"A lot of the culture starts with Couns": Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich laments possible loss of manager Craig Counsell (Exclusive)

The 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers have defied the odds over the past six years to be one of the most competitive teams in Major League Baseball. However, they might be on the verge of losing their manager, which is a concern to the star left fielder.

The Brewers have reached the postseason in five of the last six seasons and missed making the playoffs by one game in 2022 despite playing in the smallest market in Major League Baseball. Craig Counsell has been a big part of that success as the winningest manager in franchise history.

However, the Brewers have allowed the New York Mets to interview Counsell for their managerial opening. The Cleveland Guardians have also sought permission to speak with him.

Counsell’s contract expires at the end of the month. The 53-year-old declined to discuss a new deal when approached by owner Mark Attanasio in early September, opting to concentrate on the pennant race.

The Brewers went on to win the National League Central before being swept in two games by the Arizona Diamondbacks in an NL Wild Card Series.

“A lot of it is culture, knowing what you need to do to win and obviously having talented players as well,” Christian Yelich told Sportskeeda of the Milwaukee Brewers’ continued success. “Obviously having a lot of talented players helps as well but I think a lot of the culture starts with Couns from the first day of spring training. Kind of just knowing what needs to be done and what we need to do to be consistently successful. Couns sets the tone.”

Christian Yelich thrives under Craig Counsell

Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers is congratulated by manager Craig Counsell after scoring against the San Francisco Giants

Yelich has thrived under Counsell’s tutelage. He won the NL MVP award in 2018 then finished second in the voting the following season while winning the league batting title both years.

Dogged by injuries in recent seasons, Yelich bounced back to have a strong 2023 as he slashed .278/.370/.447. Those were his best marks in each category since 2019 and the 31-year-old added 19 home runs and 28 stolen bases in 144 games.

While Christian Yelich is one of the Brewers’ stars, Counsell has long received high marks for being able to maximize production from most of his players. Counsell’s record is 707-625 over nearly nine full seasons since replacing Ron Roenicke 25 games into the 2015 season.

“He’s great at putting guys in positions to be successful -- whether it happens or not, who knows? -- but it’s usually the right guy in the right spot,” Yelich said. “I think over the sample size of a long season, it turns out in our favor more often than not. The proof is in our record.”

Craig Counsell good fit for New York Mets

Counsell being hired by the Mets makes plenty of sense. Former Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns was hired by New York for the same job earlier this month.

The New York Mets are looking to rebound following a massively disappointing season in 2023 under Buck Showalter. They finished 75-87 despite having the largest payroll in the MLB history at $355 million.

There has been a growing source of irritation among big-league managers in recent years of feeling that they are underpaid. Craig Counsell would like to help bring about change by getting a substantial boost over his $3.5-million salary of this season.

Money would not be a problem with the Mets as Steve Cohen is the wealthiest MLB owner.

Counsell would also be a worthy successor to the retired Terry Francona with the Cleveland Guardians but they seem to be long shots behind the Mets.

There is a strong sense within the game that the Brewers would stay in-house and promote bench coach Pat Murphy to manager if Counsell leaves. Murphy was Counsell’s college coach at Notre Dame and has a partial year of MLB managerial experience, going 42-54 while running the San Diego Padres in 2015.

John Perrotto is an MLB Insider at Sportskeeda. Follow him on Twitter