After a 2016 season – the first year of a full organizational rebuild – in which the Brewers were better than expected both in terms of player performance and win-loss record, the team rewarded manager Craig Counsell with a three-year contract extension.
Counsell and general manager David Stearns announced the decision during a press conference at Miller Park on Friday.
"I am pleased that we have reached an agreement with Craig to keep him as our manager well into the future," said Stearns. "Craig possesses the skill set, intelligence and determination to lead our team back to consistent competitiveness. Over the past year, I have observed Craig’s leadership first hand, and am confident that he is the right man for this job."
The extension, which keeps Counsell signed through 2020, had been anticipated, especially after Stearns decided a little more than a month ago to retain Milwaukee’s entire coaching staff. At that time, Counsell and Stearns said they both were pleased with player development and improvement in 2016.
For Counsell, 46, the 2016 season was his second as manager and first full year. He took over on May 4, 2015, replacing Ron Roenicke, who was fired early in his fifth season, and becoming Milwaukee’s 19th skipper. The Brewers improved from 68-94 in 2015 to 73-89 last year, including going 17-13 over the final 30 games, an encouraging finish for the young team that had traded away many of its veterans.
"Representing this franchise is a great honor for me," said Counsell, a native of Whitefish Bay who now lives again in the suburb just north of the city with his family. "We’ve taken the first steps of a difficult process. I am encouraged and inspired by both the progress we’ve made and the possibilities that lie ahead.
"I look forward to working alongside the leadership of David Stearns and to the ultimate results that our collaborative efforts will yield."
Counsell’s hometown-hero storyline has been a well-tapped source of positivity and excitement for the franchise and its fan base the past couple of years. Counsell, whose father worked in the Brewers’ front office for nearly a decade, played for Milwaukee in 2004 and then again from 2007-2011. Last season, a cool and emotive television commercial produced by the team, titled "Born a Brewer," touted Counsell’s local origins and lifelong bond with the club.
Following a 16-year Major League Baseball playing career, Counsell joined the Brewers’ front office in 2012 as a special assistant to then-general manager Doug Melvin. As a player, the former infielder batted .255 with 42 home runs, 390 RBI and 103 stolen bases in 1,624 games with Colorado, Florida, Los Angeles, Arizona and Milwaukee. He was a member of World Series championship teams with the Marlins in 1997 and Diamondbacks in 2001, being named Most Valuable Player of the ‘01 National League Championship Series.
Under Counsell’s direction last season, several young Brewers players took major developmental steps forward. Infielders Jonathan Villar (.285 batting average, 19 home runs and 62 stolen bases) and Hernan Perez (.272, 13 and 34) had career years; the pitching performances of journeyman starter Junior Guerra (9-3, 2.81 ERA), rookie Zach Davies (11-7, 3.97) and reliever Tyler Thornburg (2.15 ERA, 13 saves) were another bright spot. Outfielder Keon Broxton, who was sent down to the minors twice last year, was the poster child for player improvement within the organization; batting just .161 on Aug 3, he hit .300 over his final 120 at-bats, with seven homers, 13 RBI and 15 stolen bases, before breaking his wrist on Sept. 16.
"We still have a big challenge in front of us, and I feel like I get to see it through," Counsell said Friday. "I don't feel like I've accomplished much in this job yet. There's a lot to do, still. I'm interested in performing. That's what's next. I'm not good at looking back, I'm not good at getting nostalgic. I think I am good at looking forward and trying to figure out how to make the next good decision, and that's what we'll try to do.
"There's peaks and valleys to this process. "That's part of it – and actually a fun part of it. You're part of all those decisions. That's where I think this [extension] takes it. It's not going to change the next decision that I have to make, but I know that we're going to go through some peaks and valleys, and we're going to come out on the other side and be in the right place."
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
