Jaramillo not Mets-bound

Adam Rubin of New York Daily News reports that the Mets are expected to retain Howard Johnson as their hitting coach and will not pursue Rudy Jaramillo, as had been speculated. Mets GM Omar Minaya said, "I love Rudy like a brother, but it would be totally unfair to bring him in after I interviewed him as manager. It wouldn't be fair to HoJo, who did an outstanding job as hitting coach. If you look at the numbers, everything in the second half of the year we were up in."

Local reports indicate that the Rangers have made Jaramillo an offer to remain in Texas as the league's highest-paid hitting coach.