The Milwaukee Brewers rewarded manager Craig Counsell for their success, despite losing MVP candidate Christian Yelich before the Postseason last season, as they gave their head man a three-year extension this week. The 49-year-old had one year remaining on his contract, but is now extended through the 2023 season. Since taking over for Ron Roenicke in the 2015 season, Counsell has led the Brewers to consecutive Postseason appearances for the first time in franchise history.
Due to plenty of changes in the National League as of late, he is already the longest tenured manager in the league, and fifth in all of baseball. Only Terry Francona, Bob Melvin, A.J. Hinch, and Kevin Cash have held their managerial jobs longer than the Brew-Crew's guy. He finished second in the NL Manager of the Year voting in 2018, and is 405-381 in five seasons with the Brewers, good for fourth on their all-time wins list, and just 158 out of the top spot on that list. Over the last two seasons, the Brewers took the Los Angeles Dodgers to seven games in the NLCS and blew an eighth-inning lead to the Washington Nationals in the Wild Card Game, so they feel as if they have a lot more to prove heading in to the new decade.
On the field, the Arizona Diamondbacks inked an extension of their own, giving slugger David Peralta a three-year contract that is worth $22 million. Peralta was on pace to be a free agent following the 2020 season, but will now stick around with Arizona through the 2022 campaign. He is coming off a season that saw him bat .275 with with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs in just 99 games in 2019. His season unfortunately ended in August when he underwent surgery on his right shoulder after three stints on the injured list. He is expected to be ready for Spring Training, and will hope to move from his best season in 2018, when he hit a career-best 30 home runs.
Due to plenty of changes in the National League as of late, he is already the longest tenured manager in the league, and fifth in all of baseball. Only Terry Francona, Bob Melvin, A.J. Hinch, and Kevin Cash have held their managerial jobs longer than the Brew-Crew's guy. He finished second in the NL Manager of the Year voting in 2018, and is 405-381 in five seasons with the Brewers, good for fourth on their all-time wins list, and just 158 out of the top spot on that list. Over the last two seasons, the Brewers took the Los Angeles Dodgers to seven games in the NLCS and blew an eighth-inning lead to the Washington Nationals in the Wild Card Game, so they feel as if they have a lot more to prove heading in to the new decade.
On the field, the Arizona Diamondbacks inked an extension of their own, giving slugger David Peralta a three-year contract that is worth $22 million. Peralta was on pace to be a free agent following the 2020 season, but will now stick around with Arizona through the 2022 campaign. He is coming off a season that saw him bat .275 with with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs in just 99 games in 2019. His season unfortunately ended in August when he underwent surgery on his right shoulder after three stints on the injured list. He is expected to be ready for Spring Training, and will hope to move from his best season in 2018, when he hit a career-best 30 home runs.
