The Chicago Cubs will not win the National League Central division in 2024. They’re on their way to missing the postseason for the fourth consecutive season. Craig Counsell is not okay with mediocrity, and he’s putting everyone on notice, too.
The division was won by the Milwaukee Brewers this season a week and a half early. They’re ten games up on the Cubs with just nine games to go. This is the third time in four seasons the team up north has taken home the division crown – their first season without Counsell at the helm.
Ironically enough, it’s also been four years since Jed Hoyer was crowned the President of Baseball Operations for the Cubs. After dismantling the core of champions, starting with Kyle Schwarber and ending with Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, Hoyer promised they were on their way to building the next great Cubs team.
Though they should never be in a large market like Chicago, expectations were low going into 2022. A “retooling,” as Hoyer called it, would require a down year. 2023 saw the Cubs miss the playoffs by just one game. After that, Hoyer felt close enough to seemingly steal who was presumed to be the best manager in baseball.
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Counsell may be a good manager, but he was also the head of a well-run organization that continues to thrive and dominate without him. The Cubs are not the Brewers. No one knows that better than the guy who’s been on both sides now. After being eliminated by his former team, Craig Counsell is not shying away from letting Hoyer and the front office know what the Cubs must do to be where they need to be – at the top.
“We got to get better. And we should be trying to build 90-win teams here. That’s like what you have to do. That’s a playoff standard. That’s what you got to get to, to be safely in the playoffs, safely in the tournament. Right? So from that perspective, we got a ways to go.”
Craig Counsell, via Patrick Mooney of The Athletic
Craig Counsell Talks Directly To Cubs Front Office With Latest Comments
An organization like the Milwaukee Brewers understands it does not have the means to buy any player it wants. Heck, they can barely keep their ballpark standing upright. But they have the proper pieces to ensure the product on the field is the best it possibly can be. Craig Counsell saw that not being the case in Chicago.
Don’t get it twisted; the Cubs organization is a production worth well north of $4 billion. The Ricketts family purchased the franchise 15 years ago for $900 million. Credit is due to them for what they’ve done in and around the ballpark to make Wrigleyville a year-round attraction. Discredit them for not putting that same energy toward the playing surface.
All fans have heard about the last four seasons is “intelligent spending.” But here we sit as ticket prices continue to be jacked up for a losing product. The talent being grown on the farm has had our excitement since the last big talent core was shipped out. They’re budding and ready to bloom, but the “intelligent spending” up top is blocking their way.
On top of that, the Cubs do not have a true superstar. There is not one player who can be a shoo-in for the All-Star team every season. They can afford one, and they should sign one. But nothing about this regime shows a willingness to take a chance at being great.
Craig Counsell is starting to see the writing on the wall about how things are run around here. He’s doing more about it than we’ve seen before by speaking up and demanding 90-win teams and consistency. Will the Cubs oblige? Or will business continue to boom at our expense?
