The next stop on Mark Prior's comeback tour will put the right-hander in pinstripes. Prior agreed to a minor-league deal with the New York Yankees Tuesday, a source confirmed to FanHouse's Tom Krasovic.
ESPN.com was first to report Prior's decision.
Prior's agreement with the Yankees will pay him a base salary of $750,000 if he makes the team and also includes another $750,000 in performance incentives based on innings pitched. He will head to spring training with the intention of being a reliever, and he is willing to go to the minor leagues if he doesn't break camp on the 25-man roster.
Prior, as FanHouse reported last week, was choosing between the Yankees and Texas Rangers. He hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2006 due to a myriad of arm injuries.
Before that, Prior skyrocketed to fame in 2002-03 with the Chicago Cubs when he went 24-12 with a 2.74 ERA over a season-and-a-half. He was a No. 1 overall pick of the Cubs in 2001 out of the University of Southern California, and he took the fast track to the big leagues, making his debut as a 21-year-old.
It was the Yankees, though, who were actually were the first team to draft him, selecting him 43rd overall out of high school in the 1998 draft and offering him a signing bonus worth more than $1 million.
Prior spurned New York then, opting for the college experience, but things will come full circle in February when he reports to spring training at Legends Field in Tampa.
Prior finished this season with the Rangers after a stint with the Orange County Flyers of the Golden Baseball League.
Mark William Prior (born September 7, 1980 in San Diego, California) is a pitcher in the New York Yankees organization. He played for the Chicago Cubs from 2002-2006. His career has been notably muddled with injuries after a promising start which had the sports media calling him a future superstar. His repertoire of pitches includes a low to mid 90s fastball, a curveball, a slurve, and a changeup.
Prior graduated from the University of San Diego High School. He was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1998 amateur draft, but they were unable to sign him to a contract.
College career
Prior attended USC, where he won the Dick Howser Trophy (he attended his father's alma mater, Vanderbilt University for his freshman year), given annually to the national collegiate baseball player of the year. After becoming a professional baseball player, he continued his education on a part-time basis and received a business degree from USC Marshall School of Business in 2004. He was part of a pitching rotation that also boasted current Cleveland Indians pitcher Anthony Reyes.
Major league career
2001 draft
In 2001, Prior re-entered the draft, and was considered by some to be the top prospect, but the Minnesota Twins, who had the top pick, were warned that Prior didn't want to play for them. Fearing signability problems, the Twins opted to take local talent catcher Joe Mauer, leaving Prior to be taken 2nd overall by the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had also been considering drafting Georgia Tech third baseman Mark Teixeira, who went fifth to the Texas Rangers. The Cubs signed Prior to a contract for $10.5 million, which stood as the record amount for a draft pick until 2009.
2003 season
In 2003, Prior finished third in the National League's Cy Young Award voting after compiling an 18–6 win-loss record despite missing three starts after an on-field collision with Atlanta Braves second baseman Marcus Giles. Prior and Giles had both been chosen to play in the All-Star Game, but were forced to miss the game as a result of their injuries. Prior and fellow right-handed pitcher Kerry Wood were dubbed "Chicago Heat" by Sports Illustrated, and the name stuck, as the twosome were dominant in leading the Cubs to an 88-win season and a division title. However, sportswriters and fans began to criticize Dusty Baker on the high pitch count of the two pitchers. Despite the concerns, Prior and Wood continued to pitch high counts throughout the season. In 2003, Prior averaged 113.4 pitches per starts in regular season. In the month of September, Prior recorded 126 pitches per start. Prior averaged another 120 pitches in games in the postseason and struggled with an injury the next season. Pundits often blame Baker for ruining the careers of both pitchers.
After Prior's stint on the disabled list came to an end, he compiled a 10–1 record, and pitched against former Cub Greg Maddux in the first round of the playoffs. The Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves in the first round, but lost to the eventual World Series Champion Florida Marlins in the NLCS, a tightly contested seven game series. Prior, who was the winner in Game 2, was on the mound for the infamous Steve Bartman/Moisés Alou foul ball incident in Game 6. At the time, the Cubs were nursing a three-run lead in the 8th inning, and were only five outs away from playing in the World Series. Prior struggled with his command and gave up the lead with the aid of poor defensive play, most notably the booted double play grounder and error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez. The Marlins scored eight runs in the 8th inning, winning 8-3 in Game 6, and also went on to win the deciding Game 7 of that NLCS and ultimately beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.
