Cubs Fire Hitting Coach Rudy Jaramillo
The Cubs fired hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo today, Rudy was in the final year of a three-year deal. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later given the Cubs poor offensive performance this year. It’s not like Rudy had much to work with, but the hitting coach is usually the first coach to be held responsible when the offense is failing. Jaramillo was also one of the last remaining coaches that Jim Hendry hired, and his aggressive approach clearly didn’t mesh with the “Cubs Way”, which is probably why we haven’t seen too much of that this year.
The Cubs have named minor league hitting coordinator James Rawson to take over for Jaramillo as the Cubs hitting coach on an interim basis. Rawson was previously with the Yankees for the last six years, four of those were as the minor league hitting coordinator. I will update this story as necessary.
Thanks for reading, go Cubs!
- George
Chicago Cubs Sign Jorge Soler
Terms per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports…. 9 years, $30 million
Excellent, more news as it rolls in.
Keith Law’s thoughts on Soler:
The deal will likely cover Soler’s minor league time and most, if not all, of his major league time before he reaches free agency — perhaps five of the six years required — assuming he develops as expected. An average of $5 million to $6 million per year for five to six years of a player who should be an above-average regular or better would be very reasonable for the Cubs, reflecting the significant risk involved in a player whose hit tool is still a bit of an unknown. He’ll be able to opt out of his deal to undergo the regular arbitration process, however, so the Cubs’ upside on the deal itself is somewhat limited. Among prospects currently in the Cubs’ system, he’d rank behind only Anthony Rizzo, who has less upside but far greater probability.
Thanks for reading,
- George
CONFIRMED: Soler Chooses Cubs
Joel Sherman just broke the news on Twitter that the “Yankees tried for Soler, but lost out to Cubs”
Stay. Tuned.
[UPDATE] MLBTradeRumors.com is confirming Soler to the Cubs, but siting the same tweet we did, still unconfirmed as far as I’m concerned.
[UPDATE] Ken Rosenthal has confirmed the Soler to the Cubs rumor as well, looks like it’s official.
Multiple reports now confirm… Jorge Soler is a Chicago Cub!! Tons of details to follow obviously. Stay Tuned.
- George
Jorge Soler Signing “Imminent” – Cubs Favorites [UPDATE]
It’s been a long drawn out process but it appears that there is finally a light at the end of the Jorge Soler signing tunnel. The Cubs are hoping that is a good 
sign and not another missed opportunity. News broke over the weekend, specifically yesterday that Soler and his representatives were accepting final bids and that a deal could be signed within the next 24-36 hours per Jon Heyman of cbssports.com. Before that, the New York Post broke a story that Soler would be signed, sealed, and delivered to a team before today, the terms would be for four years and around $20 million up to what Cespedes got ($36 million). Finally, last night Buster Olney tweeted that a handful of teams were after Soler and that final bids have been submitted, with the Cubs and Yankees at the top, but many teams exec’s feel that the Cubs are the favorites.
So it seems that either today, or at the latest tomorrow we will have some finality to the Soler situation, here’s hoping it’s the Cubs that come out on top, but you always have to be hesitant when the Yankees are involved. Sure they can offer a lot of money up for Soler, but so can the Cubs as they have very little money committed to the team after this year. I will update as soon as I hear something.
[UPDATE] 9:18 AM CST – Your Anon Sports is reporting via Twitter that the Cubs and Yankees are the finalists in the Jorge Soler derby.
[UPDATE 2] 12:28 PM CST – The Dodgers are officially out of the running, and it might have been because of the price going way up. Soler is the last “bonus baby” before the new CBA kicks in, that means the price might be somewhere near $40 million, but who really knows at this point.
Thanks for reading,
- George
Soler Works Out
Earlier today Jorge Soler worked out for several teams. To no surprise one of those several teams to see him workout was the Chicago Cubs. Jed Hoyer who was in attendance today said, “We obviously scouted him extensively, a lot of teams have, and a lot of teams are involved. He went on to say, “He is really talented.”
