A 4.02 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP is "damn above average"? I get that in 2003, the kid was just dominant. In 2005, he was pretty good as well. 2004 might count as decent, though a #2 pitcher racking up those numbers in less than 120 IP hardly counts as "damn above average." Hell, if you're gonna trumpet Prior's good years, you're much better off pointing out 2002 than you are pointing out 2004. I'd happily take Prior at what he'll likely make for those 2004 numbers over guys like Marquis or Dempster. And the end of the 2004 season he was clearly back on track. Besides, he was making peanuts. Rating him as a "#2" starter is ultimately meaningless. If he was being paid to be one, alright, fine...but he was being paid a tiny sum in MLB terms. 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. Only a Cubs fan could even dream something like this up.... Really? For a pitcher as young as he is, with a ceiling as high as his and as much money as this organization has, that's nothing. I'm not looking for "magic" at all...I was hoping tha this club would be able to take a chance on an injured pitcher, as they have many times, for relatively little money, in the hope of some return. The upisde of tha with Prior, as opposed to others they've done it with (Dempster, Williamson, Miller, etc.) is that his ceiling is so high that even a Prior with reduced capability would be incredibly useful, especially at that price. Combine that wih him finally having surgery where something was determined to be wrong and ideally "fixed," it's not too much of a stretch to think he could have possibly been productive at some point in 2008, and cheap. Unfortunately, it appears something gummed up that idea. Please explain what is so fantastic about this. Few people were expecting him to come back and pitch like he did before 2004. But to talk like anything less is useless, especially at how little he would cost, is absurd. I think what you're failing to understand, is that money was offered to Prior. Everybody in the world knows that. He didn't accept. For whatever reason Prior walked. If Prior wanted to stay in Chicago, and Hendry turns him down, thats a different story. Prior flat out, wanted a raise. And he was rejected. How and where are these details available? Hometown discounts like the ones Aramis and Wood took are not the norm in baseball. This is these guy's jobs and this is the level they negotiate at. Prior is potentially looking at his career being done at a VERY young age if he can't come back, so is it really all that surprising that he's trying to get as much as he can? I disagree with the people who declare that it's impossibe for him to get more money elsewhere. On the MLB scale, he's barely being paid anything as it is. What's most frustrating is calling him things like a "mooch" implies he wanted to get paid for a minimum of work, and I just don't see that. The guy showed that he wans to pitch time and time again. He didn't pitch only when couldn't pitch, not because he decided not to pitch. As I've said before. Prior is looking out for #1(himself). He doesn't care about the team or any one on this team. If he did and believed he had a chance at coming back to a level of service to get the big payday then he would have taken the Cubs offer. I would'nt say he's a "mooch", but he's without question out for himself. He thought he was god's gift coming out of college and with a broken down arm, he still believes that. Bash away if you must but go back and read comments in past articles. They say it all!!! See ya Mark, hope you can mature enough to stick with another team.
