Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer met with media in Arizona on Tuesday, and revealed for the first time his thoughts on their managerial shakeup this week.
Hoyer made the decision to fire David Ross on Monday, and followed that up by hiring former Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell, signing him to a record-breaking contract.
In speaking to reporters at the GM Meetings, Hoyer said he was torn about the decision to change managers, but emphasized that he felt the move was the right one for the Cubs in both the short and long term.
“It just felt like an exceptionally hard decision, but one that I felt like I had to make if the opportunity was there,” he told media, including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. “From my perspective, my job is to figure out how to win as many games as we possibly can in the short term, and in the long term. And there was nothing about this move that didn’t feel like met that criteria.”
Hoyer also said he felt that Counsell is “at the very top of the game” in terms of managers, and that he is the right man to leave the organization forward.
Ross led the Cubs to an 83-79 record during the 2023 season, but the club fell short of the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
While Cubs brass had indicated they were happy with Ross’ performance, especially in his relationships with players in the clubhouse, the team acted quickly to sign Counsell after his contract with the Brewers expired.
That new contract will pay Counsell $8 million per season, making him the highest-paid manager in MLB history.
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Counsell has led the Brewers to the playoffs in five of the last nine seasons, with Milwaukee winning a division crown in 2023.
