Cubs' Jed Hoyer - Hard to fire David Ross but Craig Counsell hire right move - ESPN

PHOENIX — While Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said firing David Ross was a «very hard decision,» he called the move to bring Craig Counsell on board «the best thing for the fan base.»

Hoyer, speaking at the general managers meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Tuesday, said the idea began to grow on him last month as Counsell was entertaining offers elsewhere — including returning to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs swept in as soon as his contract with Milwaukee ran out Oct. 31, signing him to a five-year, $40 million deal, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan.

«It just felt like an exceptionally hard decision but one that I felt like I had to make if the opportunity was there,» Hoyer said. «My job is to figure out how to win as many games as we can in the short term and the long term, and there was nothing about this move that I felt like didn't meet that criteria.»

Hoyer indicated the circle was very small as the team explored the possibility of replacing Ross with Counsell. Only a few members of the organization even knew it was a possibility, including owner Tom Ricketts. The Cubs made the same kind of move a decade ago when they hired Joe Maddon to replace Rick Renteria but Ross was a much bigger part of the organization than Renteria ever was. He helped the team to a World Series victory as a player in 2016, then was handpicked to replace Maddon in 2019.

Now he's suddenly gone despite an 83-win season.

«This is no knock on Rossy, who I think incredibly highly of, but Craig is at the very top of the game,» Hoyer said. «It's hard to rank managers but he's at the top of the game.»

Hoyer's appreciation of Counsell began around 2017 as the Cubs battled the lesser-manned Brewers for the NL Central