Craig John Counsell (born August 21, 1970) is an American former professional baseball infielder and active manager for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was previously the manager for the Milwaukee Brewers and holds the Brewers’ franchise record for managerial wins. He led the team to five post-season appearances, winning one playoff series. After joining the Cubs he led them to a playoff run in the 2025 season.

Counsell was an infielder who played 16 seasons in MLB for five teams, and was known for his unique batting stance. He won the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins, batting in the tying run and scoring the winning run. He was named the NLCS Most Valuable Player in 2001, and was on-base for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they subsequently won the World Series.

Counsell was born in South Bend, Indiana. He grew up in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and attended Whitefish Bay High School, where he played baseball. His father, John, worked for the Milwaukee Brewers as their director of the speakers bureau and community relations. Counsell attended the University of Notre Dame, where he played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team. He was an infielder for the Irish, with a career batting average of .306, 204 runs, 166 RBI, 50 doubles and twice as many walks (166) as strikeouts (82), graduating in 1992.

The Colorado Rockies selected Craig Counsell in the 11th round of the 1992 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with the Rockies on September 17, 1995, appearing in only three games that season. In July 1997, the Rockies traded Counsell to the Florida Marlins for relief pitcher Mark Hutton. Counsell quickly became the Marlins’ starting second baseman and played a pivotal role in their 1997 World Series victory, a 4–3 series win over the Cleveland Indians. In Game 7, he drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th inning and scored the winning run on Édgar Rentería's walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning.

In June 1999, the Marlins traded Counsell to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later (minor leaguer Ryan Moskau). The Dodgers released Counsell during 2000 spring training, and he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His stay with the Diamondbacks lasted four years. Counsell batted 8-for-21 (.381) with 4 runs batted in (RBIs) and 5 runs in the 2001 National League Championship Series (NLCS), and won the NLCS Most Valuable Player Award. He was hit by a pitch by Mariano Rivera to load the bases for Luis Gonzalez in the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, after which Gonzalez drove in the winning run for the Diamondbacks, a bloop single over the drawn-in infield.

After the 2003 season, the Diamondbacks traded Counsell to the Milwaukee Brewers, with Chris Capuano, Chad Moeller, Lyle Overbay, Jorge de la Rosa, and Junior Spivey, for Richie Sexson, Shane Nance, and a player to be named later (minor leaguer Noochie Varner). With the Brewers, Counsell started at shortstop in 2004. After one season with the Brewers, Counsell returned to the Diamondbacks as a free agent for two more seasons.

Counsell returned to the Brewers as a free agent for 2007 and filled the role of utility infielder. He recorded his 1,000th career hit on August 16, 2008, against Derek Lowe of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2011, he was the fourth-oldest player in the National League, and had the second-best career fielding percentage of all active second basemen (.991). In 2009, Counsell gained more regular playing time due to injuries and inconsistent play from other Brewers players, and had a .285 batting average, along with 8 triples, finishing in the top 10 in the National League in the latter category.

In 2010, Counsell was chosen as the 13th-smartest athlete in sports by Sporting News.