for the success of a certain man whose last name loosely translates to “Of the Rose.” Could they be a package deal to come to Chicago?

Giving credit where credit is due, the idea is a good one. But, naturally, there are at least a couple things about Rogers’ article that bother me:

Jaramillo is the absolute perfect man for the Cubs’ situation. He has worked successfully in the past with both Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley, 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).

OK, maybe it’s not guaranteed that Milton will be gone. But to even imply otherwise strikes me as evidence that, as usual, Rogers is simply not all the way in the loop.

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.

This strikes me as a ridiculous overstatement and blatant attempt to oversell his idea (which, again, is a fine one as long as it’s stated reasonably).

Hitting coach: Throw some more mad money at Rudy Jarmillo (sp?), Texas’ hitting coach. His contract runs out at the end of this year. I’m confident he could keep this offense from slipping into a coma for weeks at a time.

From

Linky

I think Tracy made the right decision there. It just didn’t work.

and I really would not want a guy who maybe a genius at hitting instruction but no real history at anything else.

Of course he has been at the top of my Christmas list for a while. Too bad his fellow pitching coach is under contract for another season.

The point is to have him here as a hitting coach, not as a manager. We have no idea how he is as a manager and handler of pitching, but more importantly, the reason to bring him in is so he can focus on helping the offense. Its certainly nice to have a manager who can help improve players in certain aspects of the game, but you bring in a guy like Jaramillo so he can exclusively focus on batters.

Jaramillo is often recognized as one of the best, if not the best batting coaches in the game. If he were to hit the open market he likely could have his pick of jobs. That aside, him leaving Texas and the offensive haven that it is could expose him like Leo Mazzone got exposed when he left Atlanta.

" A good man always knows his limitations…"

I’m sure there are many other examples in the baseball world, but my favorite is Ray Miller, pitching coach extraordinaire. He pretty much failed as a manager (Twins, Orioles; 266-297) but I would take him in a heartbeat as a pitching coach for the Cubs. He had three simple rules: Work fast, throw strikes, change speeds.

My guess is Rudy is happy as a hitting coach – he knows he’s good at it, and as long as he’s well-compensated, why deal with all the extra grief of being in charge?

he can’t make our hitters worse, hopefully he’s a Cub before the weekend

Dallas Morning-News.

I posted my dream of getting him a few months ago but I did not see him leaving the Rangers. Obviously he will have offers but I have to think most big budget teams have already committed to their hitting coaches. You have to offer him a multi year deal but it money probably better spent than on another bench player.

Coaches are that. Coaches. They can help you see things you don’t recognize and encourage you to stop staring at those you shouldn’t be looking at. But in the end, the man who puts it together is the guy at the plate. The batter in the box. The guy facing the pitcher. You either do or you don’t. Ted Williams once said that "there’s only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher. .. “Think. Don’t just swing. Think about the pitcher, what he threw you last time up, his best pitch, who’s up next. Think.”"

In other words, the batter had better cowboy up and while paying attention to the hurler, deal with the only man who can make it happen .. HISSELF.

I also wonder what Ted might say about coaches after he said that “all managers are losers, they are the most expendable pieces of furniture on the face of the Earth.” Dang. I wish I’d never given my book by Ted Williams on hitting that had full spread pictures of him to my kid brother when I joined the Navy. Man, I’d like to read more what he had to say.

This is why I think Phil Rogers is way overselling this idea. That said, getting Jaramillo would still be nice.

I’d prefer not to bring that up. Still hurts, even now.