The Chicago Cubs still had a manager under contract, but that didn't stop the club from firing him and hiring one of MLB's top managers in a surprise move.
The Cubs fired David Ross on Monday and hired Craig Counsell away from their NL Central rival Milwaukee Brewers.
To lure Counsell away from the Brewers, the Cubs emptied their wallets, making the 53-year-old the highest-paid manager in MLB history, signing him to a five-year, $40million contract.
"On behalf of the Cubs organization, we express our deep gratitude for David's contributions to our club, both on and off the field," President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer said in a release. "First as a player and then as a manager, David continually showcased his ability to lead. David’s legacy will be felt in Chicago for generations and his impact to our organization will stack up with the legends that came before him.
"Going forward, our major league team will be managed by Craig Counsell. We look forward to welcoming Craig at Wrigley Field early next week."
Counsell spent the last nine seasons managing Milwaukee, leading the franchise to five play-off berths. Prior to Counsell's arrival in Milwaukee during the 2015 season, the Brewers made a total of four play-off appearances.
The Brewers only won play-off series under Counsell, but many experts believe he is one of the smarter managers in baseball and was able to accomplish more with less for a small-market team that didn't spend a lot of money.
His contract expired at the end of this past season, and he became one of the biggest free-agent managers in recent years.
Counsell led the Brewers to three NL Central titles and went 707-625 as Milwaukee's manager, establishing franchise records for wins and games managed.
The 46-year-old Ross went 262-284 in four seasons with Chicago.
Beloved in Chicago as a member of the Cubs' 2016 World Series championship team, Ross took over as manager following the departure of Joe Maddon.
In his first season at the helm in 2020, the Cubs won the NL Central, but that marked their only play-off appearance under Ross. Chicago overachieved for much of this past season and was in position to make the playoffs before collapsing over the final few weeks.
The Brewers went on to win the 2023 NL Central title, and following the season, Counsell interviewed for the open managerial position with the Cleveland Guardians and was also being pursued by the New York Mets.
Both of those teams ended up naming new managers earlier Monday.
The Guardians hired former catcher Stephen Vogt to replace Terry Francona, while the Mets named Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza to take over for the fired Buck Showalter.
Mendoza, who turns 44 this month, spent the past four seasons as a bench coach with the Yankees and has never managed above Class A in the minors.
He becomes the fifth Mets manager since the start of the 2018 season, and takes over a club that finished fourth in the NL East in 2023 at 75-87 - 29 games behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves.
Vogt was the Seattle Mariners bullpen coach last season and has no managerial experience.
A two-time All-Star, the 39-year-old Vogt played for six teams over a 10-year MLB career before retiring in 2022.
The Guardians finished third in the AL Central in 2023, but won four division titles and made the play-offs six times during Francona's 11 years as the franchise's manager.
MLB: Padres hit 3 straight homers to back stellar Cease
Dylan Cease pitched two-hit ball into the ninth inning and Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Donovan Solano hit consecutive homers in the eighth to give San Diego Padres a 4-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
Machado homered twice for the Padres, who won two of three against the Astros and stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of Arizona and the Mets for the first NL wild card.
Cease, who threw his first career no-hitter on July 25 at Washington, took a one-hitter into the ninth before Mauricio Dubón beat out an infield single to shortstop. Cease struck out Jake Meyers but then shortstop Xander Bogaerts booted Jose Altuve's grounder for an error that allowed Dubón to take third, and that was it for the right-hander after 103 pitches.
Cease retired the first 15 Astros batters before allowing a single to right field by Jason Heyward to open the sixth. Cease then retired the side.
He struck out five and walked none before Tanner Scott got two outs for his 21st save.
Machado lined a shot to left-center off Framber Valdez, opening the sixth for his 29th home run.
Tatis, who struck out in his first three at-bats, hit reliever Kaleb Ort's first pitch into the first row in left-center leading off the eighth. Machado followed with a shot deep into the seats in left and Solano hit a liner to left.
Valdez went seven innings, allowing one run and five hits while striking out six and walking two.
Skubal wins 17th as Tigers stay hot
Tarik Skubal allowed three hits over five innings for his AL-best 17th win and the streaking Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 to move within a half game of a playoff spot with 10 games remaining.
Riley Greene hit a go-ahead home run as the Tigers won their fourth straight and ninth in the last 11 games. With the series sweep, Detroit won for the 25th time in 35 games to move within a half game of Minnesota for the third AL wild-card spot.
Skubal, who has won his last five decisions, made his case for the AL Cy Young Award stronger by matching Atlanta’s Chris Sale for the major league lead in wins and lowered his AL-leading earned run average to 2.48. He walked one and struck out seven.
