Cubs will allow Prior to walk

[JeffH]

The available evidence seems to suggest two things:

 

1) Prior wants out of the organization.

2) Prior won't be able to pitch at any sort of meaningfully high level in 2008.

 

Still, I believe that his name will carry enough weight that someone will wind up giving him a 2008 contract no less than what he would get through the arbitration process. I will admit that I could be wrong about that - I certainly don't have an insider's understanding of the current market.

 

If I'm not, however, the right play would be to tender him and continue trying to trade him for somebody's Kyler Burke, Jose Ceda, or Jose Ascanio.

 

Tendering him with the objective of either getting quality 2008 work out of him or getting him to commit to the Cubs long term would have been a foolish move.

[CubsInNC]

you people that wanted him back are music lovers. he will never be healthy again. in fact, he won't even pitch this year until at least june/july. he has lost velocity & movement. he was on record saying he was looking to become a free agent in a year so we'd be dumping more money towards a player that wouldn't be effective this year & would then walk. the lesson is "don't chase stupid".

 

I think the argument people are making is that many mistakes were made to bring the situation to this point. In a vacuum, you can't argue with Hendry's decision to non-tender Prior. Paying him $3.5M with no certainty on when he'll pitch in 2008, if at all, with full certainty that the player will explore free agency would not have been a good financial decision. Several media people were saying he does not wish to be here anymore.

 

The analysis really needs to focus on how both parties got to this point. So, I commend Hendry for making the right vacuum decision yesterday, but pan him for allowing the situation to reach the point where the player no longer wishes to be part of this franchise.

 

 

Hoops, did it start with the pay cut last year? Or with the media labeling him as a pansy, with the Cubs not responding? If the latter, what does the typical professional sports club do, to combat that, without royally peeving the writers who spout these things, and thus get even more vilified in the press?

[brinoch]

People should quit mis-stating the amount of money the Cubs gave Prior. Unless I'm mistaken, he got not only $15MM, but also a (then-record) signing bonus of $10MM. That's $25MM to a guy that won 42 games for the Cubs spread over SIX major league service years (02-07). Yeah, I'd say he owes the Cubs something. Karma's a drag, Mark.

 

And this is a problem how?

 

Since I think pitcher wins are the most useless stat ever, I won't use them. Team wins, on the other hand, I care about. I would have no problem dividing a pot of $595K per team win among the team's starting pitchers. That would mean for a 90 win team, I'd pay the starting pitchers a total of $53.5M, or about $10.7M per starter. Given that we currently pay a combined $36.7M to a stable of Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Marquis and Dempster (presuming he starts), this isn't far out of line from where the Cubs will be in a year or two when Hill is eligible for FA. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Marquis and Dempster are terrible starters and truly need to be replaced with better pitchers.

[Derwood]

i'm not sure there was much Hendry could do to keep him here

[abuck1220]

People should quit mis-stating the amount of money the Cubs gave Prior. Unless I'm mistaken, he got not only $15MM, but also a (then-record) signing bonus of $10MM. That's $25MM to a guy that won 42 games for the Cubs spread over SIX major league service years (02-07). Yeah, I'd say he owes the Cubs something. Karma's a drag, Mark.

 

this isn't 1964 or whenever it is you started watching baseball. even if the cubs paid prior $25 mil, they got their money's worth.

[HoopsCubs]

you people that wanted him back are music lovers. he will never be healthy again. in fact, he won't even pitch this year until at least june/july. he has lost velocity & movement. he was on record saying he was looking to become a free agent in a year so we'd be dumping more money towards a player that wouldn't be effective this year & would then walk. the lesson is "don't chase stupid".

 

I think the argument people are making is that many mistakes were made to bring the situation to this point. In a vacuum, you can't argue with Hendry's decision to non-tender Prior. Paying him $3.5M with no certainty on when he'll pitch in 2008, if at all, with full certainty that the player will explore free agency would not have been a good financial decision. Several media people were saying he does not wish to be here anymore.

 

The analysis really needs to focus on how both parties got to this point. So, I commend Hendry for making the right vacuum decision yesterday, but pan him for allowing the situation to reach the point where the player no longer wishes to be part of this franchise.

 

 

Hoops, did it start with the pay cut last year? Or with the media labeling him as a pansy, with the Cubs not responding? If the latter, what does the typical professional sports club do, to combat that, without royally peeving the writers who spout these things, and thus get even more vilified in the press?

 

Just speculating, I think it was the paycut and his perception that the Cubs were not defending him as you pointed out plus misleading medical diagnoses by Cubs staff AND the big one: sending him to the minors. I think that hacked him off more than anything really.

[YearofDaCubs]

I think if Prior wanted to come back, Hendry would have signed him. I don't blame Hendry on this one. Prior didn't want to be a Cub anymore. He wanted out of Chicago. Hendry did the best that he could to keep him here but I agree with him, after all the injuries Prior has had why would he only offer him a 1 year deal if he knew he would be as good as gone? It sucks that it ends this way but we don't know if Prior can come back from the surgery.

