Mark Prior Wants to be Ready by Opening Day, and in a Cubs Uniform
Submitted by cubsnet on Sun, 2007-08-26 07:29.
When we last heard from Mark Prior -- or at least about him -- we discovered that his arthroscopic shoulder surgery revealed significant damage to his labrum. He spoke to Cubs reporters for the first time since that April surgery yesterday and we learned the following (S-T; D-H):
--He is in "Phase 2" of his recoveryThat is still a significant amount of money for a pitcher who might end up not being able to contribute much and then only as a relief pitcher, when the Cubs have already committed approximately $97.8M to 14 players on the 40-man roster.--He has not started throwing yet, but should start in late October.
--Prior will not be full strength by the opening of spring training, but wants to be ready by opening day.
--He wants to play for the Cubs.
--The Cubs are likely to tender him a contract. If they do, they will have to pay him a minimum of $2.86M because they can only cut his salary by 20% under the collective bargaining agreement.
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I agree it's a lot of money,
I agree it's a lot of money, but he is not a free agent until after next season, and considering his upside, which we have seen, and his age, it's worth finding out. I'll be shocked if he breaks camp with the team. I just don't see him being ready by then, and some time in the minor leagues away from the spot light to build arm strength and regain confidence would probably not be a bad thing. The real question will be what kind of stuff is he going to come back with now that he's had surgery and is supposedly on his way to being healthy, and that may take a while to determine. He may never be what he was in 2003, but he still might be better than Jason Marquis.