Cubs to talk to Jaramillo

[#1 Bulls Insider]

The Chicago Cubs received permission from the Texas Rangers to speak with hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, according to MLB.com.




Jaramillo told people close to him that he would like to go to a team that has a chance to go to the playoffs and win right away, according to ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine.
The Rangers and Jaramillo agreed to part ways after Texas offered him a one-year deal, instead of a multi-year contract.
The Cubs fired Gerald Perry as hitting coach during the season and Von Joshua was promoted from Triple-A Iowa to fill in. The Cubs scored 148 runs less in 2009 after leading the NL with 855 runs in 2008.
Texas scored the most runs in baseball in 2008, but finished 10th this season. Jaramillo is believed to be the highest-paid hitting coach in baseball.

The Cubs will announce Wednesday that former Texas Rangers hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo has signed a three-year, $2.42 million contract to become Chicago's next hitting coach, player sources told ESPNChicago.com on Tuesday.
Jaramillo spent the last 15 years with Texas and has had 17 players win Silver Slugger awards under his guidance. The new Cubs' hitting coach resurrected the careers of slugger Sammy Sosa, Mark DeRosa and Gary Matthews, Jr. to name just a few of the hundreds of hitters he has impacted in his tenure in Texas.
The 59-year old Texas native coached both Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley during their time with the Rangers. Bradley had his best major league season in 2008 under Jaramillo's tutelage when he lead the AL in OPS.
The Rangers offered Jaramillo just a one-year deal at a modest raise over his 2009 contract of $650,000 to stay in Texas, sources said. Due to economic problems with the team's ownership, nobody was offered more than a one-year deal. The Rangers are now up for sale.
Once general manager Jim Hendry heard that Jaramillo was a free agent, the Cubs jumped in with both feet, hoping to entice Jaramillo to the north side of Chicago. During the 2009 campaign the Cubs released hitting coach Gerald Perry and told his replacement, Von Joshua, that he would not return in the role. The team's run production fell from a league-high 855 runs in 2008 to 707 in 2009.
Jaramillo and his wife will fly to Chicago Wednesday to meet with Cubs officials and attend a mid-afternoon press conference after he officially signs his new contract, sources said. The Cubs' new hitting coach was the second highest-paid coach in baseball in 2009. St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan reportedly made $850,000 last year and has been the highest-paid coach in baseball for a number of years.