By: David Schuster

CHICAGO (CBS) – If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought you were at Rudy Jaramillo’s press conference to announce a contract extension instead of his firing. The way Cubs president Theo Epstein was gushing about Jaramillo, you had to remind yourself what was really going on.

“Rudy is a phenomenal hitting coach with a great track record.  He’s the master at the mechanics of hitting and is a tireless worker. He has solid relationships with all our hitters and he knows them inside out”, said Epstein.

But, you knew the following was coming:

“This is more about philosophy and getting a new voice with a new message” Epstein stated. “We have a certain hitting philosophy that we believe in, and to get to where we want to get to, it just made sense to commit fully to a new message.”

This firing certainly didn’t come as a shock to anybody in the know. The Cubs have been anemic on offense this season, as they have trotted out an inferior product, and you knew that somebody would be the scapegoat. Added to the fact that Jaramillo’s contract runs out after this season, and that he makes near $800,000, Jaramillo was on borrowed time to begin with.

But at least Epstein took his share of the blame at Tuesday’s press conference.

“Rudy’s not to blame for the results. That’s something that we’re all accountable for. We put the roster together, and it’s probably more on us then it is on him, and I’m sure a lot of the players feel accountable too. It’s just a difference of philosophy”, said Epstein.

That’s usually the tag line when changes are made with coaches or managers.