It’s almost a full day later and I still can’t get over how Jed Hoyer went full Mission: Impossible to land Craig Counsell without anyone outside the organization knowing. Or, given Counsell’s moderately nerdy appearance, perhaps we should dub this operation Zero Dork Thirty. Even more impressive than the whirlwind courtship itself is that the deal was done on Sunday morning and nothing leaked. That comes from an excellent piece of reporting by Sahadev Sharma, who laid out the details for The Athletic.
Hoyer did all his own stunts, reaching out to set up a clandestine meeting with Counsell well removed from the Cubs office building.