When the Chicago Cubs made Craig Counsell the highest-paid manager in baseball history, thus pilfering the leader of the rival Milwaukee Brewers in the process, this is not the end result the front office had in mind.

The Milwaukee Brewers have done it. Despite going through plenty of changes both on an organizational-level and in the big-league roster this past offseason, the Brewers have secured the NL Central crown on Wednesday by virtue of a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and a 5-3 loss for the Chicago Cubs.

It's been a tough year for Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell. After nine seasons of managing the Milwaukee Brewers, Counsell left the Brewers last offseason to a sign a five-year, $40 million contract with the Cubs,