Craig Counsell speaks out after surprising Cubs move

Even team owner Mark Attanasio was unable to hide his negative feelings toward Counsell when he addressed the media on Monday. Indeed, the decision has left a crater in the organization and has fans upset with both the former manager and team ownership.

On Tuesday, Counsell addressed the media for the first time since signing with the Cubs, and his comments won’t make fans feel any better.

After Counsell accepted the Cubs’ offer, it was reported that managing in Chicago was actually his dream job. Of course, this did not sit well with fans who have force-fed promotional videos of Counsell declaring himself the hometown kid living out his dream of managing his hometown team.

As one might expect, Counsell did not address that particular report when he spoke to the Milwaukee media. Instead, he said, via Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“In looking at my decision, you’re considering a number of things, and the challenging part of this industry is that there’s one job in 30 places in 30 different cities and me still preserving what I think is a great situation (family-wise). I was able to do that, yet also get a professional challenge. But the proximity made this attractive.

“I mean, it’s just, it’s a challenge to me with an organization that is very much in a good place and is just trying to do some special things. So, that part of it certainly is exciting and alluring. And, you know, it’s a challenge. It’s going to be hard. It’s scary. Because change is scary. But sometimes you need to push yourself out of that comfort zone, and that makes it exciting.”

In other words, Counsell wanted a new challenge. The Cubs provided him with a change of scenery while also allowing him to continue to live in Whitefish Bay, a little north of Milwaukee. Not only that, he will be taking over a team that is not afraid to spend money and has World Series aspirations every season.

Obviously, winning with the Cubs is certainly not a more difficult challenge than winning with Milwaukee. Chicago has a World Series this century and is building for a bright competitive future with few limitations on spending. The point, though, is that Counsell wanted a different challenge, not necessarily an equal or easier one.

During his interview, Counsell was asked if he had interacted with any fans out in public since news of his decision was released. He said that he had and that those interactions had been very positive and humbling. When asked about what message he has for Brewers fans who were hurt by his decision, Counsell responded:

“I think as I was going through this process, it became clear that I needed and wanted a new professional challenge. At the same time, look, I’m grateful to be part of this community. And that’s going to continue, hopefully, because it has nothing to do with baseball, that part of it. I’m looking forward to being part of a new community and hopefully impact our community well, too. But as I went through it, it just became clear that I needed a new challenge.”

Counsell also denied that there was any ill will between himself and the Brewers front office/ownership group. He said that their final conversations were positive and understanding.

While that may be true, it is going to take time for many Brewers fans to get over this development, and some may never be able to put it behind them.

That’s baseball.