Mark Prior Still working on Comeback

Mark Prior came up with the Chicago Cubs in 2002 and pitched for them until 2006. He was supposed to be one of the next Chicago Cubs great pitchers with Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano to anchor that rotation for years to come, but we see how that plan worked out.....................


Now in 2011 with Mark prior at 30 years old, he is still trying to get his career back on path, and back in the major leagues since 2006. Interesting that now he is changing his grip, an idea from Roy Halladay because he realized what he has been doing wasn't working for him.

Will Mark prior ever be back in the majors?

A Quick Reminder Of Why I Hate Dusty Baker

Remember Kerry Wood and Mark Prior? Imagine what the Cubs franchise would look like if they never met Dusty Baker.

Look at Mark Prior's 2003 game log, for example. Over each of Prior's last seven starts, Dusty kept him in for 110+ pitches. In fact, in Prior's final two starts, Baker had Prior pitch over 130 pitches. And of course, we know what Dusty did with Prior in the playoffs. Such is criminal to do to any pitcher's arm, especially after a season's worth of mileage.

So too, was the fate of Kerry Wood. Baker had him pitched 114+ plus pitches in each of his final six outings (120+ in his final two).

Baker already broke Aaron Harang (details in the middle of the post). Good luck Alroldis Chapman, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, and Homer Bailey and friends.

Why did BJ Ryan get released?

I heard that Ryan asked for his release because his velocity was down and the sharpness of his slider was completely gone. Looking up his minor league stats, Ryan pitched 5.2 hitless innings in the minors. He did walk 5 and struck out 4, but he had hitless stuff. I think he asked for his release based on the Cubs acquiring two loogies, John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny, as opposed to thinking he's done. At least he's thrown a baseball in the past 3 year, unlike one Mark Prior

Mark Prior's $1 Million Scam

The Padres apparently loved paying Mark Prior $1 million dollars to not pitch last year so much that they gave him another million to not pitch again in 2009. Here's a chart of his injuries to date (courtesy of Wikipedia).

Ben "Mark Prior" Sheets Is Injured (Again)

According to MLB.com, Ben Sheets has a torn flexor tendon. Apparently, Sheets, prior to his Rangers physical, was unaware that his elbow was entirely fucked up -- so fucked up that it is going to require surgery. Meanwhile, the Brewers medical team found no such injury when Sheets was "inspected" back on December 8. So either sometime in the past 60 days, Sheets blew out his elbow not pitching and didn't tell anyone (in which case he's an asshole) or the Brewers knew something was wrong and didn't tell him (in which case the Brewers are a bunch of assholes). Of course, there is also the possibility that the Brewer's medical examiner is Dr. Nick Riviera. Somehow, however, I doubt an $80+ million team would hire shitty doctors to monitor and examine their players.

I have questions and demand answers:

1) If this injury, which is a serious one, was prevalent enough to not only be discovered by the Rangers, but also require surgery, how did the Brewers never catch it? Something here seems fishy.
2) If the Brewers DID know about the injury, why did they offer Sheets arbitration?
3) Should the Brewers be held responsible for paying for Sheet's injury if they were aware of the injury (which often requires expensive surgery to fix) and did not inform Sheets of it?
4) Did the Brewers know about the injury and hide it from Sheets because they knew a healthy Sheets would turn down their offer of arbitration and they wanted an extra first round draft pick?
5) If Sheets knew he was injured, wouldn't he have accepted the Brewers offer of arbitration? You know, so he'd get paid and not have to shell out the surgery money himself?
6) What could Sheets have possibly done to blow out his elbow in the past 60 days?

Something seems fishy here...

Rich Harden Hurt Again

News came today that Rich Harden has a partial tear in his pitching shoulder. He chose to forgo surgery and and rehab using Larry Rothschild's patented towel throwing methodology. Rothschild may have to work on his brutal honesty saying Harder is no where close to pitching off a mound. Injuries are mostly unpredictable. Alfonso Soriano was never on the DL prior to joining the cubs, yet has spend much of his 136 million dollar contract on the DL. JD Drew was notorious for sitting out half the season prior to finally leaving St Louis for the Braves. It wouldnt surprise me if Milton Bradley played out 140 games for the Cubs this year. However, some guys just can't help but break down physically, mentally, every freakin year. Harden and Prior seem to fit description to a tee. Prior may never see a baseball field again, and harden is destined to spend much of every year on the DL. Lets just hope it's the 15 day DL and not the 60

Mark Prior gets another chance

Mark Prior was signed by the Sand Diego padres to a minor league deal. This is the second chance their giving him in 2 years. Last year he had a guarantee deal and made a million dollars for doing nothing. He didn’t throw a pitch! This year the Padres have a tight budget so he gets the minor league deal and can make a million dollars if he makes it to the major league level. Supposedly the Yankee’s were also interested in him, but he decided to go back to his hometown team. That tells me the Yankees wouldn’t pay more than the million. Mark hasn’t pitched in the Major Leagues since the 2006 season. We will see if he makes his comeback this year.