy and Counsell go way, way back, with the former coaching the latter as a college player at Notre Dame.)
And it would also seem to call into question where this Cubs franchise is headed right now, and how much difference a great manager can make if the front office isn’t giving him talent to work with.
Maybe Hoyer will pull off a Garrett Crochet trade, and maybe some of Chicago’s much-ballyhooed prospects will start popping off in 2025, getting Counsell back to the playoffs and justifying the decision he made last winter.
Right now, though, it sure seems like Murphy and the Brewers are the ones getting the last laugh.
