Tribune reports Prior is done for '07

[Ankiel84]

Anyone who ever wants to pitch to David Eckstein over Pujols in any situation, including pick-up whiffle ball games at family barbecues when Pujols has dengue fever and Eckstein gets to use one of those over-sized red bats while Pujols has to hit with a live cobra, is a godd--- moron of the highest order.

That is awesome.

That's from yesterday's FireJoeMorgan, right? That site is too good for words.

Wow I just saw that site for the first time.... spectacular.

[Asmodai]

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.p ... cleid=6151


can anyone show me this?

[haltz]

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.p ... cleid=6151


can anyone show me this?

Here's the Prior part:

Under The Knife
Prior Mayhem Makes a Long Wait Longer

I spent most of Wednesday waiting and wondering, like most baseball fans. It was the day we'd all finally have some closure on Mark Prior. Was he pitching through a damaged shoulder? Was the damage related to mechanics (a SLAP lesion or torn cuff) or was it more related to overuse? Did Dr. Andrews put his scope in and see more pitches left in the once-magic shoulder of Mark Prior? I spent a lot of time on the phone and pouring through medical books and journals to make sure I had a grasp on all the possibilities. I find this outcome unsatisfying and can only imagine how Prior feels about now. By the time you read this, Prior will alread have begun his rehab, a long road that's aimed at taking the mound again, hopefully without the pain that's plagued him since 2003. (Yes, you read that sentence correctly.) Prior is an object lesson in the shoulder's fragility, in the fact that the sure thing isn't, not unless we do more.

I wondered aloud to one source yesterday about how much money was spent on Prior's lost time and medical bills, money that could have been invested in research into the prevention of pitching injuries. For an industry that lost over $212 million dollars to pitchers on the DL last season, the paltry few million they've earmarked for research is simply not enough. It's not just Mark Prior that would benefit, but maybe the next Mark Prior. He's the one out on a Little League field, hearing parents and coaches complain about the new pitch count regulations. I actually had someone say to me yesterday that the regulations were ruining baseball. In contrast, I think the ruination of countless young arms on neighborhood diamonds is plenty of reason to, if necessary, nuke the game at that level. It's one thing to risk injury to a professional player in the heat of a pennant race, and quite another to do so in quest of a twelve-year-old's trophy. We've got a long way to go and a lot left to learn.

Powered by Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Liverpool, on to the injuries:

* Mark Prior's surgery went about as was expected. Dr. James Andrews got his scope inside, looked around, and saw a lot of damage. My initial impressions were pretty much dead on with what sources have told me. It's telling that he'll start his rehab in Birmingham, as it appears that he's headed out of Chicago. Will a change of scenery and a new medical staff help Prior? That is as unclear as everything else in Prior's universe. At 27, he remains relatively young, and if he comes out of this surgery pain-free, he has a chance to do what Chris Carpenter did at age 28 after a similar surgical repair. That Prior had significant damage inside the shoulder tells us that the last couple seasons could have been different, years that were essentially lost to Prior and to the Cubs. Going forward, putting Prior with a pitching coach like Dave Duncan or Jim Hickey would make for an interesting mix.

Most of the damage indicates a slow wearing rather than any significant trauma, which puts the blame more on Dusty Baker than anyone else, especially Marcus Giles. I've seen some blindly suggesting that the Bankart lesion was the result of that 2003 collision but if that had been the case, the amount of damage occurring to the ligaments would be sufficiently significant to cause instability that would prevent return to activity for an extended period of time—extended here meaning far more than the three starts he missed. The reported outcome after the collision was a Grade II acromioclavicular sprain. Since the AC sprain involved the acromioclavicular ligament (which basically ties the clavicle and scapula together), there would be very little likelihood that this injury could have involved his labrum. With Prior, there does not appear to be any history of significant injury to the glenohumeral joint itself, therefore making this a wear & tear injury that could have been exacerbated by the fact that the may have been genetically bilaterally lax as compared to the "norm". We also have to remember that the shoulder laxity found during 2006 was said to be muscular, not structural. The once-vaunted mechanics fell apart when pain pulled down on his arm slot, leaving him "throwing pies" as one pitching coach described it.

[fulldeck]

Going forward, putting Prior with a pitching coach like Dave Duncan or Jim Hickey would make for an interesting mix.

Interesting...

[Asmodai]

It would be in true Cubs fashion if they pay for the rehab and he signs with the Cardinals and becomes Roger Clemens until he's 40. That's the way the Cubs do business.

[Hungary Jack]

Most of the damage indicates a slow wearing rather than any significant trauma, which puts the blame more on Dusty Baker than anyone else, especially Marcus Giles. I've seen some blindly suggesting that the Bankart lesion was the result of that 2003 collision but if that had been the case, the amount of damage occurring to the ligaments would be sufficiently significant to cause instability that would prevent return to activity for an extended period of time—extended here meaning far more than the three starts he missed. The reported outcome after the collision was a Grade II acromioclavicular sprain. Since the AC sprain involved the acromioclavicular ligament (which basically ties the clavicle and scapula together), there would be very little likelihood that this injury could have involved his labrum. With Prior, there does not appear to be any history of significant injury to the glenohumeral joint itself, therefore making this a wear & tear injury that could have been exacerbated by the fact that the may have been genetically bilaterally lax as compared to the "norm". We also have to remember that the shoulder laxity found during 2006 was said to be muscular, not structural. The once-vaunted mechanics fell apart when pain pulled down on his arm slot, leaving him "throwing pies" as one pitching coach described it.

In other words, the Cubs really mishandled Prior:
1) He was overworked at an early age; and

2) either a) he was rushed back from the Giles collision injury with an improper diagnosis; or b) the brass waited too long to do the exploratory surgery and head off additional damage (more likely)

[Asmodai]

given how he pitched down the stretch in '03, id lean towards there being nothing wrong with him at the time.

[skmsw]

"Most of the damage involves a slow wearing;" "a wear and tear injury;" "problems since 2003."

Hmmm. Was anyone on this forum reading Steverino on CardsTalk in 2004?

[Jmodene]

Prior acted like he knew it all and talked way too much smack. Maybe that's just his competitive nature, but you got to earn to talk like he did.

That was the entire point of the Ankiel chapter in "Three Nights".

[fanforever]

Hendry didn't know how long Prior would be out in a worst-case scenario.

"Med school isn't on my résumé," he said.

Hendry spoke to Prior over the weekend and said he was in good spirits. Prior left his first extended spring training outing April 12 after only two innings, leading to exams by Dr. Lewis Yocum and then Andrews.

Prior, who has never had surgery, visited Andrews in October and was told he had genetic looseness in his shoulder joints.

"That looseness is what makes Mark the great pitcher he is, but the other side of the coin is that looseness can cause problems," trainer Mark O'Neal said then. "There is surgery that can do something for this. The problem with that surgery is the outcome is very unpredictable, and that would be your last resort."

Seven months later, the "last resort" has arrived.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ba ... &cset=true


Regardless of the resuts of the surgery, you do realize that with genetic looseness he will always have these problems. Sounds like the end of a career here. A pitcher with a genetic defect in his arm?