Fantasy Baseball Cafe Forums

by **whitesox04champs** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:19 pm

Any news?

Thoughts about how he'll do in San Diego this year?

Dixie Twister · by **Dixie Twister** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:30 pm

whitesox04champs wrote:Any news?

Thoughts about how he'll do in San Diego this year?

He will tease people into thinking hes well.
Show no velocity
Announce that he is hurt
Go on the DL.

by **thursday_13** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:36 am

Oh come on, he has 1-2 solid games first. Just so all the Prior fans can start chatting up how savvy their draft pick was.

Then comes the crushing 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 2 K game that leads to a coupld days off, then a "short" DL trip.

thats the best part

by **HasteTheDay** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:09 am

It's a damn shame that I keep thinking "Well.... MAYBE" every single year with this guy. At least this year people are almost completely down on him, so if your still interested, you might be able to snag him late late late in the draft. (Better than the average dud you will drop a week into the season)

by **Oleman** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:18 pm

You have seen his best. Leave the rest to others.

by **Goose** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:09 pm

If you are a Chicago resident, you no doubt have been exposed to Prior's antics even as a White Sox fan. He has no heart whatsoever and is as fragile as a china doll. Constantly hurt and NOT playing (as opposed to guys who gut it out), he is a liability for both fantasy and real teams. While San Diego is a pitcher's park, it is unclear whether Prior will be a major league pitcher. Unless you are in a super deep league there have to be better options, even for a flier selection.

by **HasteTheDay** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:23 am

I don't know how you can say that there are better flier selections. If he IS NOT/ DOES NOT get hurt, I don't think there is a bigger steal on the board. Granted what I said about him not getting hurt is a HUUUUUGE reach, but we have all seen him flat out dominate at the professional level.

DC_Commish · by **DC_Commish** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:32 pm

I agree that Prior could easily end up on the DL again. He is expected to debut in mid-to-late May, and it would not surprise me if that date moved back. However, as HasteTheDay said, everyone is down on Prior this year, so his ADP is in the toilet. Fantasy owners have a tendency to undervalue players who burned them in previous seasons, and Prior has burned almost everyone in fantasy baseball at some point since 2004.

Without considering anything else, the move to Petco warrants a look at Prior. Plus, his one-year contract, which guarantees only $1M base salary and ties the remaining $2M to incentives, gives him good reason to perform. Even if he is hurting, he will power through this make-or-break year.

We do not know whether a post-surgery Prior can finally return to top form, but there is reason to hope. From what I understand, his April 2007 shoulder surgery included debridement (removal of dead tissue) of the rotator cuff and labrum (cartilage) repair. I am not a medical professional, but I have read that the former may have resolved the underlying cause for his chronic shoulder woes. One of the biggest risks is that tendons will heal improperly and require additional surgeries, but I have seen no reports of this problem with Prior. He is getting over a year to conduct a cautious, thorough recovery, and he is finally out of the Chicago media market that so frequently mocked his injury problems.

Especially if your league has DL spots or a deep bench, I think he is worth a late-round pick. The starters selected near Prior in the latest Cafe mock were the easily replaceable Randy Wolf (SD) and Shaun Marcum (TOR). In that company, I have no trouble justifying a flier on Prior.