Craig Counsell's friend reveals that manager's "dream job" was always leading the Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs shocked the world when they pried Craig Counsell away from several interested parties and made him their new manager.

With an expiring contract, Counsell was set to be a free agent manager, and he quickly signed with the Cubs. That's reportedly what he had wanted all along.

According to Sports Illustrated, a friend close with the new Chicago manager said:

“If he ever managed anywhere else, the Cubs have always been his dream job.”

The Cubs and Counsell's former team, the Milwaukee Brewers, are rivals. Nevertheless, he was quick to jump ship and cross rivalry lines if it meant managing the team he apparently always wanted to.

A team source reached out to Counsell on Nov. 1, citing him as one of the two best managers in the sport. Even though they had a manager in David Ross, they jumped at the opportunity to land someone they feel is in the upper echelon of MLB managers.

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Cubs landed Craig Counsell his "dream job"

Chicago Cubs landed Craig Counsell.

Despite a lot of interest from several teams, including the Houston Astros, the Chicago Cubs won the Craig Counsell sweepstakes. Evidently, it wasn't all that close, as most other teams didn't have a genuine shot at it.

One source disputed the idea that the New York Mets were close to landing the manager:

“Over the last few days, people were still writing that it looked like it was Counsell’s job. That wasn’t the case. He was all but out over the past few days. New York was not at the top of his list.”

Another executive said:

“If you look at recent history, managers don’t come out well on the other side of that job.”

Thus, it makes sense that Counsell would pass on the Mets for his supposed dream job in Chicago.

The Cubs are a team trending upwards with a core of Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner. They nearly made the playoffs this year, and it stands to reason that Craig Counsell would be able to get them over the hump and back into the postseason.