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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 As soon as reports of Craig Counsell\u2019s surprise destination circulated online, one National League executive, unprompted, texted a reporter two exploding head emojis along with three letters: WTF. When asked to elaborate, the executive explained, \u201cIt\u2019s a lot to digest. I am not sure what\u2019s more shocking \u2014 where he landed or how much he got.\u201d<\/p>\n
Counsell became the highest-paid manager in baseball on Monday, when word emerged that he\u2019d be the next Cubs<\/a> skipper. This was particularly notable because the club already employed a manager in David Ross. Now Ross is out of a job and Counsell has a new five-year, $40 million deal, the end result of an unexpected development that sent shockwaves throughout the industry.<\/p>\n Almost no one knew about Chicago\u2019s secret courting of Counsell, who had been linked to multiple teams with managerial vacancies. The Athletic<\/em> spoke to nearly a dozen people around the game, granting anonymity as needed so that employees of other organizations could speak freely, in order to survey the ripple effect that Counsell\u2019s decision might have on managerial jobs and baseball as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout time managers get paid what they\u2019re worth,\u201d one current big-league manager said. \u201c(Having) no coaches union has hurt this part of our game for years. Hate it for Rossy, but love what Craig did for the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n A former manager told The Athletic<\/em> that he had once been in the same position as Counsell: offered a job that was currently occupied by someone else. He declined it because \u201cit just felt wrong\u201d and wonders why the \u201cbrotherhood\u201d of managing seems to have gone by the wayside. This former manager said he is a fan of Counsell, though he doesn\u2019t know him well, but pointed out that the new Cubs skipper hasn\u2019t won a World Series and thought the hysteria and bidding war surrounding him was a bit much.<\/p>\n \u201c(Bruce) Bochy? Now if it was Bochy I\u2019d understand,\u201d he said of the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers<\/a> manager.<\/p>\n When The Athletic<\/em>\u2019s Ken Rosenthal reported that Counsell would manage in 2024, but it would be for a team without a known opening, the Rangers were a common guess in the industry as his landing spot, with the assumption that Bochy was retiring and that Counsell was his replacement. Then the rest of the story came tumbling out: Per Rosenthal, Counsell was headed to the North Side.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a little like \u2018whoa.\u2019 Not surprised because there\u2019s been managers that have made that much. But still, the way it happened,\u201d said Astros<\/a> general manager Dana Brown, who had interest in Counsell for the Astros\u2019 open position due to Dusty Baker\u2019s retirement. \u201cIt was quick. Kind of out of nowhere. But I\u2019m happy for him. He\u2019s been a lifer in the game and he\u2019s done some wonderful things.\u201d<\/p>\n Said another former skipper: \u201cCraig Counsell is an elite manager. Look at his record in one-run games. Look at his record compared to projections year after year. He deserves to be paid.\u201d<\/p>\n Some in the game believe Counsell\u2019s deal will help drive up salaries for other skippers in the future: \u201ca bigger piece of the pie,\u201d as one agent put it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is, no one will ever realize their maximum value until or unless you\u2019re willing to be a free agent,\u201d Dodgers<\/a> manager Dave Roberts said. \u201cThat\u2019s just the fact of the matter. Counsell was willing to do that. Players do it every year. It shouldn\u2019t be looked at as taboo for a manager to exercise his right to become a free agent. I think the industry has sort of frowned upon that and I give Counsell a lot of credit and respect for talking through it with his family and being willing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Others were skeptical that it would make any meaningful change.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at what the Mets<\/a> just paid (Carlos) Mendoza,\u201d said an American League exec of the Mets new skipper, who is making $4.5 million total for three years, much less than Counsell. And, even if it\u2019s ultimately a good thing for manager salaries, some questioned the ethics of the Cubs waiting to dismiss Ross until Counsell had agreed to take the job.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason manager and coaches\u2019 salaries don\u2019t move much is because someone is always willing to take your job,\u201d a current member of a major-league coaching staff said. \u201cIf I had fought for another 40K or another year they wouldn\u2019t have renewed me as a coach. I don\u2019t know how much front offices really value (the contributions). I don\u2019t think Counsell changes that much because look at what the Mets just did.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the only time it would really change is if people really roll the dice and say, \u2018I think I\u2019m worth more than that,\u2019 and take the risk. But there\u2019s always someone willing to take your job. We really need to unionize, but look at how long it took the minor-league players to form a union. It\u2019s still a culture of \u2018be glad you have a job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s the \u201cmanagerial Hunger Games,\u201d a former manager joked before pointing out some history. The scheme from Cubs president Jed Hoyer took a page from former executive Theo Epstein, who hired Joe Maddon to take Rick Renteria\u2019s place after the 2014 season. (Renteria\u2019s contract was terminated a week after Maddon opted out of his deal with the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>.)<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s in their playbook,\u201d said a former manager. \u201cI\u2019m glad Counsell came out and said the bar needs to be set higher for manager salary, but I\u2019m not sure I would have taken a job where there was a manager already in place.\u201d<\/p>\n Are the optics really that bad? Hoyer told reporters at the GM meetings his job is to win as many games as possible \u201cin the short term and long term\u201d and there was \u201cnothing about this move\u201d to get Counsell that didn\u2019t meet that criteria.<\/p>\n In that vein, Ross was just a casualty in an industry often mercilessly seeking an edge.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you take away the emotional aspect of it and look at it from a pure business standpoint, it happens in every company,\u201d said another current manager, who thinks Counsell\u2019s deal will be good for the other 29 teams. \u201cBaseball is entertainment, but it\u2019s a business and these transitions take place frequently (in business). In our industry, it\u2019s looked at as taboo.\u201d<\/p>\n The same manager believes that the Cubs were ultimately doing Ross a disservice by publicly saying he was their guy \u2014 and then privately trying to upgrade.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m in an organization that doesn\u2019t value me I don\u2019t want to be there,\u201d the manager said. \u201cTo me, the intimacy of those relationships (between a front office and manager) are what we are looking for. My bosses provide that in making me feel valued and thankful for the work I\u2019m putting in.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Counsell\u2019s former boss was surprised.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t see that coming,\u201d said Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who was with Counsell in Milwaukee. \u201cCraig can play things pretty close to the vest. In this case, clearly he played it very close to the vest, because none of us had any idea of where this was headed.\u201d<\/p>\n (Top photo of Craig Counsell as Brewers<\/a> manager: Patrick McDermott \/ Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n