Alert Jim Hendry: Rudy Jaramillo (Not A Dozen Glazed Donuts) Is The Must-Have Item This Off-Season

The Cubs gave their bats a lot of stupid looks throughout the course of the 2009 season.

The Chicago Cubs dismissed hitting instructor Von Joshua, who proved to be the most meaningless mid-season acquisition in the history, on Sunday.  On Monday, the chatter of Ryne Sandberg possibly replacing him began, but was shot down shortly thereafter.

Remember when I questioned the vastly popular idea that Dave Duncan could cure cancer whatever ails the Cubs' pitching staff?  Yeah, that was fun.  And while Dave Kaplan and Bob Verdi think that Duncan and Tony La Russa are basesball's top free agents, they totally are overlooking the guy that could help fix the Cubs' biggest problem.

Mark DeRosa was one of Rudy Jaramillo's star pupils in Texas. OMG! Mark DeRosa!

 
Texas Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo's contract expires after the season, and T.R. Sullivan suggests he could be highly sought after if and when he hits the open market.  If Jaramillo does not return to the Rangers in 2010, the Cubs should quickly scoop him up, bring him in and sit him down with the team's hitters.

I know the Cubs have already interviewed minor league hitting instructor Dave Keller for the position, but if the Cubs look at the production it has gotten from its minor leaguers that have made it to the big show, they might want to reconsider giving Keller a similar promotion.

Jaramillo is one of baseball's most respected hitting gurus, yet it was a down year in Texas.  The Rangers struck out a club record 1,253 times, had a team OBP of .320 and hit a collective .260, but at the same time, Jaramillo oversaw an offense that scored 782 runs and posted a .764 OPS.  Compare that with the Cubs, who scored 707 runs and posted a .738 OPS only one season after being among the league leaders in each of those categories.

By the way 782 runs and .764 OPS would have ranked fourth in the National League.  For the record, the Cubs ranked 10th in both categories in 2009.

Jaramillo comes highly acclaimed and has been credited for the hitting success of Jeff Bagwell, Juan Gonzalez, Pudge Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Michael Young and ... wait for it ... Mark DeRosa.

DeRosa was a .246 hitter before busting out in a big way under Jaramillo's watch in 2006.  That season, DeRosa set career highs in home runs, runs batted in, doubles, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases.  It was a career year for DeRosa, who flipped that into a three-year deal with the Cubs.

You guys know the rest of the story after that.

Heck, even Alfonso Soriano posted an .814 OPS and 64 dingers in his two years under Jaramillo in Texas.

Another reclamation project Jaramillo helped transform was ... oh the suspense is killing me ... Milton Bradley.  Crazy Uncle Milton had himself quite a one-year career in Texas, posting a .321/.436/563/.999 line with 22 HRs, 32 doubles and 77 ribbies.  Like DeRosa, Bradley parlayed that success into a three-year contract with the Cubs.

That story didn't end so well, I guess.

First baseman Derrek Lee suggested the Cubs didn't need to do much tweaking in the offseason, especially if the team could get a full, healthy season out of third baseman Aramis Ramirez while returning Geovany Soto and Alfonso Soriano back to their 2008 form.  If there is anyone that could do it, Jaramillo would be the guy.

But, you know, a good lead-off hitter and a true run producer wouldn't be bad additions, either.

Cubs Interested In Shipping Zambrano? Here's Your Irresponsible Blogger-Turned-GM Post Of The Day!

The story of the day in Chicago baseball was the Cubs' 2-0 win against the Milwaukee Brewers.  The win would have meant something a year ago at this time as the Cubs and Brew Crew were duking it out for NL Central supremacy.  Right now, the Cubs' biggest battles are against themselves and mediocrity.

And now we bring you to the buried lead in the story brought to you by Chicago Tribune Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan:

Now that Hendry is assured of returning in 2010, he'll have to decide which players to bring back. Dempster, who signed a four-year, $52 million deal last winter, is assured of returning. [Carlos] Zambrano, who signed a five-year, $91.5 million deal in August 2007, is not.

Despite the fact that Zambrano has a full no-trade clause, the Cubs plan on shopping him this off-season, sources said, believing he'll waive the clause to go to the right team, as Jake Peavy eventually did when the Padres consummated a deal this summer with the White Sox.

According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Carlos Zambrano has $53.75 million coming his way from 2010-12, with a vesting option worth $19.25 million in 2014.

Let the record show that despite a mediocre season by Zambrano (8-6, 3.77 ERA), pitching has not been the Cubs' downfall.  The North Side staff ranks in the top-5 in strikeouts, ERA+, WHIP, H/9 and K/9.  But with a weak free agent market awaiting, now might be the best time to move Big Z.

But where?


NEW YORK METS

The Metropolitans might be the ideal landing spot for the beleaguered Cubs ace.  Big city, bright lights and the opportunity to be a hitter are probably things Zambrano would look for in a new team.  New York's "other" team provides all that.  Adding Zambrano would also fall in line with Omar Minaya's blueprint of creating a Latino baseball All-Star team in the NYC.

The Cubs could go one of two routes here.  They could opt to go for the home run and try to acquire the equally beleaguered Jose Reyes.  The shortstop has been bothered by injuries this year and rumors have already been floated that he could be moved.  Adding Reyes would improve the Cubs in a variety of ways.  It would move him immediately into the lead-off role, while pushing Ryan Theriot to second base.  For this to happen, the Cubs would likely have to eat a huge chunk of his salary.