Soler’s agent has asked teams interested in the 20-year old Cuban to make an offer by tomorrow, June 7. It would be nice to find out sooner than later if the Cubs in fact are able to sign the very talented outfielder, but just because offers will be coming in tomorrow it does not mean we will find that out anytime soon. Soler will have until July 2, before the new restrictions on international signing begins, so we should find out in the next few weeks at the worst. Here’s hoping the Cubs can sign Soler and continue to replenish the farm system. We will keep you posted as we find out more.
Thanks for Reading,
Mark
Cubs Sign Former All-Star
The Cubs announced today that they have signed 2010 All-Star and former Dodger reliever Hong-Chih Kuo to a minor league deal and he will report to Mesa. This could be a very slick signing for the Cubs as the 30-year-old could have a lot of life left in that arm.
Here’s Kuo’s career numbers via Baseball-Reference.com
| Year | Tm | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Did not play in major leagues (Injured) | |||||||||||||||
| 2005 | LAD | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 1.875 | 16.9 | |
| 2006 | LAD | 1 | 5 | 4.22 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 59.2 | 54 | 30 | 28 | 33 | 71 | 1.458 | 10.7 | |
| 2007 | LAD | 1 | 4 | 7.42 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 30.1 | 35 | 26 | 25 | 14 | 27 | 1.615 | 8.0 | |
| 2008 | LAD | 5 | 3 | 2.14 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 80.0 | 60 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 96 | 1.013 | 10.8 | |
| 2009 | LAD | 2 | 0 | 3.00 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 30.0 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 32 | 1.133 | 9.6 | |
| 2010 | LAD | 3 | 2 | 1.20 | 56 | 0 | 12 | 60.0 | 29 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 73 | 0.783 | 11.0 | |
| 2011 | LAD | 1 | 2 | 9.00 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 27.0 | 24 | 29 | 27 | 23 | 36 | 1.741 | 12.0 | |
| 7 Yrs | 13 | 17 | 3.73 | 218 | 14 | 13 | 292.1 | 228 | 128 | 121 | 127 | 345 | 1.214 | 10.6 | ||
| 162 Game Avg. | 4 | 5 | 3.73 | 64 | 4 | 4 | 86 | 67 | 38 | 35 | 37 | 101 | 1.214 | 10.6 | ||
MLBlogs Latest Leaders: #16!
Wanted to send out a quick post as a thank you to everyone for visiting and commenting on the blog, we were lucky enough to be the 16th most visited blog in May, and we couldn’t have done it with out you, so THANKS!
Lot’s of great things happening here, please continue to stop by and interact with us as we chronicle the ever-changing landscape of Cubs baseball, top to bottom.
Please check out the full list of the latest leaders here, lots of great blogs out there, go check them out.
Thanks again for reading! Go Cubs!
- George
Jorge Soler Finally Declared a Free Agent
Cuban sensation Jorge Soler has been declared a free agent after establishing residency in the Dominican Republic. The 20-year-old outfielder can now sign with any team and will probably do so before July 2, when the new restrictions on international signing begins. As you recall the Cubs were rumored to have been very interested even to the point where it was speculated they had a deal in place for over $20MM. These rumors were quickly denied since Soler had not been declared a free agent at the time. Along with the Cubs there are several other teams who are very interested in Jorge Soler’s services. This will be a big story around baseball and we will keep you updated throughout the process.
Thanks for reading
Mark
Castillo to the DL
We all know that Travis Wood is starting tonight, but to make room for him on the roster Welington Castillo was officially placed on the DL. Castillo is eligible to return on June 2.
Thanks,
- George
So, Aroldis Chapman Got Arrested
The young flamethrower celebrated becomming the Reds new closer by trying to drive as fast as he throws, he came up short, and was arrested.
Police in the Columbus suburb of Grove City emailed The Associated Press a copy of an arrest report showing the 24-year-old reliever was stopped after radar clocked him going 93 mph on northbound Interstate 71 shortly before 1 a.m. on Monday
Aroldis Chapman was arrested for speeding and driving with a suspended license early Monday, a few hours after it appeared he was in line to become the Cincinnati Reds‘ next closer.
Oops, people make mistakes, hopefully he learns from it because he is a tremendous talent.
Thanks,
- George
