A Prior Engagement

Former Cubs right-hander Mark Prior signed a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers and was expected to report to their Triple-A Oklahoma City affiliate on Saturday.

Prior, who will turn 30 on Tuesday, pitched 11 innings - all as a reliever - this season with the Orange County (Calif.) Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball League and did not allow an earned run. Opponents hit only .135 against him.

It's interesting that the Rangers, an organization that does not focus on pitch counts and does not prescribe to conventional wisdom regarding the handling of pitchers, would be the team to take a flyer on Prior.

Prior won 18 games in 2003 and compiled a 42-29 record and a 3.51 ERA in 106 starts during five injury-plagued seasons with the Cubs from 2002-06. His final appearance with the Cubs came on Aug. 10, 2006. He has undergone three shoulder surgeries since his last major league outing.

I wish Prior well. I feel he was villianized by some Cubs fans and others in the media because of physical defects that were beyond his control. His reputation for being a "china doll" who "could not pitch through pain" was unfortunate.

It's the equivalent of calling Sandy Koufax a wimp because he could no longer pitch through elbow pain and decided to retire at age 30.

I also found it ironic that when he was coming up, Prior's mechanics were regarded as "flawless." After his string of injuries began, those same mechanics were considered to be very flawed and a contributor to his health woes.

I also don't buy the argument that Dusty Baker mishandled Prior. By subjecting him to numerous 120-plus pitch counts, Baker is accused of abuse. That's nonsense. Baker can be accused of a lot of things during his tenure with the Cubs, but there was nothing wrong with his handling of Prior.

Prior's injuries were inevitable and may have occured even if he would have been handled in a politically correct manner. The Washington Nationals used just about every possible precaution during Stephen Strasburg's progression and it still did not prevent the phenom from going under the knife.

The physically demanding act of throwing a baseball subjects a pitcher to some physical risks. It's unfortunate that talented young pitchers like Joe Wood, Dizzy Dean, Dick Drott, Jim Lonborg, http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tananfr01.shtml, Mark Fidrych, Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher, and Kerry Wood have had their careers curtailed. But that's life. A pitching arm is a fragile thing.

Was it Prior's fault that he collided with Atlanta's Marcus Giles while running the bases and injured his shoulder? What could Prior hae done to prevent Brad Hawpe's line drive from fracturing his elbow? Those mishaps can be blamed only on fate.

It's obvious that Prior is bitter about his undeserved reputation and his resentment oozed from comments he made during a recent interview with Darren Smith of XX Radio in San Diego regarding Strasburg.

Good luck, Mark. I hope to see you pitching in the major leagues again soon.