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.

That's because the Brewers officially qualified for the 2024 postseason with a Wednesday afternoon loss by Craig Counsell's Chicago Cubs. That's the same Craig Counsell from Whitefish Bay who left the Brewers last fall after managing the team for nine seasons for the rival Cubs.