The Milwaukee Brewers reportedly had an offer on the table to Craig Counsell that was in the ballpark of $5.50 MM per season. This would have made him the highest paid manager in the game, but the Chicago Cubs elected to top that by offering him $8.00 MM per year for five seasons. He ultimately accepted his offer and reportedly never gave the Brewers a rebuttal opportunity.
Craig Counsell reportedly never gave the Milwaukee Brewers a rebuttal opportunity before signing with the Chicago Cubs.
During a zoom call with Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio he provided the following response to the question if Milwaukee was given a chance to match the Cubs offer.
“I don’t (want to get into) negotiations and getting into a tit-for-tat – this happened or this happened. I was informed this morning that Craig, by Craig, that he was going to the Cubs. For several weeks, we had an offer that would have made him the highest-paid manager in baseball, both per season and the total package. I felt very good about that. And he made a decision to go another direction.”
Another source, 620 WTMJ, additionally provided the following statement in regards to the same question that Mark Attanasio was asked by Greg Matzek and John Mercure.
“There was no opportunity for a last look.”
Between these two sources it is pretty apparent that Milwaukee was not given a rebuttal opportunity. Rather Craig Counsell called Mark Attanasio and informed him of his decision and that was it. It is possible that he knew Milwaukee would not go any higher, but neither party has admitted that yet.
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