[USSoccer]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

[E.J.]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

As Bruce stated in his article this morning, there didn't seem to be much interest from other teams in terms of trading for Prior.

[jersey cubs fan]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

As Bruce stated in his article this morning, there didn't seem to be much interest from other teams in terms of trading for Prior.

Because the Cubs made it painfully obvious they were going to give him away for free.

[HoopsCubs]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

Of course, if you are leading an organization, and there is someone in your organization, who clearly gives off the body language and attitude of not wanting to be there, then you may have to remove said individual, so that it does not have a negative impact on the rest of your organization. I can tell you that I have had to make that decision at least a half dozen times in the business world.

[minnesotacubsfan]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

Of course, if you are leading an organization, and there is someone in your organization, who clearly gives off the body language and attitude of not wanting to be there, then you may have to remove said individual, so that it does not have a negative impact on the rest of your organization. I can tell you that I have had to make that decision at least a half dozen times in the business world.

 

 

ok, but how often do you have the ability to TRADE professionals?

 

Hendry has that option-even if it is for little...

[CuseCubFan69]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

As Bruce stated in his article this morning, there didn't seem to be much interest from other teams in terms of trading for Prior.

Because the Cubs made it painfully obvious they were going to give him away for free.

 

And we all know that all 29 of the other teams can sign him. I'm sure no team ever trades for a guy in July that is going to be a free agent the next season either.

[jersey cubs fan]

Bye bye nancy boy Prior, you non-trying towel throwing slumpy body language girly man. Karma really bit you for screwing over the Cubs and the fans the way you did you just ducky stiffing mph losing getting hurt on purpose can't throw 150 pitches wussy. I hope you didn't strain your vagina when you found out Hendry finally pulled you off the Cubs' teat and took away all that free money you've been getting. What's that, you could have made many many more millions if you weren't hurt? Don't give me that nonsense, I know you aren't even hurt and even if you were you did it on purpose so you could get paid for nothing and live the highlife back in SoCal with all your wimpy pretty boy jerkheads.

[craig]

One nice thing about the current cubs is that they have no dead contracts. Between the rising payroll and the erasure of dead contracts, Hendry is in a relatively unique situation of having all of his payroll available and invested in players who at least until new injuries arise, should be able to play.

 

For the last 15 years, it's seemed we've pretty much always had some significant dead contracts. Prior the last couple of years. Wood for several years of big money. Sammy's money when we traded him to Baltimore, and for that matter during his last half season for us. Glendon Rusch. Todd Hundley. Jeff Blauser. Mel Rojas. Back in the 90's I can recall being burdened with years of Jose Guzman dead contract, and Mike Morgan.

 

I certainly don't object the kind of dead contracts in the <$2 range such as were invested in Kerry Wood last year, or Dempster's first year, or Wade Miller or Scott Williamson. $1-1.75, that's peanuts. But when you're up at $3 for Prior, that's a little more meaningful.

 

It's kind of refreshing not to have any major commitments to guys who we know aren't going to be ready to play in April.

[jersey cubs fan]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

As Bruce stated in his article this morning, there didn't seem to be much interest from other teams in terms of trading for Prior.

Because the Cubs made it painfully obvious they were going to give him away for free.

 

And we all know that all 29 of the other teams can sign him. I'm sure no team ever trades for a guy in July that is going to be a free agent the next season either.

 

They wouldn't if he was going to be a free agent on August 1.

[jersey cubs fan]

One nice thing about the current cubs is that they have no dead contracts. Between the rising payroll and the erasure of dead contracts, Hendry is in a relatively unique situation of having all of his payroll available and invested in players who at least until new injuries arise, should be able to play.

 

For the last 15 years, it's seemed we've pretty much always had some significant dead contracts. Prior the last couple of years. Wood for several years of big money. Sammy's money when we traded him to Baltimore, and for that matter during his last half season for us. Glendon Rusch. Todd Hundley. Jeff Blauser. Mel Rojas. Back in the 90's I can recall being burdened with years of Jose Guzman dead contract, and Mike Morgan.

 

I certainly don't object the kind of dead contracts in the <$2 range such as were invested in Kerry Wood last year, or Dempster's first year, or Wade Miller or Scott Williamson. $1-1.75, that's peanuts. But when you're up at $3 for Prior, that's a little more meaningful.

 

It's kind of refreshing not to have any major commitments to guys who we know aren't going to be ready to play in April.

 

Henry Blanco and Jacque Jones say hi. Oh, and we should introduce you to Jason Marquis pretty soon.

[CuseCubFan69]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

As Bruce stated in his article this morning, there didn't seem to be much interest from other teams in terms of trading for Prior.

Because the Cubs made it painfully obvious they were going to give him away for free.

 

And we all know that all 29 of the other teams can sign him. I'm sure no team ever trades for a guy in July that is going to be a free agent the next season either.