Skubal had struggled against the Royals in the past, entering Wednesday with a 2-9 record and 5.05 ERA in 12 starts over 14 appearances. After allowing three hits and Yuli Gurriel’s two-out RBI single in the first inning, he threw four hitless innings.
The Royals lost their fourth straight and were swept for the first time at home this season. They remained 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the first wild-card spot and 1 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the second wild card.
Guardians rally past Twins
Brayan Rocchio singled in Andrés Giménez to cap a three-run 10th inning and lift the Cleveland Guardians to a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins, reducing their magic number for clinching a playoff berth to one.
Kyle Manzardo and Will Brennan had RBI singles off Ronny Henriquez before Michael Tonkin entered and gave up Rocchio’s second career walk-off hit, a chopper to right through a drawn-in infield.
Josh Naylor hit a pair of solo homers and scored three times for Cleveland, which leads the division by six games over Kansas City. Naylor’s first shot was a 445-foot rocket to right-center, giving him his first 30-homer season.
The Guardians, who now have a major league-leading 41 comeback victories this season, can lock up a postseason spot Thursday with a win over Minnesota.
Carlos Correa had a two-run single off Hunter Gaddis that gave the Twins a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th. Correa finished with four RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 16 games, matching his career high with Houston in 2019.
Minnesota had its lead for the final AL wild card cut to one-half game over surging Detroit.
Twins right-hander Bailey Ober struck out a career-high 12 over seven innings, but remained winless in seven starts since Aug. 9. He allowed two runs without issuing a walk.
MLB: Harper's homer lifts Phillies over Brewers in matchup of division leaders
Bryce Harper hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning to back up the strong pitching of Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders.
Nick Castellanos added a solo shot and Trea Turner added three hits to help the Phillies move closer to wrapping up the NL East title while delaying the Brewers’ NL Central championship celebration.
The Phillies lowered their magic number for clinching the NL East to four. The Brewers’ magic number dropped to one with the Chicago Cubs’ 4-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Wheeler (16-6) boosted his Cy Young Award credentials by allowing only four hits and one run in seven innings while striking out six and walking none. Wheeler, who lowered his ERA to 2.56, has given up no more than two runs in each of his last nine starts.
The score was tied at 1-all until Harper sent a 1-1 pitch from Frankie Montas over the wall in left-center for his 29th homer. Harper’s two-run shot also scored Kyle Schwarber, who led off with an infield single.
Philadelphia extended the lead to 4-1 in the seventh as Schwarber hit a ball that went off a leg of pitcher Aaron Ashby and headed into shallow right field for an RBI single after Edmundo Sosa's leadoff double.
Turner added a two-out RBI single off Enoli Paredes in the ninth.
Judge, Soto power Yankees to rout
Aaron Judge drove in four runs in his first two at-bats, Juan Soto hit his 40th homer of the season and 200th of his career, and the New York Yankees moved to the cusp of clinching a playoff berth with an 11-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.
The Yankees can clinch at worst a wild-card spot in the American League with a victory over Seattle on Wednesday. The win in the opener of New York’s six-game road trip pushed the Yankees' lead in the AL East to four games over Baltimore - their largest lead since holding a 4 1/2-game lead when play started on June 7.
Judge laced a two-run double three batters into the game and added a two-out, two-run single the next time he was up an inning later. Judge now has a league-leading 136 RBIs.
Soto joined the offensive outburst in the third inning with a two-out, two-run opposite field blast off Seattle starter Bryan Woo. It’s the first time in his career Soto has reached the 40-homer mark, and he’s now homered in all 30 parks in baseball.
Soto and Judge are the third set of Yankee teammates to each hit 40 home runs in a season, joining Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (1927, 1930, 1931), and Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris (1961).
Tigers get past Royals in extras
Parker Meadows and Riley Greene delivered RBI singles in the 10th inning and the surging Detroit Tigers continued their postseason push with a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Tyler Holton retired all six Royals he faced, striking out a pair in the ninth to force extra innings. Jason Foley took care of the Royals in the 10th, earning the save for the second straight night and 25th time this season.
Detroit remained 1 1/2 games back of Minnesota for the final AL wild-card spot. The Royals stayed 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the first wild-card spot and are 1 1/2 ahead of the Twins.
Cole Ragans allowed one run on four hits and four walks with six strikeouts over seven innings for Kansas City, and Casey Mize allowed one run on six hits and four walks while pitching into the fifth for Detroit.
MLB: Dodgers knock Braves out of playoff spot
The Los Angeles Dodgers got a three-run homer from Freddie Freeman and a combined four-hit shutout from Yoshinobu Yamamoto and four relievers to hand the Atlanta Braves a potentially costly 9-0 loss on Monday.
