Choose Your Own Adventure: David Price Version
DRaysBay — Let's say some divine presence offered you two paths for David Price's career to take. One is Mark Prior, a walking medicine cabinet; and the other is Jose Contreras. This means, over the next six years, Price will either throw 660 innings or 980 innings and accumulate 15.8 WAR. The risk with the former is evident, you can't count on him for extended periods of time, but yet he's really, really good. The latter gives you dependability for the most part, but he's not exactly an ace. On a graph, the two look like this: ...

SUNDAY ANGELS ROUNDUP: Eddie Bane Was the Man, Santana Drops a Bomb
Halos Heaven — ... Eddie Bane, Director of Scouting for the Angels, was as dominant a college hurler as there was. His name dots the NCAA record books. He had a 0.99 ERA as a sophomore and went 15-1 as a junior. He was 1973's version of Mark Prior, ...

Washington Nationals Set To Draft Stephen Strasburg: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
Federal Baseball — ... The media, as a whole, in these last few weeks, have seemed focused on bringing all the Strasburg talk back down to earth, which must delight the Nationals as they see one article after another listing the old pitching prospects who have flamed, or never panned out. Mr. Keown's article mentions Mark Prior, (#2 overall to CHC in 2001), Colt Griffin (#9 to KC in 2001), Brien Taylor (#1 by NYY in 1991), Todd Van Poppel (#14 by OAK) and Ben McDonald (#1 by BAL in 1991) as just a few of the cautionary tales of top pitching prospects, and in the online supplement ...

Washington Nationals Draft Preview--Steven Strasburg: Savior, or Destined for Failure?
Federal Baseball — ... For sake of this argument, we won't speculate on numbers, since there are reports of everything from $10.5 million (the previous record given to Mark Prior) up to the $50 million number than Scott Boras reportedly has been throwing out to anyone that would listen. ...

My Mock Draft
The Crawfish Boxes — ... .  With a comp. of Mark Prior, who wouldn’t worry?   Anyways I seem to be in the minority on this.  ...

Federal Baseball Talks Stephen Strasburg With Sports Illustrated Writer Lee Jenkins.
Federal Baseball — ... SI's Lee Jenkins: Andy Benes talked about the importance of using your body to generate power. Floyd Bannister talked about the importance of throwing with downward arm angle. David Clyde talked about the importance of throwing, period, and not getting on too restrictive a program. But you can do everything right and have the perfect delivery – like Mark Prior – and still suffer a catastrophic injury. I’m sure the Nationals will be very careful with Strasburg, much more careful than the ...

What Made Milwaukee Famous (Made a Loser Out of Me): A Milwaukee Brewers Preview
South Side Sox — ... remembered he is the Mark Prior of hitting.  Craig gets on base at a good clip (.344 career OBP), but has no power.  He seems like the kind of guy people like us would mock relentlessly (see grinders).  Something has to be wrong with J.J. Hardy.  He should not have as bad of a slash-line as he does (.219/.298/.344).  His walk and strikeout rates are normal and his BABIP is a bit low, but just looking at these numbers still makes me think something is wrong.  His past two seasons were too good for this.  Ryan Braun is ...

Follow-up Appointment with the Disabled List.
Beyond the Box Score — ... 9 688 Chad Fox 6 678 Alex Escobar 6 632 Mark Prior 10 627 Chris Carpenter 7 ...

GameThread: New York Mets At Washington Nationals - Game 92 Of 162.
Federal Baseball — ... signed on December 13, 2008 to make it to the majors (with DC) this season. The 26-year-old right-hander makes his debut after 8 years and 119 starts in the Cleveland Indians' system and 16 games in his first season with Washington's Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, NY. Martin was the 21st pitcher selected in the 1st Round that season, and to put his journey to the major leagues in perspective, consider for a minute how long it seems like some of those pitchers selected before Martin, Mark Prior, ...

