Craig Counsell Is The Man Who Can Save The Mets

Bill Greenblatt. Shutterstock Images.

If the Mets fire Buck Showalter (and they should) at the end of the season, there is one candidate they should move heaven and earth to get. Craig Counsell is closer to my weight than any grown man should be but don't hold that against him. He's a brilliant manager who has squeezed every ounce of talent out of the Brewers since he's been there. He's incredible at working with pitching staffs and offensively, his teams always do the little things right. He's also a free agent at the end of the season.

So is it likely or even possible that he can make his way to Queens?

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That would help. I am also really confident that David Stearns will be the man in charge of the Mets by November 1st. 

SOURCE - The Mets are making a push to land David Stearns to run their baseball operations department, a source told The Post. 

The source said the Mets are “down the road” in negotiations with Stearns, which is the same phrase that was used in a report by The Athletic about talks between the club and the executive. 

The source was not sure if the Mets are looking at Stearns to be president of the team or president of baseball operations, but clearly, they think his main role would be to come in above current general manager Billy Eppler as the main decision maker on baseball matters.

There's been smoke about this since even before the Mets season ended up in the shitter. The Mets wanted to talk to Stearns last off-season and the Brewers blocked it because he was still contract as an "advisor". It also doesn't take much a leap to say if Stearns will come here, Counsell could follow.

Robert Beck. Getty Images.

SOURCE - "Ask our players and coaching staff who is the most valuable member of our team, and he's going to get a lot of votes," Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said.

That was said about Craig Counsell in 2001 when he was on the World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks. That same team had Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Luis Gonzalez hit 57 home runs that year. Craig Counsell, a utility infielder, would get votes as team MVP? That's obviously an insane and ludicrous take but it shows how much respect Counsell earns from players. People naturally look at him as a leader. 

I should note that Craig Counsell did end up being the MVP of the 2001 NLCS. He also won two World Series rings (the other being with the 1997 Marlins as a rookie) . If you believe in clutch, he has it.

I honestly don't know how likely this is. Stearns is almost definitely coming to the Mets. But Counsell? He's talked of wanting to spend more time with family and maybe he will take some time off. Or maybe he'll go back to the Brewers. He's from Wisconsin and takes a lot of pride in being the manager of the Brewers.

But if Steve Cohen can offer enough cash (and we know he can) and the allure of going back to work with Stearns…could that be enough to build a braintrust to save the Mets?

On Barstool Baseball, Carl and I do talk about exactly this at the end of this episode. But if you are also looking for some post-season talk and where teams could be seeded going into October, check this one out.