Craig Counsell failed in his bid to become the Milwaukee Brewers' first manager of the year, losing to Atlanta's Brian Snitker in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America for the 2018 season announced Tuesday.

Counsell, who grew up in Whitefish Bay and still resides there, was named manager of the Brewers one month into the 2015 season after the team stumbled to a 7-18 record under Ron Roenicke.

The decision was made to strip down the major-league roster and undergo a complete organizational rebuild, and Counsell, who had been an adviser to then-general manager Doug Melvin, was entrusted to oversee that process on the field.

General manager David Stearns, hired at the end of the ’15 season, and principal owner Mark Attanasio decided to push the rebuilding process forward to postseason mode and acquired outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich, the favorite to win the 2018 MVP Award on Thursday.

Counsell, who had no previous managerial experience prior to taking over the Brewers, signed a three-year contract extension through the 2020 season in November 2016.

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