Clayton Kershaw is not for sale at any price
True Blue LA — ... Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Luis Tiant*, John Smoltz, Curt Schilling*, Johan Santana, Nolan Ryan, Mike Mussina*. *These pitchers may or may not get into the Hall of Fame … but they have a case. Clemens is a whole other thing. Pitchers seemingly on their way to dominant careers who were derailed by injury or some other issue (8): Dwight Gooden, Kerry Wood, Frank Tanana (who still had an excellent career), Mark Prior, Gary Nolan, Sam McDowell, Vida Blue, Erik Bedard. ...

Around the Mission: 8/1 Padres Links
Gaslamp Ball — ... The Padres are cutting their ties with pitcher Mark Prior, who was trying to get back to the Major Leagues following two significant shoulder surgeries in the last three years. ...

Did You Ever Think You'd Be This Glad To See Dusty Baker? - Cubs vs. Reds Preview, Monday 8/3, 6:10 CT
Bleed Cubbie Blue — ... and Mark Prior had during his tenure. There's something to that, though other factors were involved, too. But Dusty's overuse of Aaron Harang -- who has thrown 110 or more pitches 19 times since Baker began managing the Reds -- is unconscionable. ...

2009 NL Wild Card: the Los Angeles Dodgers?
Purple Row — ... Mark Prior #22 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres Height: 6-5 Weight: 230 Bats: R Throws: R Born: Sep 07, 1980 ...

Stephen Strasburg and the Signing Deadline
The Crawfish Boxes — ... , arguing that down the line his velocity will decrease and his chance of injury will rise. Drawing comparisons to Mark Prior is definitely a double edged sword for Strasburg as well. ...

Washington Post's Thomas Boswell Reports: Stephen Strasburg Offered "Record-Setting" Contract.
Federal Baseball — ... , "...have offered No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg the largest contract ever for a pitcher taken in the amateur draft." Mr. Boswell's citing "industry sources" in the article, wherein he writes that the "...offer has been on table for some time," and could be worth as much as, "$14-$16 million, a third to a half higher than the current benchmark contract," the $10.5 million Mark Prior received from the  ...

Of Rainouts, Stephen Strasburg And Scott Boras
Bleed Cubbie Blue — ... may be a few weeks short of 25 years old, but his wisdom on this issue is, im my opinion, 100% correct. Boswell says Strasburg may get an offer that will break the current draft record, set by Mark Prior, and perhaps Prior's career should be a cautionary tale to anyone involved in these negotiations. If the number is, say, $15 million or so, as Zimmerman says -- Strasburg needs to tell Boras, "You work for me. I want to play baseball. This is enough money for now." And get it done. ...

Why Signing Stephen Strasburg Is Well Worth The Money
Beyond the Box Score — ... minutes before Monday's midnight deadline. The record bonus is just shy of $5 million more than Mark Prior received as the second pick in the 2001 draft. To me it's a win for both parties. Strasburg got this record breaking deal and the Nationals hopefully get a young front line starter whom they can build around. ...

Not-Traded Harden Loses Strike Zone; Cubs Lose 16th In Last 24 Games
Bleed Cubbie Blue — ... Many of you have made comparisons between the 2009 Cubs and the thoroughly unlikable 2004 bunch that blew a sure wild-card berth in the last week of the season. I think the more apt comparison for 2009 is the 2005 team, the one that seemed poorly constructed from the beginning (Jim Hendry getting fooled by Jeromy Burnitz' big year in Colorado, signing him, expecting the same sort of production), and suffering injuries to key players (Nomar Garciaparra, Mark Prior) without having suitable backups. Remember how Dusty Baker, ...

You think you hate the Joba rules now? You'll REALLY hate the Phil Hughes rules next year!
Pinstripe Alley — ... As teams now spend millions of dollars on young pitchers (as opposed to thousands back in the “good old days”), innings limits are here to stay.  With any luck, though, both Hughes and Joba will outlast poor Mark Prior and actually throw a major league pitch after they turn 26.  ...

