Craig Counsell sees ‘big gap’ between division champion Cubs and Brewers

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell refused to sugarcoat his team’s slow decline from the playoff picture, sending a message throughout the organization that change needs to happen quickly in Wrigleyville.

Counsell made the point the day after the Milwaukee Brewers won the division title, his quiet voice rising with a different tone and a new sense of urgency. Counsell leaving his hometown team to become the highest-paid manager in sports was meant to change the balance of power in the National League Central, not usher in a season of end-to-end dominance by his former club.

“There’s a big gap,” Counsell said Thursday. “They’re way ahead of us. They’re a talented team. On and off the field, they’re a talented team. There’s a big gap, and we’ve got room to close it. There’s no doubt about that. It’s daunting, frankly.”

Counsell spoke in the Wrigley Field interview room, where pregame press briefings typically revolve around softball questions and positive talk. Counsell’s postgame sessions with reporters are almost always short and to the point, reflecting the long season and the manager rarely stands out in that setting.

But at this point, there’s no escaping the standings. The Brewers have spent every day in first place since late April — even after trading Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes last winter — while the Cubs have struggled to rise above the .500 mark that signifies mediocrity.

Counsell did not dispute the observation that he seemed as animated as he had been all year.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve got to get better, man,” Counsell said. “The team we’re chasing is 10 games ahead of us. We’ve got to get better. And we should try to build 90-win teams here. That’s what you have to do. That’s a playoff standard. That’s what you have to achieve, to be safe in the playoffs, safe in the tournament. Right? So from that standpoint, we’ve got a ways to go.”

Notice how Counsell didn’t use injuries as an excuse or try to sell false hope that this team was really, really close. There was no filibuster about a good clubhouse culture and a solid pitching infrastructure. There were no promises about a magical farm system. Every level of a multi-billion dollar organization should be paying attention.

The Ricketts family has authorized a major-league payroll that should end this year around or slightly above the $237 million luxury-tax threshold. But in terms of spending, the Cubs have been outpaced by the aggressive owners who run franchises like the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. So far, the methodical, rational approach simply hasn’t been enough.

Jed Hoyer’s baseball operations department has acquired dazzling talents like Shota Imanaga and Pete Crow-Armstrong, and improved the pitching pipeline that produced Justin Steele. The Cubs have a solid roster of above-average and versatile players as well as a deep pool of intriguing prospects. But with 2025 looming as the final season of Hoyer’s five-year contract, the team president will be under intense pressure to produce a team that breaks the 83-win ceiling.

Hoyer hoped to gain ground in the National League Central by firing David Ross and hiring Counsell from Milwaukee. Counsell declined to give Hoyer’s management specific recommendations: “Do you want me to share them with you?”

Yes.

“No, I’m not going to do that,” Counsell said.

Counsell said he has already congratulated Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy, his longtime bench coach and former college coach at Notre Dame.

How do the Brewers seem to exceed expectations year after year?

“I think I just said that – talented people on and off the field,” Counsell said.

Counsell didn’t come into the job pretending he already knew all the answers or needed to leave his mark on the team. He acknowledged that he spent his first season in Chicago studying the organization and figuring out the best path forward.

“You always do that,” Counsell said. “You also try to make immediate changes, for sure, to help us get better. So it’s true either way. And you continue to do both.”

Given Counsell’s influence within the organization, it’s hard to imagine the Cubs sticking to the status quo. Hoyer hired Counsell, who once worked as a manager in Milwaukee, with the idea of ​​creating a partnership. A manager with a five-year, $40 million contract doesn’t just sit in on daily press conferences and make in-game decisions. Counsell surely has ideas about research and development, scouting, player development, roster construction and free agency.

Counsell added that “the whole division” will face that challenge: “I’d say the same thing about other teams.” But the Cubs are Counsell’s chosen team, the big-market franchise 90 miles south of Milwaukee that has once again underachieved: “They’ve blown a hole the last couple years in the division. Yeah, we got some room, man. We got some work to do, for sure.”

(Top photo of Craig Counsell, who acknowledged Thursday a significant gap between the Cubs and his former team, the National League Central champion Brewers: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)