Please Finally Give Craig Counsell Manager of the Year

Nobody has done as great of a managerial job as Craig Counsell since taking over as the Milwaukee Brewers skipper. He recently led the team to their third NL Central title in six years. This is also the fifth time in six seasons that Counsell’s Brewers are playing baseball in October. Given all that he’s accomplished in Milwaukee, he hasn’t won the NL Manager of the Year award for some crazy reason. I believe Counsell is long overdue to finally earn the honor.

He Did a “Manager of the Year” Job This Season

This isn’t the first time that Craig Counsell has been in the running for the award. He’s been nominated for the award five other times. The closest he’s come to winning it was when he finished in second place in 2018 and 2021. Given that the Brewers are among the lower-spending teams, all the injuries his team had to overcome this year, the team winning the NL Central for the third time in six years, appearing in the postseason for the fifth time in six seasons, and having to prevent his contract talks from being a distraction, Counsell has earned it.

It’s a Deep Field This Year

The field for the award is deep this year. Skip Schumaker and Torey Lovullo of the Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks respectively did excellent jobs managing their clubs. Schumaker led Miami to the postseason in a full year for the first time since 2003. He also is just the third manager in franchise history to finish with a record above .500 in their first season. The first two managers to accomplish this feat were Jim Leyland and Jack McKeon.

Torey Lovullo has been the Diamondbacks manager since 2017. He previously won the award in his first season when he ended Arizona’s five-year postseason drought. However, Arizona had some lean seasons in the past five years including a 110-loss nightmare in 2021. However, despite the team falling on hard times, Arizona kept Lovullo and now they’re back in the postseason.

Both the Marlins and Diamondbacks had to battle right until the end to secure their postseason spots. While the Cubs meltdown in September helped, Arizona and Miami’s journey to the postseason was anything but easy. The Marlins particularly had to face many trials and tribulations along the way. They were without reigning NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara due to injuries.

Most recently due to the Mets Wilpon level of stupidity with the tarp, the Marlins were unable to play the first game in that series due to the field being in such poor condition. This forced them to play a doubleheader in which they split with New York. Two days later despite leading 2-1 in the ninth, the umpiring crew called the game due to rain and the Marlins didn’t get the win at the time. At one point it looked like the Marlins would have to go back to New York to play a single inning. After concluding that game, they’d have to then fly to their playoff destination that same day.

Nobody Did What Craig Counsell Has Done in Milwaukee

While Schumaker and Lovullo accomplished a lot this year, it doesn’t quite measure up to what Counsell has done over a long period of time. It can be argued that Craig Counsell is the National League’s version of what Kevin Cash is with the Rays. Despite the Brewers always having a lower payroll, what he’s been able to accomplish is nothing short of amazing. Teams beg to go to the postseason five times in six years while not spending lots of money on talent. Counsell has proven he can get the most out of what’s been given to him over the past five years.

It’s Long Past Time to Give Counsell the Award

I don’t know what else Craig Counsell needs to do to win NL Manager of the Year. He’s long overdue to win the award. Counsell has proven that he’s the best at getting the most out of the talent that has been provided to him. It’s no accident Milwaukee has won the NL Central three times or gone to the postseason five times under Counsell. Craig Counsell should finally get national recognition for his hard work which has been long overdue.

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