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!