The Craig Counsell saga finally came to an end this week, as the manager ended up with the Chicago Cubs, expelling David Ross from the Windy City in the process.
And now we learn a little more about the process that took Counsell out of Milwaukee and sent him to Illinois.
Indeed, despite the links linking the former skipper of the Brewers to the position that was vacant with the New York Mets, due to his relationship with David Stearns, we can learn that the 53-year-old man did not have his eyes on the Big Apple, according to what Sports Illustrated was able to learn.
According to a source from the famous magazine, it wasn’t even in the cards.
Over the past few days, people were still writing about the possibility of Counsell ending up with the Mets. This was not the case. New York was not at the top of his list.
Counsell had two goals in mind as he searched for his next job: to be the highest-paid manager in MLB and to stay close to the American Midwest.
Even though we all know the Mets had the financial capacity to match any offer, they offered Counsell much less than the $40 million over five years he received from the Bears.
Add to that the fact that New York is far from the Midwest and it becomes clear why Counsell didn’t even consider landing in Queens.
The Mets ultimately settled on former New York Yankees manager and first-time manager Carlos Mendoza as the 24th manager in their history.
Counsell will face the Mets as Cubs manager for the first time on April 29, when his new team travels to Flushing for a four-game series.
