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MILWAUKEE – “It was a lot,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said of this wild week in Brewers history.
Then let’s empty the notebook.
Arnold didn’t offer much guidance on what qualities he’s prioritizing in the next Brewers manager, saying he only wants the “best person.” Unfortunately, the new Guardians manager Stephen Vogt is taken.
Which raises a question: Has the Counsell saga — which Attanasio said “lasted longer than I thought when I said we’d let him scout the area” — put the Brewers in a bad spot? They lag behind other clubs with vacant leadership positions.
“I think that’s certainly one way to look at it,” Arnold said. “But to be honest, we’ve had to consider this possibility for a while. So I don’t feel like we’re behind.”
Asked who was among the group of Milwaukee officials who addressed the manager issue, Arnold named a number of officials whose promotions were lost in Monday’s reshuffle. These included former Phillies GM Matt Klentak, whose title was changed to “Executive Advisor to the GM,” as well as Will Hudgins, Matt Kleine and Karl Mueller, all of whom had “Assistant General Manager” added to their titles. Former Brewers players Taylor Green, Carlos Villanueva and Rickie Weeks were also promoted as part of the player development effort, although Weeks himself is believed to be a candidate for the job.
Of course, Attanasio will also have a big say. An underappreciated reality of being a major league manager is that you are essentially the team’s PR chief, meeting with the media twice a day from February to October and being responsible for everything, big and small. It is an important part of the work that is rarely mentioned.
On Monday it was announced that all of the Brewers’ coaches had re-signed for 2024. Arnold subsequently clarified that should replacement coach Pat Murphy not get the manager’s job, whoever does would be allowed to choose their replacement coach and Murphy would be offered another position. That’s good. The job of a major league manager is so varied and time-consuming that he must have a consigliere of his choice.
But it raised another question: Could qualified candidates be turned away because they can’t choose their own coaching staff?
“No, we saw it as an advantage,” Arnold said. “At the beginning and at the end, people come first and as we saw the conversations with Craig continue, we sought to protect our staff. That was really important. We feel that the return of our entire workforce is a great benefit for our next manager.”
The sign outside a local bowling alley on Monday read: “Why, Craig, why?”
Counsell will have a chance to explain more on Monday at Wrigley Field. The shock and anger reverberating throughout Wisconsin appears to be directed not at Counsell’s receiving the richest contract in history for an MLB manager, but at his getting it from, of all places, the Chicago (bleepin’) Cubs.
He’ll certainly be asked about the rivalry aspect again on Monday, but in our conversation that part didn’t seem to be an important factor. There are great rivalries among fans, but with a few exceptions, most of those in uniform are no longer what they once were.
“Look, I’m grateful for my time here,” Counsell said. “My connection to people doesn’t change in my eyes. I have built beautiful, strong relationships that have, if anything, strengthened during an emotional time, and those relationships will last forever. … The rest, you know, is a matter of the future.”
He added: “I have no hard feelings. They had to make a decision and I had to make a decision. That’s it.”
By the way, Arnold has indicated he’s not worried about the timing of the Cubs’ pursuit. Under the rules, Chicago could not contact Counsell or his agent, Barry Meister, until Nov. 1 without asking permission. That left an incredibly short window of time for the two sides to agree terms on a record-breaking contract and for Counsell to consult with his family and finalize what he described as an extremely difficult decision by Sunday.
It’s pretty remarkable that it happened so quickly.
From Arnold’s perspective, the Cubs acted ethically in terms of the timeline.
“As far as I’m concerned, yes,” Arnold said.
Hopefully everyone has gotten the surprise out of their system, because the offseason doesn’t stop.
With the tender deadline expiring, the Brewers face the next big roster decisions in a week. Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee’s longest-tenured pitcher, will likely be one of the big names released. Believe it or not, the winter meetings begin a little over two weeks later.
If you’ve been following this space for the last six weeks, like here and here and here and especially here, then you know that the Brewers are nearing a crossroads. Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Willy Adames are among the stars entering their final year as club leaders. Devin Williams will be in the same spot this time next year. Then teams – especially teams like Milwaukee – need to think about trading talent for new, controllable talent. This is not a new concept.
Still, it made headlines on Thursday when The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) wrote that Milwaukee had told other teams it was “open to moving virtually every player on its roster.”
That raised the specter of a complete rebuild, a word the Brewers don’t like to say. But looking at the roster, it doesn’t look like it’s ready for a complete dissolution. The group of homegrown pitchers who have largely carried the team with regular-season success over the past six years is starting to fall apart, but a group of homegrown hitters at the top of MLB Pipeline’s No. 3 farm system has already arrived.
The Brewers’ philosophy is the same: The way to win the World Series is to first secure a spot in the postseason. So far they have said nothing to prepare fans for a step backwards.
“All that was on my mind this offseason was that we traveled to Texas [in mid-August] and defeated the Rangers and won the World Series. That’s what I focused on,” Attanasio said. “And that also extends to how we create a roster. Matt and I talked about this a lot. Is there anything about a playoff squad that’s different than a squad that gets you through the marathon of the season? What kind of squad do you need to survive a sprint? …
“Everyone is free to assess their own feelings, but hopefully they embrace our commitment, which is passionate and profound. And we plan to win with the next manager.”