Former Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell (53, pictured) is moving to the Chicago Cubs in what could be the biggest payday for a manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.

The Cubs announced on Sunday that they have fired manager David Ross, 46, and signed Counsell to a five-year, $40 million contract. Under Counsell's leadership, Milwaukee won the National League Central this year, while the Cubs finished second in the division and missed the postseason.

The five-year, $8 million average annual contract for Counsell, who joins a division rival, exceeds the $7.5 million that former manager Joe Torre, 83, received in the mid-2000s for managing the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Known for his batting-ready stance of raising his hands high above his head, Council's highest salary as a player was $3.6 million in 2004.

Council, who took over as Milwaukee's manager during the 2015 season, has won 707 games (605 losses) in the nine years leading up to this year. He is the winningest manager in the history of Milwaukee, MLB's representative "small market team. He has led the team to the postseason five times in that span. Milwaukee, which was founded in 1969, had only made the postseason three times in the 46 years prior to Counsell's arrival.

After his contract with Milwaukee expired at the end of this season, he was approached by several teams. He even interviewed with the New York Mets and Cleveland. Milwaukee tried to keep him, offering an average of $5 million per year, the most for an active manager, but he chose a new challenge with the Cubs, a "big market" team. He will hold his introductory press conference at Wrigley Field next week. 19가이드03