Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
After four years (has it really been that long?), Mark Prior wants to prove to MLB teams that he can pitch in the bigs again. He’s pitching at USC this week where plenty of teams will be scouting him.
Wouldn’t it be hysterical if the Cubs took a flyer on him?
Answer: Most certainly, but not in a funny way. I got off the Prior bandwagon pretty early in his career and never regretted it.
The San Diego Padres gave Mark Prior his walking papers. After a last failed rehab stint, The Prior Experiment is over. Finally.
I’ve never been a real Prior fan. Even when he was with the Cubs, he never thrilled me. His lack of fire for the game not to mention his continual trips to the disabled list didn’t endear me to him.
Back in the day, many non-Cub fans would lump Prior in with Kerry Wood. Both were talented pitchers with potential but were prone to injury. In my mind, the similarities stopped there. Wood played with much more passion and identified with the team. (Wood had another thing going for him too. He was a favorite of GM Jim Hendry).
So when there were rumblings a few years back of a Prior trade (one rumor had him going to the Orioles for Miguel Tejada), I was all for it. A lot of my friends thought I was nuts but all I saw was a pitcher who had one great year in 2003 and hadn’t backed it up since. I was ready for a change.
Prior got a lot of media press and attention from the fans after his 2003 season but all told, he just won 18 games in the next three seasons.
Bitter? Not much.
Prior got his chance with the Padres. It just wasn’t going happen. Will another team take a chance on him? I highly doubt it.
Personal note to Cubs management: Don’t Think About It!
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
In the first week of spring training, word has it this will be Mark Prior’s year. He is “free of pain” in his workout according to the NY Times. He is “pain-free” according to SI.
The Canadian Press goes as far as to say that Prior is “on track for a comeback”.
Well, the expectations have been set. But as a Cub fan, I’ve been through this before.
If the Padres were smart, they would steer the press away from Mark Prior. When one workout without pain makes the headlines, it only adds to the pressure. And while baseball players should be able to focus and get that out their head, I get the idea that this kind of thing really affects Prior.
But hey, he’s not our problem anymore.