April 12, 2007
Same Old Story
Mark Prior continues to decline physically:
Mark Prior's first extended spring outing ended badly on Thursday when the injury-plagued right-hander was forced to leave his start early.
Prior experienced discomfort in his right shoulder, according to a statement by the Cubs.
Prior is scheduled to see orthopedic specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum in California for further evaluation over the next several days.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry confirmed Prior was removed from the game against minor league hitters, but declined to comment on the injury without having all the details.
I'm starting to believe he'll never pitch again.
Posted by David Pinto at
04:55 PM
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Injuries
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I'm curious to hear what Mark "I'm Just an Employee" Prior will have to say about his major league-readiness now.
This will kill his dreams of making the AAA All Star team.
At least he's trying. What makes athletes admirable is not just their talent but also their perseverance. How many of us are strong enough to undergo multiple surgeries, setback after setback, ridicule, and dashed hopes in order to reach our goals?
Betcha he resurfaces in three years as closer, far, far away from Chicago.
Damn shame. He had so much promise in the beginning. This just goes to show not only how talented elite athletes are, but also how lucky someone like Roger Clemens is, to not get injured and have his career end at 25, 100 or 200 wins.
I've got to echo RBJ's comments and just say how deeply saddened I am to read this news. I'm not a die-hard Cubs fan by any stretch, but it was rather thrilling to watch Prior work his magic during the summer and fall of 2003. To know that he will most likely never reach that stage again is a stark reminder that nothing is guaranteed in this game.
I will say too that I'm curious how this news will be responded to by the rest of baseball, if it's responded to at all. I know that modern pitching coaches and managers are usually exceedingly cautious with the young arms in their rotation, but Matuzaka's backers like to claim that they're too cautious, that pitchers can provide far more than what they're asked to deliver. (Tom Verducci's article in the SI Baseball Preview was particularly adamant about this.) It will be interesting to see if the fallout from the Prior mess leads to even more caution, or if he'll be chalked up as just a disappointing situation.
Time has come for Cubs to release Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. They have wasted $39 million on them in the last 3 years and all they have received in return is a total of 30 wins combined so their wins have cost a total over a $1 million each.
Cubs pitching is ranked 13th in NL in ERA with a 4.30 ERA and only the Nationals have given up more homers than the Cubs who have given up 9 to the 12 given up by the Nationals.
Prior and Wood are prime examples of why clubs need to write language into contract protecting the team from paying players who are not playing their full contract amount.
Mike Hampton is another example having been paid $28 million over last season and this season while not making even one pitch.
I'd like to see what Petersen, Mazzone, or any of the other top pitching coaches could do with him. Maddux in Milwaukee? Anderson in MN?