The Chicago Cubs opened up the checkbook in a historic way this offseason, signing former Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell to a five-year $40 million contract, the largest a manager has ever received.
Former MLB player turned Sunday Night Baseball analyst Eduardo Pérez opened up on this deal, saying he hopes it is a “sign of things to come” in the MLB.
While player contracts continue to grow in the MLB, manager contracts have largely remained stagnant. That is until the Cubs made sure they got their guy in Craig Counsell.
Eduardo Pérez, the son of former MLB star turned MLB manager Tony Pérez, knows better than anyone how important a great manager is to the importance of a successful baseball team.
On a recent episode of the Short and to the Point podcast, Pérez discussed Counsell’s contract and what it could mean for the game of baseball in the future.
“I was happy and proud that managers are now being paid what they are supposed to,” Perez told STTP host Jessica Kleinschmidt. “Hopefully this is just the start to it and this isn’t an anomaly of one team doing this. I think managers should be compensated and coaches at Major League Baseball, who are not compensated well at all, should be getting compensated better. On the NCAA baseball side of it, coaches are making more money. We have seen coaches from Major League teams leave Major League teams midseason and join college programs.”
Managers everywhere should be hoping that the Cubs have a ton of success with Counsell at the helm. Because if they do, we could see more teams buy into spending on the correct manager moving forward.
Short and to the Point with Jessica Kleinschmidt is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
