Report: Brewers to name bench coach Pat Murphy as next manager

The Milwaukee Brewers are reportedly sticking in-house to replace Craig Counsell.

The Brewers are planning to name bench coach Pat Murphy as their next manager, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Murphy has been with the Brewers since 2015, and had been seriously considered to replace Counsell in recent days.

The job will mark Murphy's first full-time managerial gig in the big leagues, though he's served in the role in an interim capacity, at the minor league levels and at multiple spots at the collegiate level.

Counsell made a surprise move and left the Brewers for the Chicago Cubs earlier this month after the Cubs split with David Ross. Counsell played six seasons with the Brewers before working in various front-office and analyst roles with the organization. He was hired as their manager in 2015, and led them to the playoffs in five of the past six seasons.

Murphy joined the Brewers when Counsell was hired. He spent 96 games as the San Diego Padres’ interim manager in 2015 after the franchise fired Bud Black in the middle of the season and spent time managing their rookie league and Class AAA affiliates. Murphy, who turns 65 later this month, was also Counsell’s coach at Notre Dame.

Now, the two will be rivals in the NL Central.

Murphy will have much of his coaching staff back with him next spring, which should make his transition into the top job easier. Murphy, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, was the only assistant coach who had yet to sign a new deal after Counsell's departure.

The Brewers went 92-70 last year and won the division for the second time in the past three seasons. They fell in the wild-card round of the playoffs to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who made it to the World Series before losing to the Texas Rangers.