The Expectations Were Championship Level, The Results Have Not Been

When the Chicago Cubs hired Craig Counsell before the 2024 season, the move was framed as a franchise altering moment. Counsell arrived with a reputation as one of baseball’s sharpest managers, someone who had consistently elevated Milwaukee’s roster for nearly a decade. The Cubs believed they were adding a difference maker, a manager capable of turning a talented roster into a perennial World Series contender. Three seasons later, the regular season record looks respectable, but the postseason failures and the absence of division titles have become increasingly difficult to defend.

Counsell’s Cubs are 264- 222 across three seasons, a winning percentage of .543. That is solid. It reflects stability. It reflects competence. It does not reflect dominance. It does not reflect the leap Chicago expected when they made Counsell the highest paid manager in Major League Baseball history. The Cubs have finished second in the National League Central every single year under Counsell. 

They went 83-79 in 2024, 92-70 in 2025, and 89-73 in 2026. They have never won the division. They have never finished ahead of Milwaukee. They have never secured the postseason advantages that come with a division crown.

For a franchise that believed Counsell would help them surpass the Brewers, consistently finishing behind them is a frustrating reality.

The Postseason Results Are Even Harder to Justify

The October resume is where the argument shifts from disappointing to concerning. Counsell is 4-6 in the postseason as Cubs manager, and Chicago has not reached the National League Championship Series once during his tenure. 

The Cubs finally broke through in 2025, defeating San Diego in the Wild Card Series, but they were eliminated by Milwaukee in five games in the Division Series. In 2026, the postseason lasted only two games. Chicago was swept by the Padres and scored one total run across the entire series.

That collapse is especially alarming considering the Cubs scored 850 runs during the regular season, one of the highest totals in franchise history. They finished with a run differential of plus 147, suggesting a team closer to 95 wins than 89. Yet when October arrived, the offense evaporated. A lineup that had been explosive for six months suddenly looked lifeless, producing one run in eighteen innings.

The 2026 postseason exit is the clearest example of the disconnect between Counsell’s regular season stability and his October shortcomings. The Cubs were good enough to get in. They were not good enough to stay.

The Regular Season Shows Competence, The Postseason Shows a Ceiling

None of this means Counsell has been a failure. His teams have made the postseason in back to back years. He has stabilized the bullpen, reducing blown saves from 26 in 2024 to 19 in 2025. He has helped build a consistent contender. But the expectations changed the moment he arrived. Chicago did not hire Counsell to be good. They hired him to be great. They hired him to win the division. They hired him to win in October. They hired him to elevate a roster with legitimate star power.

The most damning statistic is also the simplest. Zero division titles. Zero National League Championship Series appearances. Three seasons.

Counsell was brought to Chicago because of his reputation as one of baseball’s best managers. Instead, the Cubs have finished second every year and have gone 4- 6 in the postseason. The regular season record shows Chicago is a good team under Counsell. The postseason record shows they are not the great team they expected to become.

My Analysis: The Cubs Must Ask the Hard Question

The Cubs now enter an offseason filled with pressure. The roster is talented. The core is strong. The 2026 team won 89 games and produced one of the best offenses in baseball. But another early playoff exit forces the organization to confront a difficult truth.

 Counsell has made the Cubs competitive. He has made them stable. He has not made them champions. And for a franchise with World Series aspirations, that distinction matters.

Should the Cubs move on from Counsell. The numbers make the question impossible to ignore.