Another option would be swapping bad contracts with the Metros, which would ideally send center fielder Carlos Beltran to Chicago.  As it stands now, the Cubs have a right fielder playing center, and adding Beltran (who makes $37 million over the next two years) makes a lot of sense as well.  Beltran is a career .392 hitter at Wrigley Field with 9 homers, 22 ribbies and a 1.292 OPS.  Bringing in the switch-hitting center fielder would leave Kosuke Fukudome in right field, especially if Peter Gammons' recent nugget of sending Milton Bradley back to Texas comes to fruition.

New York Yankees

If one New York team is involved, the other can't be too far behind, right?  The Yankees are a team that is usually more than willing to take on other teams' misfits and salary problems.  I wonder had Alex Rodriguez struggled mightily after the whole roid-gate thing if he would have been on the trading block because at times, I have wet pipe dreams of A-Rod suiting up at shortstop and reuniting with Lou Piniella.

Pure speculation here, but if the Cubs also threw in Ryan Theriot, could they land lefty-swinging second baseman Robinson Cano and his career OPS of .816?  He's owed $48 million through 2013 if all the options are picked up.

Boston Red Sox

If the Yankees are interested, so are the Red Sox.  Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman reported Toronto declined to accept Boston's 5-for-1 deal for Roy Halladay.  Could the BoSox be interested in Big Z?  If I were Jim Hendry, I'd be intrigued by a number of their prospects.

Texas Rangers

Remember when you were a kid and you had problems finding Waldo?  That's how the Rangers feel about finding pitching.  Former top prospects Edinson Volquez and John Danks have flourished since leaving the organization, so adding a pitcher of Zambrano's caliber might be the best avenue for Texas' team.

Infielder Michael Young just signed a five-year deal worth $80 million in 2009, and when he played shortstop he posted a .310/.358/.453/.811 line before moving to be the Rangers' full-time third sacker.

Colorado Rockies

If the Cubs want to go into complete blow-up mode, the Rockies might make an ideal fit.  The Rox usually have a good amount of young talent going through the system and actually making a difference at the big league level.  Chicago could land some valuable pieces in exchange for its troubled right hander.

THE ULTIMATE WILD CARD: Florida Marlins

Hear me out.

The Cubs have a problem child in Carlos Zambrano.  The Marlins supposedly have a problem child in Hanley Ramirez.  Since the 2002 season, the Cubs have made seven trades with the Marlins, six of them have spawned under The Hendry Regime.  So, the question is: does Trader Jim have another one left in him.

Bringing HanRam to the Cubs would be the blockbuster of all blockbusters.  He's owed 64.5 million over the next five years, so swapping salaries wouldn't be that big of an issue.  The Cubs would likely need to throw in prospects such as Jeff Samardzija, Andrew Cashner, Jay Jackson and (*screech*) Josh Vitters ... among others.

It'd be a deal worth making for both ends, seeing that the Fighting Fish build their teams around pitching, and always have a prospect nipping at the heels of their current players.  For the Cubs, slotting Ramirez in the No. 3 hole in front of Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano would give the Cubs the best heart of the order (on paper) in the National League.

As the title suggests, this post is highly irresponsible on several fronts.  But hey, one of the top signs that your team is out of contention is when trade rumors start popping up in September.  Besides, what else am I gonna do.  I've got to wait 'til Sunday to see a meaningful Chicago sporting event.

No News Like Old News

In the May 27 issue of Sports Illustrated there was a nice piece done on Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton and his battle back from a cocaine addiction.

Check it out here.

In regards to the article I've heard a lot of "experts" criticizing him in a way similar to that of much maligned Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams. Williams didn't really have a passion for anything other than studying scripture and smoking dope but he came back to football for the money.

There's no doubt in that and his story is similar to the Hamilton story in that both had drug addictions and cleaned up to get back into their respective leagues. Hamilton mentions that he doesn't watch ESPN highlights or read box scores because he isn't really a "fan" of the game. Williams isn't a "fan" of the game either and never really said he plans to or has already, quit smoking marijuana. He's staying clean to pick up a paycheck and I suppose this year will show if he's the Williams of old or just old.

Hamilton and his story is well-documented. If you read the article you see that he has quit using drugs of any kind to a point that he's even afraid to go out with teammates after games for fear of relapse. Is he playing the game just for the money at this point? Probably. Does that mean we can't root for him? Absolutely not. While Hamilton may not have the love for the game that a fan does, he goes out there every day and does his job and does it well.

While it is a game, it's still a job for these guys.

As long as Hamilton stays clean he'll remain a good story. Anything positive that can help a recovering addict is good, despite the fact that we want everyone who plays sports to "love" it.

On a funnier note, in the very unlikely event the Texas Rangers won the American League West, what would Hamilton do?

Champagne is poured onto teammates, beers are chugged and all sorts of wild antics ensue inside the clubhouse after something like that. Does he just jump in the car with his advisor after the team clinches it? Does he run into the bathroom and close his eyes? Does everyone spray Diet Coke and Grape Juice? It would be a rather interesting site to see but don't worry, the Rangers aren't even close...