Let me respond to this:  "It would seem Prior was never really a Cub."  Perhaps you are right - in the way that most players play on the team that drafted them or offered them the most money and are just playing in that uniform.  The number of players like Andre Dawson who chose their team are very rare.  The number of players like Ron Santo who live and breathe their team are even more rare.

It is clear now that Prior has no interest in pitching for the Cubs.  The way the MLB.com piece is worded makes it clear negotiations are not ongoing.  He got his freedom.

So, the question, again, "Was he ever a Cub?"  I think he was in one way in 2003.  He gave his arm and his shoulder for the Cubs, pitching past his breaking point.  For those who cannot appreciate that, well, there are much worse things to fail to appreciate.

I'll be rooting for him; he is stil an amazing pitcher when healthy and I'm glad as Cub fans we got to experience that ability during a pennant race and post-season.

DmL

THE EMPLOYEE IS UNEMPLOYED

Dan

If you read the Muskat piece, it's clear he's gone.  "The Cubs and Mark Prior have parted ways" is how the article begins.

The article makes it clear Prior is done with the Cubs.

Good luck, Mark, and thanks for the memories!

There's no reason the Cubs can't sign him as a free agent now.  Not that they would but they can.

When the media flat out knowingly is lying tonight it makes me sick.  Kaplan who I respected most of every member of the media outside of Bruce Miles knowingly lied tonight when he said Prior never went to an event.

Not only does he know Prior was at every convention Prior appeared on his sports central broadcast almost every year!

The great problem with Prior was that he has a cool, aloof air about him. He's a low key guy and when everyone wants a piece of you, that just won't do. You are most correct that he wasn't the media hound. He apparently had an uphill battle gelling with his team in the congenial working relationship that pro ballers of any sport would have. That's just the way he was and likely will be. He was no Ryan Dempster, able to crack jokes and engage an audience.

The whole incident with that charity event which he was sued for didn't help.

But he was a great pitcher. My personal touch to the lore of the Cubs will always include the Mark Prior of 2004 fighting through what very likely was bonafide pain to give everything he could in that game in which the Cubs still lost, but he was the champion. I watched that game and the fire in his eyes we saw still amazes me. Watching his shoulders droop at his inability to continue in the game after giving his all in that one game is no sign of him being a "clubhouse cancer" to me. He was a gamer and he wanted to win, and for that Cub fans should be grateful.

There's a lot of bandwidth we can waste here about what happened since then and why the Cubs and Prior went their separate ways. It's worthy of discussion. But Prior will always be a luminary in the star field of the Cubs Nation, and I hope he does well where ever he goes.

Just not in the National League. Please, God ..

Best of luck, Mark.

The Cubs have a large enough budget and a deep enough pitching corps that they should be investing in at least one high-risk-high-reward pitcher who could make all the difference in October.

The Cubs can pitch a Gallagher or a Marshall in that 5th starter spot for 4 months and leave open the possibility of a Prior/Garcia/Colon type coming in at the end to significantly bolster the playoff rotation.  And if that P/G/C player tanks, it's no big deal at all.

A good business decision is to spend a pittance of your budget on that off-chance that you hit playoff gold.  Since the Cubs did not make that decision, it seems clear that one of three things are the case -

1. Mark Prior did not want to pitch for the Cubs and may have even been willing to slow his recovery time if the Cubs tendered him a contract.
   
2. The Cubs organization just don't want to deal with Prior anymore.
   
3. The Cubs looked at Prior's medical data and said, "He won't be ready and he won't be the pitcher he was before." (That's the only way this would be a good business decision; it's just not how the Cubs are describing this decision.)

How is pointing out a fact about Prior's status not thought out?

And where did I bring up hate?  I pointed out facts.

It has been said all over the place this means he can't be a Cub next year.

While he most likely is gone it is not true they can't sign him.

There's a lot of retrospective and recrimination that could be done; hopefully this diary can avoid that.  

But if I had one "in retrospect" that can avoid any bitterness it would simply be that I wish Hendry had traded for a veteran reliever Dusty might have trusted.

What's done is done.  The 2008 Cubs will be a good team whether Prior goes on to pitch 20 games for someone else in 2008 or only 2.

The biggest misconception I see here is this idea that baseball pitchers are "paid to pitch."  They are not.  If they were, they would get paid after each game.  They are paid for their talent.  They are like experimental scientists or artists who you pay and wait to see what they can produce with their talent.  

Imagine hiring a scientist to research the goal of reducing wind gusts off of Lake Michigan by 50%.  What would that scientist say if after a year of hard work on the issue he told you he couldn't find a way to do it and you said, "You idiot!  I demand you work for less money for another year on the same topic and if you don't take this deal I'll complain about how unloyal you are!"

Prior worked hard when he was healthy and as far as I can tell he worked hard at his rehab.  He can't help what was either caused by physical limitations or systematic abuse (or both).  He worked for his money.  He deserved it for his talent and potential alone.  But he worked for it, too.

Put it another way - what is the downside of the Cubs having Prior on their 40-man for 3 mill, assuming they aren't counting on him for anything?  They don't have space for him on the 40-man?  Well, DFA Fontenot and Pagan, then.  They don't have the $?  I don't believe that for a minute, but if it's true, salary dump Marquis and replace him with Gallagher.  The downside of keeping Prior is minimal.  The Octboer upside is great.

This post, however, really ties it down.

Josh, you the man.

1. Prior did give back to the city.  What he gave in 2003, pushing his arm past the limit as he did should have been more than enough.  
   
2. What fans?  The ones who call him "soft" and much worse?
   
3. Prior did try pitching with more than a little discomfort.  He had no velocity and was ineffective.
   
4. The Cubs non-tendered Prior, not the other way around.  Why does he have to sign a contract giving the Cubs an option year when other teams are willing to give him more?  Why is the blame not on the Cubs?
   
5. How has Mark Prior cheated you?  Seriously, how?

The end of Paul Sullivan's article revealed to me where I guess a lot of fans are coming from:

"No more towel drills. No more simulated games.

"The 2008 season will be a fresh start for Prior, and the Cubs."

Ah - I see - now that Mark Prior is gone, the Cubs will never again struggle with a pitcher having multiple injuries.  We'll just employ healthy pitchers.  We could probably end up saving a lot of money by scrapping the medical staff now that Prior is gone so that we can make a run at signing Johan Santana next year.

I also would find club loyalty nice so I can root for players rather than a business organization but those days are long gone for the same reasons there's going to be more advertising at Wrigley this year.

I'd say that you are reaching with your three comments but no one's arms are that long.

DmL