Chicago Cubs hiring Craig Counsell will make him highest-paid manager in MLB: Sources

Written by Patrick Mooney, Sahadev Sharma, and Ken Rosenthal

In a calculated move that stunned the baseball world, the Chicago Cubs have hired Craig Counsell to replace David Ross, the club announced Monday, immediately raising expectations at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs will give Counsell a five-year contract worth more than $40 million, according to major league sources, making him the highest-paid manager in Major League Baseball.

It was widely assumed that Counsell, who has led the Milwaukee Brewers to the playoffs in five of the past six seasons, was choosing between staying home in Wisconsin or taking on a new challenge with the New York Mets. A final decision is expected this week during Major League Baseball’s general manager meetings in Arizona. But the Cubs have done this before.

President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was involved in one such hidden endeavor as general manager of Theo Epstein. When Joe Maddon became a free agent after the 2014 season, Cubs executives didn’t hesitate. Knowing the talent in the organization and the resources at their disposal, the Cubs fired Rick Renteria after just one season. Signing Maddon to a five-year contract led to a 97-win season in 2015 and a 2016 World Series title.

Hoyer must believe that Counsell’s success in the small market will translate the way he had with Maddon after his career with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Brewers’ chase of the Cubs in 2018 — winning the 163rd game at Wrigley Field — became one of those moments that heightened the tension on Maddon and foreshadowed the end of that championship set.

Ross was initially hired to put more pressure on former teammates like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez, and faced unimaginable challenges as a rookie manager during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Cubs managed to win the division title and then went into extreme cost-cutting mode, trading Yu Darvish to the San Diego Padres that winter and executing trades at the next two trade deadlines.

Scrutiny of in-game decisions has increased dramatically this year after the Cubs pledged more than $300 million to free agents. Ross is viewed as a strong communicator who commands the respect of players. His consistent personality helped the Cubs emerge from 10 games under .500 in June and force the front office to add at the trade deadline this time around. Hoyer praised the team’s preparation and continued efforts.

In what was supposed to be a transitional year, the Cubs won 83 games, played an entertaining style of baseball and remained in contention for the playoffs until the final weekend of the season. During the 162nd game in Milwaukee, Cubs president Tom Ricketts praised Bruce as a “great manager” and declared: “He’s our guy.”

As Jon Lester’s personal catcher, Ross helped end a 108-year World Series drought. After retiring as a player, Ross worked with Epstein and Hoyer as a special assistant in the front office. Ross had built so many relationships — and shown enough promise as a manager — that it seemed difficult to give him the Renteria treatment.

However, Ross was unable to hold on to his job after the epic collapse last September and one of the sport’s best managers turned a free agent. The Cubs-Brewers rivalry will now be taken to a whole new level.

“Today we made the difficult decision to sack David Ross,” Hoyer said in a statement. “On behalf of the Cubs organization, we extend our deepest gratitude for David’s contributions to our club, on and off the field. First as a player and then as a manager, David has consistently demonstrated his ability to lead. David’s legacy will be felt in Chicago for many generations, and his impact on our organization will align with the legends who came before him.” .

How Cubs players are responding to the move

The move obviously came as a shock to the baseball world, but the Cubs players themselves were surprised by the hiring as well. The club had Ross’ back, even after the collapse in September that saw them miss out on the playoffs and allowed blame to be spread. But neither player was willing to point the finger at Ross.

Ultimately, they saw him as someone who supported them and had a positive influence in his ability to keep the team together during really difficult periods. But there was an awareness that Ross didn’t move the needle. His in-game tactics were sometimes questioned and much of that fell on the shoulders of bench coach Andy Green. — Sahadev Sharma, Cubs starter

Questions about the Cubs’ technical staff

Beyond how that happened and what comes next in terms of roster construction, a lot of questions now revolve around whether the coaching staff will remain largely the same. The Cubs have long praised the work of pitching coach Tommy Hottovy. Both the front office and players believe he is one of the best players at his job. The Cubs appear to have finally found stability with hitting coach Dustin Kelly overseeing an offense that was among the most productive in the game last season.

Green interviewed for two managerial jobs, neither of which he ultimately found success with, but will he still be a bench coach at Counsell? Veteran coach John Maley was recently promoted to the big league staff after a year as triple-hitting coach. It all seems up in the air now as the Cubs make a radical and unexpected change to the face of their team. — Sharma

Required reading

(Photo: Brandon Slaughter/Getty Images)