The Brewers are not down on themselves amid the breakup with Craig Counsell.
Counsell stunned the baseball world Monday when he bolted the Brewers for the Cubs, Milwaukee’s rival in the NL Central.
It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Counsell left the Brewers, as the Mets had been in hot pursuit for weeks, but the Cubs came from the clouds.
The team had given manager and 2016 World Series hero David Ross a vote of confidence at the end of the season and was never reported as being a potential candidate to poach Counsell.
So it was that Brewers owner Mark Attanasio hosted a Zoom call later in the day, and expressed confidence that the organization is equipped the handle the loss.
In his opening remarks, Attanasio said Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin are “special as a community” and have a “commitment to winning.”
“We’re all here today because we lost Craig, but I’ve reflected on this — Craig has lost us and he’s lost our community also. It’s really a special place to be,” Attanasio said, as covered by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Counsell received the largest managerial contract in MLB history from the Cubs, earning more than $40 million over five years.
“We didn’t come together at the end,” Attanasio said.
“Relative to managers — most things are worth what someone’s willing to pay for them. Craig was definitely a key part of our success but if I wanted to list all the reasons we’re successful, we’d be [here] for another half-hour.”
The Brewers, in one of the smallest markets baseball, made the playoffs five of the last six years, albeit losing nine of their last 10 playoff games since the 2018 NLCS with the Dodgers was tied 3-3.
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