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Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell is reportedly interviewing with the New York Mets about their open manager position. Counsell leaving the NL Central would be a huge victory for the Chicago Cubs.
The Mets have received permission to interview Craig Counsell for the manager job, according to league sources. Brewers had initially indicated they would not grant it, and Counsell’s contract would have to expire. They have changed course, and Mets will be interviewing him soon.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) October 25, 2023
Counsell's three-year contract extension, which he signed in 2020, essentially expired when the Brewers were eliminated from the postseason by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series. Now Counsell will have the ability to test the waters and shop his talents to the many teams that need a manager.
And the Mets are as good a team as any since the organization recently hired David Stearns as their President of Baseball Operations, a position he held with the Brewers since Counsell's first year as manager in 2015. Stearns recently fired former Mets Manager Buck Showalter after he led the team with the highest payroll in baseball to a disappointing 75-87 record.
Counsell is arguably the best managerial candidate on the market as he has routinely led the Brewers to successful seasons. Although the Brewers never made it to the World Series under his tenure, Counsell has a 707-625 managerial record with Milwaukee and three first-place finishes in the NL Central.
Counsell has been a thorn in Chicago's side for a long time. Every time it seems like the Brewers look like a mediocre team on paper, Counsell has been able to produce expectation-exceeding results. Although Counsell leading a Mets team with deep pockets sounds dangerous, I would rather see him in New York than in the same division as the Cubs. He's been a plague on the Cubs' NL Central hopes for nearly a decade and I think it's time for him to expand his resume and wreak havoc on the NL East.
Milwaukee bitterness aside, it would be interesting to see how Counsell would fare on a team like the Mets who have the potential to win their division but clearly are lacking a piece of the puzzle. Counsell has also never managed an MLB team outside of Milwaukee, who he also played with for five seasons.