What can it hurt?

In case you don’t know by now? Where have you been? Phil Rogers deserves some kudos because last week he scooped all of us with the Rudy Jaramillo to the Cubs rumor. Anyways, the Cubs made it official today that they will add the highly regarded Jaramillo to Lou Piniella’s coaching staff. Jaramillo agreed to a three year deal meaning he will be with the Cubs longer than the current manager. Hmmmm.

Here’s the story on MLB.com:

The Cubs hired former Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo on Wednesday to be the newest member of manager Lou Piniella’s staff.

“Rudy Jaramillo is widely regarded as the premiere hitting instructor in the game,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said in a statement. “The addition of Rudy to our franchise is a strong statement from our new owners, the Ricketts family, and we thank them for allowing us to move quickly to fill this important role with the best in the business.”

Jaramillo, 59, broke ties with the Texas Rangers when the team offered a one-year deal for 2010 instead of a multi-year contract. Jaramillo’s hitters have won 17 Silver Slugger Awards, four Most Valuable Player Awards, three home run titles, and three RBI crowns under his tutelage. He had been the Rangers’ hitting coach since 1995, and worked with current Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano.

The Cubs gave Jaramillo a three-year contract, reportedly worth $2.42 million. His program includes what he calls five simple steps to hitting. Among the steps are finding a good rhythm, timing the arm release point, shifting weight and staying square on the ball.

Three years, $2.42 million works out to about just over $800,000 per season for the hitting coach that is very highly regarded by players throughout baseball. ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell says this is just the latest gaffe by Hendry, overspending for Jaramillo:

Hendry will stand up at the latest Wrigley Field press gathering today and rave about how the Cubs have snagged one of the best coaches in the business. Only time will tell how much of an impact Jaramillo’s presence will have, but for the moment, the only thing that’s clear is that the position of hitting coach in this organization has become the main scapegoat for all of Hendry’s recent mistakes.

As has become custom, the GM is throwing more money at the team’s latest problem and hoping that will fix it.

It probably is too much money. How much better Jaramillo is at his job than Gerald Perry is up for debate. Still at this point the Cubs have added a very good hitting coach to a team that really struggled in that department last season. Anyone who thinks this is a cure all to what ails the Cubs is of course kidding themselves, but honestly in the big picture does any of this hurt the club?