Report: Brewers to hand reins to Craig Counsell
By Phil Watson
According to a report, Craig Counsell will be named the new manager of the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday morning.
FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported via Twitter Sunday night, citing sources, that Counsell was the choice to succeed Ron Roenicke, who was fired Sunday night after the Brewers got off to a 7-18 start this season in the wake of a second-half collapse in 2014.
Sources: #Brewers hire Counsell.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 4, 2015
In fairness, a blog called The Will To Win was reporting the Counsell speculation earlier than Rosenthal:
My Milwaukee guy- we go back a decade- says expect Craig Counsell to be the next Manager of the Brewers.
— The Will To Win (@TWTWsports) May 4, 2015
Breaking News: Craig Counsell will be the next manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. #Brewers #Milwaukee #nlcentral Ryan Braun needs him.
— The Will To Win (@TWTWsports) May 4, 2015
Counsell, 44, is a graduate of Whitefish Bay High School and played 16 years in the major leagues, including stints with the Brewers in 2004 and again from 2007-11, playing his final season under Roenicke.
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Since 2012, Counsell has worked as a special assistant to general manager Doug Melvin and was thought to be Melvin’s hand-picked successor.
But now he will return to uniform tasked with reviving a Brewers team that has lost 43 of its last 61 games dating to last August.
Counsell played collegiately at Notre Dame before being taken by the Colorado Rockies in the 11th round of the 1992 amateur draft.
He debuted with the Rockies in September 1995 before he was traded to the Florida Marlins in July 1997.
He arrived in Miami in time to score the winning run in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the Marlins’ World Series triumph over the Cleveland Indians.
In June 1999, Counsell was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers—who he will face Monday in his managerial debut at Miller Park.
After he was released by the Dodgers in spring training in March 2000, he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, eventually picking up a second World Series ring in 2001.
He was traded to the Brewers in December 2003 along with left-handers Chris Capuano and Jorge De La Rosa, catcher Chad Moeller, first baseman Lyle Overbay and utilityman Junior Spivey in exchange for first baseman Richie Sexson, left-hander Shane Nance and a player to be named later who turned out to be outfielder Noochie Varner.
After hitting .241/.330/.315 in 140 games for the Brewers in 2004, with two homers, 23 RBI and 17 stolen bases, he returned to Arizona as a free agent.
But after two more seasons in the desert, Counsell came back to Milwaukee, signing as a free agent in November 2006 and re-upping with the Crew in January 2009, December 2009 and December 2010.
He was the MVP of the 2001 NLCS for the Diamondbacks after hitting .381 with three doubles, five runs and four RBI, but was just 2-for-16 in the postseason for the Brewers in 2008 and 2011.
In six seasons for the Brewers, he hit .241/.333/.326 with 13 homers, 130 RBI and 30 steals.
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Counsell fits the mold of a big-league manager—overachiever as a player, heady middle-infielder type.
If the report is accurate, I like the hire—I speculated it could be Counsell when reporting on Roenicke’s firing earlier Sunday night.
After going 342-331 in four-plus seasons under Roenicke, it was clear the Brewers needed a change of direction and, frankly, I was surprised Melvin didn’t make the move after last season’s meltdown.
It is Milwaukee’s first mid-season managerial change since 2008, when Ned Yost was fired with 12 games left in the season and was replaced by Dale Sveum, who went 7-5 and got the Brewers into the NL wild-card spot.
Counsell will be the Brewers’ 18th manager since the club moved from Seattle before the 1970 season and joins Yost and Sveum as the only former Brewers to later manage the club.