Let's get right to it.
The Cubs have run-scoring issues. They can not simply throw money at the problem, at least not in the usual ways. This does not mean they don't have options, however.
That seems right. The Cubs will have to get creative this off-season to fix a putrid offense. They're old, expensive and have nothing in the system right now. I'm with you, kind sir. What's an option?
One of them may be to fill their vacancy for a hitting coach with the best guy in that position, Rudy Jaramillo. If the Rangers allow him to become a free agent when his contract ends at the end of the month, as it appears they might, the Cubs should go above the usual hitting coach pay scale to bring him to Wrigley Field.
A hitting coach? Really. That's an answer?
Fine. I'll bite. Why is Rudy Jaramillo such a good hitting coach - please tell me because I'm dyyyyiiiinnnnngggg to know?
Jaramillo is the absolute perfect man for the Cubs' situation.
I think a Red Rider BB gun is the perfect Christmas present. I don't think a football is a very good Christmas present.
He has worked successfully in the past with both Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley...
Soriano's average for the three-year period before Texas in New York: .287/.326/.506 for an OPS + of 116 in a less hitter-friendly park than Arlington.
Soriano's averages in Texas: .274/.316/.498 for an OPS + of 105 during his prime hitting ages of 28 and 29.
Year after leaving Texas for Washington: .277/.351/.560 for an OPS + of 135.
Just saying. Jaramillo's probably a good hitting coach - if that matters to you - but Phil's gonna have to tell me why first.
...the latter of whom is no guarantee to be eliminated over the offseason (unless general manager Jim Hendry releases him at a cost of $21 million). And he is well acquainted with manager Lou Piniella from the years Piniella spent in Seattle and Tampa.
BULLSHIT! Milton will not be a Cub next year and I'll bet a box of Pudding Pops on that. If you know me, I'm sure you gasped...because that's like promising my first-born child.
This marriage should be a slam dunk, even if the Cubs offend other teams by paying Jaramillo at a premium.
Why is it a slam dunk? Because he coached Soriano and Pinella was in the opposing dugout a few times a year?
The Rangers have paid heavily in the past for coaches, digging deep to keep Jaramillo when his last contract expired and then reportedly giving Mike Maddux an extra $100,000 to convince him to leave the Brewers last winter. If you don't think coaches can make a difference, then you didn't notice how much the Rangers' pitching improved this season while the Brewers' declined.
WHHAAAA???
Maddux had Sabathia and a healthy Ben Sheets in 2008! This year, the Brewers had Gallardo and four Price Is Right contestants. Yes. Allllll Maddux. Cripes! You wrote an entire column talking about this very fact just three months ago!
Jaramillo is the same kind of difference-maker. He has spent 19 seasons as a major league hitting coach with the Rangers and Astros, and his teams always have been near the top in run production. As a minor league hitting coach, he worked with players such as Sammy Sosa, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez, and he was an influence on Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell in Houston.
Sosa - juiced
Gonzalez - juiced
Rodriguez - juiced
Biggio - not juiced
Bagwell - juiced
4 for 5! He is a good hitting coach!
Phil on Sosa after the shocking steroid revelation:
Why include this? Steroids were rampant on the Texas Rangers for years. Heck, Canseco's book focused extensively on his time in Texas. I'm not blaming Jaramillo but sounds like a lot of people turned a blind eye down there and Jaramillo, being a hitting coach, pretty much was one of them.
He helped Mark Teixeira establish himself as a presence in Texas...
What the hell does that mean? And Teixeira was a sure thing right out of college.
played a role in Josh Hamilton's late-arriving success...
Played a role? Huh? He was Cincinnati's reclamation project in so many ways. His numbers in Cincy extrapolated out to a full season are identical to his numbers in Texas last year.
...and made Ian Kinsler and Michael Young better hitters.
How? Tell. Me. How!
Under Jaramillo, Rangers players have won 16 Silver Slugger awards and four MVPs.
Six Silver Slugger Awards were from Ivan Rodriguez at the notoriously hitter-challenged position of catcher...and a juicer. Five were from Juan Gonzalez...also a juicer.
I can keep going.
Four MVPs? Two from Juan Gonzalez and one each from Ivan and Alex Rodriguez.
All together now!! J-U-I-C-E-R-S!
"Rudy is unbelievably good," Alex Rodriguez said. "He understands hitting, how to work with all kinds of hitters, and he busts his butt to get the best from hitters. He helped me get better when I was in Texas, sometimes making me work when I wouldn't have if he hadn't been on me. I've seen him do it with other guys too."
Ya know.
Can the Cubs get Jaramillo? Not if he decides he's too comfortable in Texas. If he decides to leave, the primitive work conditions at Wrigley could become an issue. So, too, could the question of what happens if Piniella leaves after 2010 and the next manager wants to bring in his own guy.
Mets and Astros are reportedly in on Jaramillo. He's coached in Houston, lives three hours away from Houston right now, Pinella IS leaving after 2010 meaning his future could be entirely up in the air after one only year and the Cubs just fired two hitting coaches in one season so we know what heads roll when the heat is on over at Addison and Clark. Shitty working conditions are the icing. Have you heard the stories about the batting cages under the stands at Wrigley? Rats as big as a pick!
Sounds like the absolute perfect fit to me!
But Hendry should do everything he can to answer any questions Jaramillo has. He would be the best thing to happen to the Cubs since the Derrek Lee trade.
If hiring a hitting coach would be the best thing to happen in six years for any team (and I'm including the Pirates here), your team has bigger issues than I initially thought.
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