Counsell, Cubs rightfully fed up after missing playoffs |
With the Cubs’ loss to the A’s Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, the Milwaukee Brewers officially clinched the 2024 National League Central Division Title. The Cubs last won the division during the COVID-19 short-ended 2020 season, and before that, last in 2017. This is the Brewers’ fourth in that time frame and perhaps their most impressive one.
Since the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, the Brewers have been doing laps around them organizationally. The Cubs identified that and noticed that the Brewers were doing more with a far smaller payroll. Because of this, the Cubs flexed their financial muscle and stole Milwaukee’s manager, Craig Counsell—who was widely regarded as one of the league's best managers—ahead of the 2024 campaign. The belief was that Counsell could take an underachieving 83-win ball club to the playoffs. Like the Brewers of years past, the Cubs could dominate one-run outcomes and avoid mistakes. Instead, the Cubs still look like an 83-win ball club — and the Brewers are coasting to another NL Central title without Counsell. Was Counsell as big a factor in Milwaukee as we thought? Is it an unfair thought that creeps into all of our heads? The real question should be, what can we do to be better? Counsell met the media before Thursday’s contest and had a fair but honest look at the season. “The team we’re chasing is [11] games ahead of us. We got to get better,” Counsell told reporters. “And we should try to be building 90-win teams here. That’s what you have to do; that’s the playoff standard." The Cubs will fall short of 90 wins for the fifth straight season (not including 2020) and will miss the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year (not including 2020). "I think the message sent really is that there's a big gap,” Counsell said. “I mean, they're ahead of us by a lot." The Cubs knew that and hired Counsell to help combat that. But a lack of Counsell’s comfortability with the coaching staff with him, mixed with an unforeseen amount of injuries — coupled with 26 blown saves — makes it very difficult to make the playoffs, let alone win 90 games. The Cubs had trouble on the base paths this season, struggled to hit situationally, and could not finish off games — polar opposites of Counsell’s Brewers and a terrible recipe for success. What about Milwaukee? The Brewers faced injuries, too. Their best hitter, Christian Yelich, has missed most of the season with a back injury. Their best pitcher, Corbin Burnes, was traded to the Orioles before the season, and their next-best pitcher, Brandon Woodruff, missed the entire season with an arm injury. Their closer, Devin Williams, did not record his first save until August 10th as he missed the first four months of the season with an injury. Despite that, the Brewers have blown just three 9th-inning leads this season and have the 6th fewest blown leads in the majors. Plus, they unexpectedly lost their world-class manager before the season. According to Spotrac, the Cubs’ payroll of roughly $230 million this season is DOUBLE the Brewers' payroll of approximately $115 million. The Brewers aren’t just doing more than the Cubs; they’re doing more with MUCH less. "We’re the Chicago Cubs. We should strive to be a 90-win — at least — organization,” said Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon.
