Everything Craig Counsell said about Brewers making the playoffs, while Cubs miss out

When the Chicago Cubs made Craig Counsell the highest-paid manager in baseball history, thus pilfering the leader of the rival Milwaukee Brewers in the process, this is not the end result the front office had in mind. Yet, here we are just nine months later it's the shorthanded Brewers that won the NL Central by a whopping 10.5-game margin.

There were plenty of twists and turns along the way, but for the most part the Brewers dominated their NL Central opposition. Counsell's early-season return to Milwaukee was the first example of that. Counsell was booed, loudly, but Brewers fans which once loved him. Rather than get caught up in the moment, this young team rallied together and took three out of four games from Chicago.

Come the second half, a Brewers division crown was a matter of when, not if. That's why when asked about Milwaukee's 2024 season, Counsell didn't have much to say, except to hand it to his former employer.

“They're likely to win the division and we didn't win, so they earned it,” Counsell said. “They deserve it. They beat us.”

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Craig Counsell wasn't thrilled the Brewers made the playoffs

That's about as simple as it gets. Counsell failed to expand on his thoughts, and who can really blame him for that? Counsell's contract is a five-year deal, and he'll largely be judged by his accomplishments moving forward. Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele chose to look at the positives.

“We would obviously love to be winning the division or leading the Wild Card,” Steele said. “We’ve kind of put ourselves in this position. But I feel like there’s some people in the locker room that have some good things to hang their hats on. At this point, it’s all about building off what you’ve done.”

The Cubs are down seven games for the final NL Wild Card spot with 10 games remaining. Making the playoffs would be a miraculous accomplishment at this stage, but remains very unlikely. Counsell, Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins have a lot to think about this winter, starting with their own free agents.

Cody Bellinger is reportedly likely to opt in to the final year of his contract, while the likes of Kyle Hendricks could be on the outs. The Cubs have money to spend, and their competitive window is open. You can bet Counsell and Co. want to avoid living through this nightmare again at all cost.