"Both a blessing and a curse"

Knowing Jimmy Escalante as well as I do, I am pretty sure he would never admit to this, but I will.  The Canadians Pitching Coach as come far enough over the past two seasons with the C's that he should get a look up the Oakland Athletics minor league food chain shortly.  What he has done with a number of pitchers has been outstanding.  From Carlos Hernandez, the timid lefty that in 2008 suddenly became one of the most dominant pitchers in the Northwest League, to Jose Guzman, the Canadians closer that has a microscopic ERA of 0.39 and nine saves as of this post...  Jimmy has done more than just 'fill-in' for Craig Lefferts over the past two seasons.  Yet Jimmy, in my opinion faces a challenge.
Jimmy is fluent in two languages, English and Spanish...  Its a blessing as it gives Jimmy the ability to not only work with the North American pitchers, but the Latin American players as well.  Players migrate to those they can communicate best with and get the most knowledge from.  Jimmy has a wonderul understanding of the game having played both as a catcher and a pitcher during his five year minor league career, and he is very approachable without a language barrier to deal with.  Its a great situation for Escalante to be in...  However, it is also a curse, as many of the young Latin prospects usually work out the kinks in the lower minors and need the attention from someone who can speak to them and communicate with them up close and personal...  Meaning, Jimmy faces a problem.  He's a very respected, young up and coming coach that is bi-lingual, and yet has to deal with the reality of the A's putting him where he is 'needed' most.  Is he good enough to move up the chain?  Yup.  Will he eventually get his shot?  Yup.  But for now, Jimmy works with the team he's got and simply tries to get his coaching across to as many pitchers as possible hoping that sooner or later, he gets the call to move up the ladder which would sound good in any language.
Rob Fai