(Photo:Simmons/News)
While the Cubs may have given up on Mark Prior (not a difficult decision, but an “unfortunate” one, Hendry says) other teams might be willing to take the bait. As many as twelve teams have expressed some sort of interest in the oft-injured, once-phenom.
The Houston Astros have made an undisclosed offer. In addition, the Nationals, Cardinals, Padres and even the Yankees and Mets have shown interest.
I think this shows the state of good quality pitching in the majors. Prior isn’t even throwing yet and probably won’t be ready for prime time till May.
Let’s hope that the Astros or another NL Central team (Reds anyone??) waste big bucks signing Prior to a multi-year deal… The last time I heard the phrase, ‘Prior isn’t even throwing yet and probably won’t be ready for prime time till May,’ was when Prior swindled the Cubs out of another $3m+ salary via arbitration.
Prior’s shoulder is in far more trouble than Clemens’ reputation, and any GM willing to shell out the big bucks for Prior is going to hurt their ball club.