Brewers' Murphy and Cubs' Counsell say they've remained friends even while managing division rivals

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy and the Chicago Cubs’ Craig Counsell have a friendship that goes back well over three decades. That wasn’t going to end now that they’re managing NL Central rivals.

“I’m sure all of you have great friends in the world, people that you’ve been associated with for many, many years in different way,” Murphy said Friday before the Brewers lost 10-0 to the Cubs in the season's first matchup between the teams. “Maybe the relationship changed a little bit. Maybe you used to live in the same town. Maybe now you don’t. But your really, really true friends, you don’t have to call them on the phone every night and say, ‘What happened last night? What did he say? Or what did he say?’

“Craig and I will be close forever. I respect him. I love him. I love his family.”

Counsell and Murphy had worked together in some capacity for much of the last 35 years or so before Counsell left his job as Milwaukee’s manager to become the Cubs’ skipper after the 2023 season. Murphy, a key part of Counsell’s staff in Milwaukee, was promoted to Brewers’ manager.

Their relationship started long before either reached the big leagues.

Counsell played college baseball on Notre Dame teams coached by Murphy from 1989-92. When Counsell was hired as the Brewers’ manager after the 2015 season, he made Murphy his bench coach.

They saw each other just about every day for most of the next eight seasons. Now that they’re working for different teams, they naturally don’t talk as often.

Nor can they confide in each other the way they could while working on the same staff.

“It’s changed in that we’re competitors instead of teammates, so I think during competitive times, (the relationship is) different,” Counsell said. “It’s stayed the same in kind of when we’re off game time, we’re friends.”

That friendship continues even as they work for rivals.

“I know people would love to have us get in a fight and have a back-and-forth between the Cubs and us – fights and all that kind of (stuff),” Murphy said. “Maybe that will happen, but we’ll still always be friends. He’s done a lot for my life, and I’m very grateful for the friendship.”

Counsell’s decision to leave the Brewers enabled Murphy to get his first MLB manager opportunity since 2015, when he led San Diego on an interim basis. Murphy responded by leading the Brewers to a second straight NL Central title and becoming the Milwaukee's first NL Manager of the Year.

“I’m happy for his success,” Counsell said. “That’s first and foremost. You’re happy your good friend has tremendous success. We’re obviously competitors. His wins don’t always bode good for me or for us. You’re still happy for his success.”

So far this season, Counsell has had more success. The Cubs' blowout win Friday enabled them to maintain their two-game lead over Cincinnati in the NL Central. The Brewers are in third place, four games behind the Cubs.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, left, and Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell, right, exchange lineups with umpire Jansen Visconti, center, before a baseball game Friday, May 2, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy watches from the dugout during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy looks down as he walks back to the dugout after inserting relief pitcher Craig Yoho for starting pitcher Chad Patrick during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)