Mark Prior

[IllinoisBandit]

+1 to the great deal crowd.

Wish the Reds would have signed him to that amount.

[Joe LaCock]

Wow that is really cheap, the cubs wouldn't take the chance and spend at least that much on him?

I would like to know all the information about Prior that the Cubs have. A return date of mid-May? With this guy's track record that seems very unlikely. We have heard this before with him.

A million base salalary? There has to be major questions with his health from other teams when you consider the price that free agent pitchers are going for and the level that Prior has reached before. There are so many desperate teams that the relatively low contract is a red flag for me.

By the way, as a casual Cubs fan, I am glad to see him go. His injury saga has been real tired in Chicago.

[Snakes Gould]

this is why i made this thread...

why any team in baseball wouldnt be willing to offer this contract to mark prior is beyond me. what is the risk involved?

[cordscords]

this is why i made this thread...

why any team in baseball wouldnt be willing to offer this contract to mark prior is beyond me. what is the risk involved?

I'm wondering this as well. 1 year, 1 mill. That is absolute chump change to teams. No risk, with a possibly huge reward.

[tinfoilxtouch]

Everyone here who thinks this is the "best" offer he got is crazy. I'm sure he got $5m/yr from at least a couple of teams. I'm sure he left MUCH better offers on the table. Why?

1) Petco is a pitcher friendly park. If healthy he's going to be a cy-young contender and earn a MASSIVE contract.
2) He grew up in CA, and this might make it easier for him to have a successful contract season.
3) I think it's fair to assume most clubs offering more money wnated a 2-3 year deal. Prior would never sign that knowing what he's worth after a healthy season.

[swyck]

this is why i made this thread...

why any team in baseball wouldnt be willing to offer this contract to mark prior is beyond me. what is the risk involved?

I agree that this is a great signing by the Dads. They took a reasonable chance on him without committing a lot of money. Spending much more -- like some in this thread were expecting -- would be gambling which is no way to run a business.

[Lofunzo]

Guarantee him $2-$3 mil at the very most and he's all yours.
I'm sure a very clever/creative GM could get this done.
Or a dumb one could just throw $15 mil at him. I'm talking about you Sabean.

There's no way Prior's signing for $2 or $3 million. If that were the case, you're right, every team should be interested. Look at the deal Gagne got last year despite his prior year arm troubles.

Prior's getting $5 million minimum, you can take it to the bank.