A Few Questions with Joe Posnanski About His Upcoming Book The Machine
Red Reporter — ... Then again, pitchers get hurt all the time now too ... I'm not sure baseball management has it all figured out just yet. Just in the last few years, there is Mark Prior, ...

Happy Birthday, Mark Prior
Lone Star Ball — Happy birthday to Mark Prior, who turns 29 today. In 2003, at the age of 22, Prior threw 211 1/3 innings, with a 2.43 ERA, striking out 245 hitters, walking just 50, and allowing 15 homers.  He was third in the Cy Young balloting, 9th in the MVP balloting, and looked like the guy who would be a dominant pitcher for the next decade. He threw 118 innings in 2004, 166 innings in 2005, 43 innings in 2006, and hasn't pitched in the majors since. In 2003, Prior averaged 113.3 pitches per start, and in his final six starts (all in ...

Graph of the Day: Texas Rangers Value Over Contract
Beyond the Box Score — ... – The end of a sad era that symbolizes lost potential, the contract that Blalock signed in 04 expires at the end of this season, and you’ve almost certainly seen the last of him in Arlington. Like fellow Texas Ranger Mark Prior, it’s hard to believe he’s only 28, but his story is even stranger. Seldomly do you see the best a player has to offer by a player in his age 23 year, despite some mitigating circumstances that I would not dare suggest. (Did something happen with the Rangers in 03? I remember hearing some talk.) He has 23 ...

Graph of the Day: Texas Rangers Payroll Breakdown and an open letter to Mr. Jon Daniels
Beyond the Box Score — ... First off, I clearly owe you an apology. I had it on good sources that you were about to sign Mark Prior to a minor league contract yesterday, and I wrote it up as I was breaking down your roster’s value. There’s a myriad of reasons why someone would think of you first when hearing of reclamation projects, as the names Jones, Vizquel, Gagne, and Bradley come to mind. As a perk for future free agent negotiations, you may consider investing in an assisted living facility with short term leases for these players: I would call it the ...

Prognosis: John Smoltz
Driveline Mechanics — ... worth $5.5M plus incentives. This was a gamble with long odds considering Smoltz's age, but with his reputation as indifferent to pitching through pain it was a better bet than Mark Prior or, fatefully, ...

Minnesota Twins 2010 Roster & Payroll (Part II)
Twinkie Town — ... Those places, in no particular order, should be starting pitching, shortstop, third base and second base.  Check here for a current list of potential free agents, but here's a list of players who could potentially cost $7 million or less per season. Starting Pitchers:  Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera, Doug Davis, Josh Fogg, Jason Marquis, Brett Myers, Vincente Padilla, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny, Mark Prior, Jarrod Washburn, Randy Wolf I purposely left a ...

2009-10 Do-It-Yourself Offseason Trade/Free Agent Post
Bleed Cubbie Blue — ... Mark Prior Mark DeRosa Brian Roberts AND Jake Peavy . Cubs GM Jim Hendry denied the rumor said, "There you go, believing those reporters again!" confirmed the rumor, but said, "Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!" left his cellphone firmly attached to his ear bought breakfast for everyone . Meanwhile, Hendry said that ...

Damaged Goods: My life on the D-List
Driveline Mechanics — ... I'm going to concentrate on a handful of starting pitchers with this analysis, because these players seem to get the most headlines. I will not talk about Mark Prior, who in my world accepted reality a few years back and stopped stealing money from the ...

Starting Pitchers: Damaged Goods Available
Twinkie Town — ... Clearly there are more guys on the market than these three who could qualify as damaged goods. Mark Prior is attempting a comeback, ...

AAOP: Third Place
Amazin' Avenue — ... Signs Matt Holliday for seven years, $119 million, the same deal Carlos Beltran received five years ago. The Mets forfeit their second-round pick. Signs Rich Harden for one year, $7 million, with an option for 2011 at $11 million. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, and John Maine round out the rotation, so we've still got some question marks here. Minor league deals with Fernando Nieve, Noah Lowry, Mark Prior, and Nelson Figueroa give the Mets some serviceable depth. ...