 

They wouldn't if he was going to be a free agent on August 1.

 

I'm glad you can make not only all the decisions for the Cubs but for all of baseball too. Are you telling me guys that are going to be non tendered never get dealt now? You're letting emotion control you now.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm glad you can make not only all the decisions for the Cubs but for all of baseball too. Are you telling me guys that are going to be non tendered never get dealt now? You're letting emotion control you now.

 

Cuse, you've let emotion determine every sentence you've written about the Prior issue, so don't start with me on this nonsense. Your damn right emotion comes into play. My emotion is being pissed that the Cubs are run by incomptent idiots who let stuff like this get to the level where it's at.

[CubColtPacer]

From a business perspective, who gives a crap if Prior wants to be here? He was Cubs property up until we non tendered him. The smart business decision would have been to tender him an offer and work out a trade, or hold onto his rights, go to arbitration, win, and then see what he gives you.

 

As Bruce stated in his article this morning, there didn't seem to be much interest from other teams in terms of trading for Prior.

Because the Cubs made it painfully obvious they were going to give him away for free.

 

And we all know that all 29 of the other teams can sign him. I'm sure no team ever trades for a guy in July that is going to be a free agent the next season either.

 

They wouldn't if he was going to be a free agent on August 1.

 

I'm glad you can make not only all the decisions for the Cubs but for all of baseball too. Are you telling me guys that are going to be non tendered never get dealt now? You're letting emotion control you now.

 

 

Craig Monroe is one example of that. The Cubs made it even more clear with Monroe than with Prior that they were going to non-tender him, and they still were able to trade him. Prior's medical reports must have scared away more teams than San Diego.

[SouthSideRyan]

I've heard that he was very nasty to the media which made them take off the kid gloves with him... I wish Bruce Miles would add some insight into Prior behind the scenes (both in the locker room and with the media).

 

Aside from that, I think it was time to move on. If he goes on to be a successful pitcher elsewhere then so be it. I don't think he wanted to be apart of the team.

 

Prior's a smart guy, and I'd guess he doesn't suffer bumbling fools as well as most. Mussina gets the same reputation, be it because they're intelligent and sportswriters don't like players who they think think are a better than them, or because the players have no patience for idiocy.

 

That was a horribly structured sentence, but I'm okay with it.

[TheDude]

I really don't care how it got to this point, but it seems to me Prior took the low road in the end. It's not that money should buy character, even if the Cubs made him rich without playing, because players in this era rarely show a need to prove contract status or worth.

 

But the next three years the Cubs project to be playoff contenders in a weak division. And the GM actively seeks to improve more, signing the best OF FA available. By forcing his way out, Prior now shows no desire to play for a winning team.

 

So he's demonstrated he's not a team player and now he shows he doesn't want to win. From my pov, he's turning out to be a mercenary.

[BigbadB]

Bye bye nancy boy Prior, you non-trying towel throwing slumpy body language girly man. Karma really bit you for screwing over the Cubs and the fans the way you did you just ducky stiffing mph losing getting hurt on purpose can't throw 150 pitches wussy. I hope you didn't strain your vagina when you found out Hendry finally pulled you off the Cubs' teat and took away all that free money you've been getting. What's that, you could have made many many more millions if you weren't hurt? Don't give me that nonsense, I know you aren't even hurt and even if you were you did it on purpose so you could get paid for nothing and live the highlife back in SoCal with all your wimpy pretty boy jerkheads.

 

:P

[CuseCubFan69]

I'm glad you can make not only all the decisions for the Cubs but for all of baseball too. Are you telling me guys that are going to be non tendered never get dealt now? You're letting emotion control you now.

 

Cuse, you've let emotion determine every sentence you've written about the Prior issue, so don't start with me on this nonsense. Your damn right emotion comes into play. My emotion is being pissed that the Cubs are run by incomptent idiots who let stuff like this get to the level where it's at.

 

Untrue jersey. I have in the past wrote that what i don't like about Prior is when he is getting hit, he fads away mentally. That's it. I've never called him a nancy boy or said I hated the kid, never. I said last year he wasn't going to come back and I was right. How in the world does this mean I hate the guy? I do not know if it's the Cubs fault or his, a combo of both...I really don't know but looking at this from a business prospective I say it again, paying him 3 to be on the DL is foolish. Hoping that he will be able to come back and be the pitcher he once was in my opinion is wishful thinking. May I be wrong, sure. As others have said who knows what the Cubs know about the injury and if Prior even wanted to be a Cub. I've written things like this about other players and never once have I been told I hate a player but for some reason I mention Prior and boom...I hate the guy. Honestly, I see emotion from your writings while mine have been pretty even keeled.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yeah, you would. You'd pay him $2 million, hoping that once he finally is able to pitch again in July that somehow, magically, after not pitching in almost two years that he'll duplicate what he did FOUR YEARS AGO.

 

Surgery is magic!!