Brewers: 3 Good Things That Happened To The Crew In 2020

2020 was a rough year for pretty much everybody, including the Brewers. But there were some good things that happened.

It may be tough to think of the good things that happened this year, involving the Brewers or otherwise, because all the bad of this year overshadows it. However, it’s important to remember the good and point out that not everything is all bad.

We had about two months or so prior to the pandemic shutting things down where everything was normal and it almost feels like that what happened in January and February wasn’t even this year. It’s hard to believe, but yes, there was a point in 2020 where we could have big social gatherings with no worries in the world.

Remember Brewers On Deck? That was in 2020, with thousands of Brewers fans packed into the Wisconsin Center to see Ryan Braun, Christian Yelich, and all of our favorite Brewers players.

Let’s focus on the good for right now as 2020 finally comes to an end. Here are three good things that happened involving the Brewers this year.

1. Counsell Extended, Arnold Promoted

Something that fans may have forgotten about that happened earlier this year was that manager Craig Counsell signed a contract extension through 2023. He’s already the longest-tenured manager in the National League and he’s going to be the guy going forward.

Since being installed as manager in 2015, Counsell has helped lead a quick turnaround of the franchise, leading the Crew to better-than-expected performances each of his first couple of seasons.

Counsell’s management of the pitching staff and use of matchups in the lineup has pushed him into recognition as one of the best managers in baseball. He consistently gets the most out of the talent he has on the roster and his ability to use analytics and still be a “player’s manager” and relate to his players and blend his game experience and gut feelings with the analytics is top-notch.

Managing the Brewers is essentially Counsell’s dream job and he gets to continue doing it for years to come.

Also sticking around is Matt Arnold, moving from Assistant GM up to General Manager. He’s been David Stearns’ right-hand man for the past five years and other teams were interviewing him for their GM openings and the Brewers were at risk of losing a key member of their front office.

Instead, the Brewers promoted Arnold, giving him a new title, and likely an extended contract and pay raise, although the Brewers don’t publicly announce the contract details of front office executives.

Keeping the continuity of the front office, which has been so successful over the past few years, and keeping continuity in the manager’s chair are two very good things for the organization that happened in 2020.