Craig Counsell’s link to the Brewers would seem extremely strong.
He grew up in Milwaukee’s suburbs when his father John was the team’s community relations director, he’s bringing up his four kids there, too, in Whitefish Bay, a bedroom community just about 10 miles north of American Family Field, and he successfully managed the Brewers the past nine seasons.
But while the Brewers are still in the bidding — in fact, they made an offer soon after the season ended — he’s said to be “serious” about his interest in the Mets, according to people close to the situation.
Multiple people mentioned that Counsell and wife Michelle very much like New York, which gives the Mets a decent chance in the case of the most-watched managerial free agency in years.
One other issue that may help the Mets is that Counsell is said to be interested in raising the bar for managerial salaries, which have stagnated or even trended lower in recent years, from a high of Joe Torre’s $8 million at his height in the Yankees’ dynasty.
The Mets are expected to be high bidder thanks to deeper pockets, the difficulty of luring someone away from their home and an obvious cost-of-living discrepancy.
Counsell is also said to have a “great” working relationship with new Mets baseball president David Stearns, who left the Brewers at season’s end, and has Counsell at the top of his managerial want list. It was said recently that Stearns, before Counsell became free, was only in the “early stages” of his managerial search, which likely reflected his desire to wait for Counsell, his top candidate.
Stearns hasn’t previously hired a manager but it’s no surprise Counsell heads his list, as they worked together with excellent results for seven years in Milwaukee, especially considering the Brewers’ revenue base and payroll.
Counsell was due to become a free agent Wednesday but the Brewers gave interested teams the approval to interview Counsell last week, which could enable Milwaukee to get started finding a replacement, if necessary.
Furthermore, folks close to the situation maintain Counsell is sincerely interested and not merely using them in a strategy to drive up his Brewers offer.
That doesn’t mean it’s any sort of guarantee that he comes, of course, and the pull home may be quite strong.
Counsell is one of the very few managers who lives year-round where he manages. His two daughters are still in high school in Whitefish Bay (and his sons play college baseball at the universities of Michigan and Minnesota).
Other teams will be involved for Counsell, including the Guardians, and The Athletic reported Counsell was meeting Monday in Cleveland with the team.
It’s also possible teams with managers could make a play for him now that he’s a free agent.
Word is, Counsell’s meeting with the Mets hadn’t been quite firmed up yet but it should be expected to happen soon.
Based on the interest, Counsell should become baseball’s highest-paid manager, whatever he decides.
The small-market Guardians actually paid their manager what is believed to be the highest salary in 2023, when Terry Francona, who announced at the end of the season that he’s stepped away, made $4.5 million.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is believed to make about the same salary, plus perks, and Bob Melvin, who just moved from the Padres to the Giants, will make $4 million plus again.
The Mets aren’t too likely to match that $8 million Torre salary, but there’s plenty of room between the current top manager salary and that record deal. The Mets will pay Buck Showalter, who was let go after the season, $3.75 million in 2024.
Counsell made $3.5 million in 2023 with the Brewers, where he posted an 86-plus win season for the sixth time in the last six full seasons (not counting the 2020 pandemic year), joining the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts as the only mangers to possess such current streaks.