As spring training starts, here is a prediction for the 2010 season: The off-season move that could wind up helping the Cubs the most will be the hiring of a new batting coach – by the St. Louis Cardinals. It is fine that the Cubs hired Rudy Jaramillo, late of the Texas Rangers. He is apparently a really good hitting coach. Hopefully, he will be able to help some of guys who slumped last year, though I think the 40 pounds that Geovany Soto lost* is going to help more than any new batting coach. And the key for Alfonso Soriano is less who the hitting coach is and more how healthy his left knee is.
The Cardinals, on the other hand, may have done the Cubs a great favor by hiring Mark McGwire as their new batting coach. There is a great potential for a media circus in every town the Cardinals visit this year as the media everywhere asks McGwire the same questions time after time about steroids and home runs and everything else. Will McGwire be able to handle the pressure and the constant questions? He hasn’t done well with it so far. And how will the Cardinals players react to the questions and commotion in every clubhouse they visit this year? They will try to ignore it, but it is going to be hard. As Jim Brosnan said, it’s a "Long Season," and this has the potential to be a big distraction for the Cardinals. And a big plus for the Cubs.
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* I just realized: Like Chevy dealers in the early ‘90s, the Cubs will have a new compact Geo in their lineup this year!
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