Making his second start following a near three-month absence caused by a strained shoulder, Yamamoto scattered four hits and two walks in four innings. The Braves didn't record a hit against Evan Phillips (4-1), Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson and Brent Honeywell the rest of the way to fall one game back of the New York Mets for the National League's final wild card.
The Mets came through with a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Starling Marte's run-scoring single in the 10th inning.
Shohei Ohtani knocked in two runs to help Los Angeles split this four-game series and move within a game of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL's best record. The superstar slugger finished 0 for 4, however, and remained at 47 home runs and 48 stolen bases as he attempts to become MLB's first 50-50 player in a season.
The Dodgers didn't get a hit off Atlanta's Max Fried until the fifth inning but still managed to manufacture a run following a lead-off walk to Miguel Rojas in the third. Rojas advanced to second on a groundout, stole third and scored when Fried uncorked a wild pitch.
Tommy Edman collected Los Angeles' initial hit with a ground-rule double to begin the fifth and scored on Rojas' single. After a hit batter and a fly ball advanced Rojas to third, he came home on Ohtani's fielder's choice grounder for a 3-0 advantage.
Fried (9-10) yielded just two hits and struck out seven in six innings despite being touched for three runs.
The Dodgers put the game away with a six-run seventh inning capped by the ex-Brave fan favourite Freeman's opposite-field homer.
After three walks by Atlanta reliever Daysbel Hernandez loaded the bases, Ohtani reached on a fielder's choice that plated Rojas for a 4-0 cushion. Mookie Betts brought in another run with a sacrifice fly and Teoscar Hernandez delivered an RBI single in front of Freeman's blast.
Brewers trim magic number to two with win over Phillies
William Contreras and Joey Ortiz each drove in two runs to back a solid start from Aaron Civale as the Milwaukee Brewers moved closer to capturing the NL Central with a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Brewers' fourth victory in five games reduced their magic number to two to claim their third division title in four years. Milwaukee also closed within three games of the NL-leading Phillies in the standings.
Civale (5-2) scattered seven hits and struck out six while limiting Philadelphia to one run in five-plus innings. Colin Rea closed out the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings to notch his first career MLB save.
Contreras gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead with a third-inning double off Ranger Suarez that brought in Jackson Chourio and Blake Perkins, who reached via a walk and single, respectively.
The Brewers extended the margin in the fourth when ex-Phil Rhys Hoskins walked, advanced to third on Sal Frelick's double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ortiz.
Suarez (12-7) lasted five innings and allowed three runs despite giving up just four hits and fanning five.
Brandon Marsh homered in the fifth for the Phillies' lone run off Civale, but Milwaukee scored twice in the sixth to increase their lead further.
Ortiz knocked in Frelick with a triple to put the Brewers up 4-1 before crossing the plate on Brice Turang's single.
Philadelphia got a run back in the top of the seventh when Bryson Stott singled and later scored on Kyle Schwarber's two-out single. The Brewers countered in their half of the inning, however, when Perkins singled and stole two bases before coming home on Gary Sanchez's sac fly.
Manzardo's homer lifts Guardians over Twins
Kyle Manzardo's go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning rallied the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a key four-game series between American League Central contenders.
Cleveland overcame an early 3-0 deficit to earn its MLB-leading 40th comeback victory of the season, which increased the Guardians' lead atop the AL Central to five games over Kansas City.
The Royals were handed a 7-6 loss by the charging Detroit Tigers, who closed within 1 1/2 games of struggling Minnesota for the AL's final wild card. The Twins have lost seven of 10 and are 9-18 since Aug. 18.
Minnesota was clinging to a 3-2 lead when Josh Naylor led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off Twins reliever Griffin Jax. Two batters later, Manzardo clubbed the first pitch he saw from Jax into the right field seats to put the Guardians ahead.
Emmanuel Clase then retired the side in order in the ninth to record his 46th save, tying a Cleveland franchise season record.
The Twins got all of their runs in the third inning after loading the bases with one out on a Carlos Correa double and two walks issued by Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd. Correa scored the game's first run on a passed ball by Guardians' catcher Bo Naylor, and Byron Buxton knocked in two more with a single for a 3-0 advantage.
Minnesota's Pablo Lopez held Cleveland scoreless until the fifth, when he hit Brayan Rocchio with a pitch and allowed a double to Angel Martinez. Andres Gimenez followed with a single to drive in the Guardians' first run.
Lopez issued two walks around a Will Brennan single to allow Cleveland to inch closer in the seventh on Martinez's bases-loaded single which brought in Manzardo.
Martinez finished 3 for 4, while Brennan and Jose Ramirez each had two hits for the Guardians.
Lopez pitched 6 1/3 innings and permitted two runs on eight hits.
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