Frater Perdurabo
08-02-2004, 04:00 PM
According to the The Dallas Morning News' (http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/080204dnsposherringtoncol.1c551.html) columnist Kevin Sherrington, Rangers' hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo is a "free agent;" his contract expires at the end of this year. Since the Morning News' is a subscriber site, I'll include portions of the column here (Mods please note that this is not the full article; I significantly have edited it):
Ever since Rudy Jaramillo took charge of the Rangers' hitting, you assumed it would be great, no matter if he had Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez or Michael Young and Hank Blalock...
No one's better with hitters. And then you look up and the Rangers have lost seven of their last nine, and the hitting has stopped, and you have to wonder: Are the tabled contract talks with Jaramillo a factor in the slump?
"Not at all," Young said. "That'd be a disappointment to Rudy. Besides, he's with us right now. Everyone on this team would like to see it resolved as soon as possible," Young said. "You know a guy is wanted when even the pitchers talk about it. Rudy is a huge part of this ballclub. There's definitely some concern, and I'm a leader of that."...
A-Rod swore by him. A father figure to Gonzalez and Ruben Sierra, too, he earned their respect without being an enabler. Players don't forget. Pudge Rodriguez still calls, and Jeff Bagwell nearly panicked when he lost his number. Players still talk about Jaramillo in Houston, where Phil Garner probably will be looking for a hitting coach after this season.
Question: Do you think he'd like to hire Jaramillo to fix a flat offense?
Better question: Think there'd be anarchy here if he did?
Bet on both, if the Rangers don't do something first.
Buck Showalter has done a terrific job, building a foundation for this club and giving it the direction it lacked. The players have bought into it, as they should. Even under this new regime, though, Jaramillo is the club's spiritual center. He tells players what they need to hear, and in their language, and they appreciate that kind of honesty.
They like his style, too: Take what got them to the big leagues and build on it without ruining their confidence....
No one does it better, which is why Jaramillo wants a contract reflecting his station. The Rangers reportedly would match the salary of baseball's highest-paid coach, St. Louis' Dave Duncan, who makes $500,000 a year. A good starting place. Only the Rangers shouldn't let the issue linger. Get it done now, like deals this year for Blalock and Young and Francisco Cordero.
Jaramillo is just as important to a young team's psyche, and the players are already on record saying as much.
If I am KW, I approach this as a "tampering charges be damned" situation and do WHATEVER is necessary to get Jaramillo as the Sox hitting coach for 2005. He single-handedly could get the Sox hitters on track and producing at the levels to which their talents are capable.
Jaramillo coaches in English and Spanish. He would be great for both the English speaking and Spanish speaking players on the Sox. Anglo, African-American and Latino players with the Rangers swear by him. He turned Ivan Rodriguez from a catcher with a great arm into a HOF-bound hitter.
With all due respect to Greg Walker, Jaramillo is better and has a better track record. Hiring Jaramillo would be like hiring Casey Stengel.
Get on the phone, Kenny. This is one "free agent" who can turn the Sox offense into a dynamo.
Ever since Rudy Jaramillo took charge of the Rangers' hitting, you assumed it would be great, no matter if he had Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez or Michael Young and Hank Blalock...
No one's better with hitters. And then you look up and the Rangers have lost seven of their last nine, and the hitting has stopped, and you have to wonder: Are the tabled contract talks with Jaramillo a factor in the slump?
"Not at all," Young said. "That'd be a disappointment to Rudy. Besides, he's with us right now. Everyone on this team would like to see it resolved as soon as possible," Young said. "You know a guy is wanted when even the pitchers talk about it. Rudy is a huge part of this ballclub. There's definitely some concern, and I'm a leader of that."...
A-Rod swore by him. A father figure to Gonzalez and Ruben Sierra, too, he earned their respect without being an enabler. Players don't forget. Pudge Rodriguez still calls, and Jeff Bagwell nearly panicked when he lost his number. Players still talk about Jaramillo in Houston, where Phil Garner probably will be looking for a hitting coach after this season.
Question: Do you think he'd like to hire Jaramillo to fix a flat offense?
Better question: Think there'd be anarchy here if he did?
Bet on both, if the Rangers don't do something first.
Buck Showalter has done a terrific job, building a foundation for this club and giving it the direction it lacked. The players have bought into it, as they should. Even under this new regime, though, Jaramillo is the club's spiritual center. He tells players what they need to hear, and in their language, and they appreciate that kind of honesty.
They like his style, too: Take what got them to the big leagues and build on it without ruining their confidence....
No one does it better, which is why Jaramillo wants a contract reflecting his station. The Rangers reportedly would match the salary of baseball's highest-paid coach, St. Louis' Dave Duncan, who makes $500,000 a year. A good starting place. Only the Rangers shouldn't let the issue linger. Get it done now, like deals this year for Blalock and Young and Francisco Cordero.
Jaramillo is just as important to a young team's psyche, and the players are already on record saying as much.
If I am KW, I approach this as a "tampering charges be damned" situation and do WHATEVER is necessary to get Jaramillo as the Sox hitting coach for 2005. He single-handedly could get the Sox hitters on track and producing at the levels to which their talents are capable.
Jaramillo coaches in English and Spanish. He would be great for both the English speaking and Spanish speaking players on the Sox. Anglo, African-American and Latino players with the Rangers swear by him. He turned Ivan Rodriguez from a catcher with a great arm into a HOF-bound hitter.
With all due respect to Greg Walker, Jaramillo is better and has a better track record. Hiring Jaramillo would be like hiring Casey Stengel.
Get on the phone, Kenny. This is one "free agent" who can turn the Sox offense into a dynamo.