With the New York Mets in search of a manager once again after the firing of Buck Showalter, they’ve been coveting Milwaukee Brewers skipper Craig Counsell to lead the team in 2024.
Counsell is arguably the top prize amongst available managers, and with former Brewers executive David Stearns now in charge of the Mets, he is trying to bring in his former manager, with whom he had a lot of success in Milwaukee. However, things won’t be easy in the Mets’ pursuit of Counsell.
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Recently, Counsell took a visit to Cleveland to interview with the Guardians. The Guardians are also in search of a manager after the retirement of Terry Francona.
Per MLB Network‘s Jon Morosi, Counsell will evaluate his options after speaking with the Guardians and the Mets over the last couple of days. Morosi notes that one of those options is staying with the Brewers. He added that while Counsell’s contract with the Brewers expires on October 31st, there is no further timetable for his decision on where to manage in 2024.
SNY’s Andy Martino reported last week that the Mets and Counsell would meet for an interview but that they would both look at other alternatives. The Mets have yet to officially interview anybody else for the position. For all intents and purposes, Counsell loves New York, and his level of interest in coming to the Mets is reported to be serious, per The New York Post. They cited his relationship with Stearns, his desire to improve manager salaries, and his (and his wife’s) love of the city of New York as reasons the Mets have a good chance to land the 53-year-old.
In nine seasons as manager of the Brewers, Counsell won 707 games and advanced to the NLCS in 2018. He made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons from 2018-2021. This season, the Brewers won the National League Central and lost in the Wild-Card Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Next week is the MLB GM Meetings, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Mets will have a clearer picture about Counsell by then.
