Closing in on Jaramillo?
Cubs GM Jim Hendry always plays it close to the vest on moves involving people under contract to other organizations, so it's not surprising he would neither confirm nor deny today that he has spoken to hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, who remains under contract to the Texas Rangers through Oct. 31.
It is believed Hendry and Jaramillo have talked and that Jaramillo is far and away Hendry's No. 1 candidate to fill the Cubs' vacancy at hitting coach. (The Rangers have granted permission to other teams to talk with Jaramillo, who this week turned down a one-year contract to stay in Texas.)
Hendry has been a big admirer of Jaramillo, 59. The Rangers and Cubs suffered similar fates offensively this year, falling from the top spots in their respective leagues in several key offenisve categories to middle of the pack.
Rangers president Nolan Ryan bemoaned the Rangers' high strikeout and low walk totals of this year. The sabermetrically inclined view strikeouts as often no worse than any other type of out and certainly preferable to a batter grounding into a double play and making two outs in 1 at-bat. The Cubs, who were accused of being slow on the sabermetrics uptake, agree nowadays with the sabermetricians on strikeouts. They also do not assign blame for the Rangers' offensive fall-off to the hitting coach.
All that said, my guess is that the Cubs and Jaramillo get something done in the coming days. They feel that would get their off-season off to a good start.
Along those lines, I'd caution against drawing the conclusion that a potential Jaramillo hire means that the Cubs will reconcile with Milton Bradley because Jaramillo and Bradley had a good rapport in Texas in 2008. The Cubs are still discussing a possible Bradley trade with more than one team, but a deal does not appear imminent.
Bruce - I just read that the Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima opted out of his contract so hea could return to Japan leaving $13 million on the table. Got me thinking about Fukudome. Is he happy here? Any indications that he would want to return to Japan ealier than his current contract?
There was no indication Fukudome was unhappy here. I don't see him heading home early.
Just wondering if there is a potential dark horse out there for Bradley beyond some of the rumored teams. There has been varying degrees of rumor mongering involving Bradley and these teams: Texas, KC, Toronto, Tampa, Seattle, Mets, San Diego and San Francisco. 90% of this was probably idle speculation.
Hadn't heard Arizona's name come up. They need a bat, and it's a fairly low key place to play supposedly. Do the D-backs have any bad contracts? Eric Byrnes maybe?
Hoops
You could very well be right about a darkhorse team, but I don't think it's Arizona. They will probably cut Byrnes because they like their other OFers more (Upton, Young, Jackson, Parra). If they add a bat it will be at 1B or 2B.
Forgot about all those OFs on Arizona.
Detroit desperately wants to move Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis. Together those 2 would cost $22 million in 2010, but nothing in 2011. And Bradley has $21 million left over 2 years. Total money is the same. Cubs would need more payroll in 2010, but less in 2011. That's a Ricketts question. But that sounds like a Hundley for Grudzielanek and Karros move.
I think you leave Dontrelle in the minors and call him up only in an emergency/desperate situation. But acquiring Robertson would allow Hendry to trade Sean Marshall as part of a package to Colorado for Brad Hawpe.
Bruce,
Can you tell us what is to become of the Cubs walking wounded this off season?
Rest, Physical Therapy, or Knife
Lilly's Shoulder?
Ramirez Shoulder?
Angels Arm?
Alfonzo's Knee?
Derek's Neck?
Also do you think that it's been made mandatory for Soto and Z have to reduce body fat and strengthen their core before spring training?
Thank you
Rest and various degrees of therapy for all. There have been no plans for surgery or additonal surgery for any of the aforementioned. I don't know if there are specific numbers you can put on anybody as far as body fat goes. The Cubs say Soto came to camp fine last year and put on weight during the WBC. Zambrano will spend a large part of this off-season in Chicago, and I'm sure the Cubs will keep an eye on him.
Bruce, your note of caution on Bradley/Rudy seems to me to be of a different tone than previous posts where you indicated it was all but a foregone conclusion that Bradley would ultimately be dealt. Have you sensed any sort of "cooling of the heads" since the suspension? I really think it would be a bad idea to deal Bradley unless they get serious talent back and don't pick up the check. Bradley may be a jerk, but it wasn't his jerkiness that caused Soriano to fall off a cliff, which was ultimately the biggest reason this team failed.
I still think it would be awfully hard to bring Bradley back into that locker room. I've covered sports for 30 years. The one thing I had always noticed was that if athletes thought the media were "ganging up" on one of their own, they'd rally to that athlete's defense. That didn't happen in St. Louis with Bradley. It was almost like being in a bakery with players taking numbers to talk to us about how glad they were that Hendry made the decision he made. If Hendry can create the market, as I've mentioned, they might be able to salvage something. Soriano fell off, as did Fontenot and Soto. And missing Ramirez for two months hurt as much as anything. In a vacuum, you might be right about Bradley's "jerkiness," but I just don't see a positive environment with Bradley back. I'm sure that has little effect on numbers, but the Cubs seem not to want the distraction and potential problems.
Good news on the Jaramillo front.
Any indication yet how bad/good the Cubs will likely come out in a Bradley trade? I hope that they don't simply give him away to another team.
I'm told two or three teams are interested. If Hendry can create a market, he can get something back, and maybe the financial hit won't be as bad as it could be. I don't expect any action on this immediately.
I'd guess there's a move no later than mid-November. That will allow him to go to Winter and GM Meetings with knowledge of what he has to spend.
Has Hendry or anyone else mentioned how the success of Castro in the AFL will drive any 2B moves for 2010?
They have not talked about that. Castro has had one full year of advanced minor-league ball, and a lot of guys do well in the Fall League. My guess is the Cubs will invite Castro to spring training but bring him along carefully.
Any chance that Hendry feels that Jaramillo would make the Cubs a preferred destination for some free agent bats? I hear about players wanting to play for Joe Torre all the time but do players lean towards hitting coaches sometimes? Shot in the dark there.
I don't know how much stock to put into that thinking. I remember Dusty going to be the Pied Piper because everybody wanted to play for him. Guys usually go where the money is and talk a good game about the rest of the stuff.
Man, you shot that down quick. That was about the only positive I was hoping to get out of this possible signing.
My hopes now rely on Alan Trammell becoming the next Cubs manager after Lou retires.