Craig Counsell is one of major league baseball’s most respected managers. The Milwaukee Brewers driver manages to do a lot with little.
The one who has been in office since 2015 (no one has more longevity than him in the National) has had an excellent record in recent years and he has had some success in the playoffs.
Plus, he’s loved and grew up in Milwaukee. As he is able to do what is expected of him, the Brewers want to do everything to keep him.
And when I say everything, I mean everything.
His contract will expire in a few months and last spring he did not want to sign a contract extension during the off-season. It gives him latitude.
And the Brewers are ready to literally give him the contract he wants this winter. This is true at the monetary level (the offers are competitive, it is said), but also at the level of the years.
If the manager wants a long-term contract, he will have it. If he wants a small contract, he will have it.
If he wants to take a break in 2024 with the assurance of being able to return to his position in 2025, the Brewers are also ready to give him that. Yes, he is highly respected in Milwaukee.
I wonder how players would view that, a break like that?
Remember that the club has already lost – in a way – the excellent boss of baseball operations David Stearns, who will work elsewhere than Milwaukee in 2024. Losing the manager would therefore hurt a lot.
If Counsell wants to go somewhere else, there’s nothing stopping him from doing so. But in fact, his family is in Wisconsin and unless there’s an internal squabble with new GM Matt Arnold, you’d think he’s going to stay.
Many teams will want him, though…and maybe the challenge of a new position might be appealing to him. Who knows what he thinks of it?
Note that Jon Heyman thinks that having time off with the guarantee to return can be attractive. He has two sons who are college ball players and two daughters who are high school athletes.
When he retired from playing after the 2011 season, he jumped into the Brewers offices. He was then 40 years old. From? He never stopped.
Perhaps he will judge that a year of rest could do him good… and it is rare that a manager can take a break with the certainty of coming back afterwards. That’s worth gold.
This is the kind of respect that is only offered to experienced managers. The proof?
Remember that Terry Francona also has a contract that is out of the ordinary in Cleveland: it has no end. It is he who decides when everything will end according to his state of health.
I can’t wait to see if such a vote of confidence will inspire Counsell to return to Milwaukee…whether in 2024 or 2025, or after a hiatus.
- Adam Cimber on the disabled list.
- John Schneider believes in Vladdy.
