New Cubs manager Craig Counsell felt a little scared and a little uncomfortable. He was sitting at the head of a second-floor conference room Monday, Chicago and Milwaukee reporters looking on, with a fresh challenge before him.
Those feelings also suggested he’d made the right decision.
“Over a pretty long time span I just thought that a new challenge was where I had to push myself,” he said in his introductory news conference Monday. “And really, it’s about growth.”
What can Cubs fans expect from their new manager? Counsell has worked in a range of baseball jobs, from player, to front office special assistant, to manager for the past nine years. In his time at the helm for the Brewers, Counsell came to be known as one of the best managers in the game.
He’s renowned for his in-game decision-making as well as his interpersonal skills. And though Counsell made it clear he thinks putting together the team is the front office’s job, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer clearly respects the manager’s opinion. But Counsell kept returning to one theme in particular: He wants to keep challenging himself.
“I believe that you have to create a challenge for yourself to get to the next place,” he said. “And that’s part of this for me, is to get better.”
Counsell took small-market Milwaukee to the playoffs in five of the past six seasons. But the Brewers only won one postseason series with Counsell at the helm – a record Hoyer said he didn’t think was reflective of Counsell’s managerial skills because of the unpredictable nature of the playoffs.
What will Counsell be able to do with a large-market team and the resources that come with that status? The question clearly intrigued the Cubs.
Counsell, when asked if he would still be with the Brewers if they had more resources, said the premise was an oversimplification.
“The challenge of this is different,” he said. “And that challenge excites me. More resources means different types of players, for sure. That’s a different challenge for a manager. More resources is certainly something Chicago offers. There’s no question about that. It’s part of the equation. It’s part of, how do you tackle the problem of being a great baseball team and being a great franchise.
“There are also other things that excite me. Like this place, you can’t help but get excited about it. The brand that the Chicago Cubs are, you can’t help but get excited about representing that.”
Before Counsell represents the Cubs from the dugout, he has a long offseason to-do list. Just a week out from being named the Cubs’ new manager, Counsell said he’s slowly started reaching out to players “and frankly need to pick up the pace.”
“Those are important conversations, and I want to make sure I get them right,” he said.
At the same time, he has to make coaching staff decisions, which he said will be a slow process. Because the Cubs were a last-minute contender in Counsell’s free agency, he hasn’t had time to do a deep dive on the team.
“It’s a place where I’m behind,” Counsell said. “And I think making a quicker decision is a mistake in this situation.”