2004 season
Prior was forced to miss the first two months of the 2004 season due to an achilles tendon injury. There were published reports stating that Prior would need reconstructive Tommy John surgery on his elbow, but both Prior and the Cubs denied this, saying that his achilles tendon injury is the only reason he missed time in 2004. After coming off the disabled list Prior did not pitch up to expectations, leading to more speculation about the health of his arm. However, towards the end of the 2004 season, Prior seemed to return to form. He struck out a career high 16 Cincinnati Reds in his last start of the season. Prior finished 2004 with a 6-4 record and a 4.02 ERA in 21 starts.
2005 season
Prior's 2005 season was again marred with numerous missed games due to injuries. After starting the season on DL again, he returned and pitched well in the early part of the season. However, on May 27, Prior was hit on his right (pitching) elbow by a 117-mph comeback line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe, giving him a compression fracture. This sent him to another stint on the DL. Coincidentally, Hawpe, when playing for LSU in the 2000 College World Series, had hit a three-run home run off Prior that eliminated USC from contention that year. Prior finished the 2005 season with an 11–7 record in 27 starts.
2006 season
During the 2005 off-season, after Nomar Garciaparra left the Cubs via free agency, Prior was mentioned as part of a possible deal for Baltimore Orioles's shortstop Miguel Tejada, but this trade did not come to pass. His bad luck would continue in Spring Training of 2006 when he was put on a slow throwing program. After feeling stiffness in his throwing shoulder, he was diagnosed with a strained shoulder. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list, missing the first two months of the 2006 season. His debut came on June 18, when he was shelled by the Detroit Tigers, giving up six runs in the first inning and lasting just 3.2 innings before being pulled. Prior was 0–4 in four starts with a 7.71 ERA, until he was once again put on the disabled list July 14, after straining his left oblique muscle while taking batting practice. He returned on July 21 to play against the Washington Nationals. He pitched only 3.1 innings before he was pulled out of the game.
On August 14, Prior was again placed on the disabled list (tendinitis) - this time for the remainder of the season. He finished 2006 with a 1–6 record and a 7.21 ERA.
2007 season
In the off season, the Cubs reported that Prior suffers from a "loose shoulder" which leads to injuries and means he has to do more conditioning work. Being eligible for arbitration, Prior then proceeded to ask for a pay raise from his 2006 salary of $3.65 million to $3.875 million for 2007. The Cubs avoided arbitration with Prior when he settled for a one year $3.575 million contract for 2007.
After one start in the minors, in which he gave up three runs and got the win, Prior had Dr. James Andrews, a noted orthopedic surgeon perform exploratory surgery on his right shoulder, which showed Prior to have structural damage. Prior missed the rest of the 2007 season after going through season-ending surgery.
For the first time in four years, the Cubs did not count on either Prior or Wood pitching a game, as waiting on the injury-plagued twosome had proven to be frustrating for the fans, teammates, and the coaching staff.Cubs GM Jim Hendry said that anything provided by Prior or Wood would be "gravy" and he hoped that this would come to fruition. In June 2007, Prior was called up to the big league club from Iowa, in order to place him on the 60-day DL and keep him active on the roster. This gave the team more flexibility at the AAA level so that they could keep RHP Angel Guzman in the minors. While Wood made his return to the club on August 5, Prior was non-tendered on December 12, 2007, ending his tenure with the Chicago Cubs.
2008 season
On December 26, 2007, Prior agreed to a $1 million, one-year, incentive-laden contract with the San Diego Padres. Prior had hoped to pitch again by May or June of the 2008 season, but a shoulder tear during his rehab at the end of May 2008 required surgery that forced him to miss his second consecutive season.
2009 season
On January 13, 2009, Prior agreed to a one-year minor league contract with the San Diego Padres. The minor league deal includes a $1 million option that would have been lifted if Prior pitched in the major leagues in 2009.
He was released from his contract on August 1, 2009 after not having been called up all season.
2010 season
On June 30, 2010, Prior returned to USC to perform a workout for major league scouts, but the workout was judged as "just all right" by a veteran scout.
On August 3, 2010, Prior agreed to an independent league contract with the Orange County Flyers of the Golden Baseball League.
On September 3, 2010, he signed with the Texas Rangers on a minor league contract. Prior has stated his desire to return to the big leagues, 4 years since last being on a major league squad; he is hopeful he will be able to catch on with the Rangers as a long/middle relief pitcher.
Pitching mechanics
Mark Prior's pitching mechanics have been the subject of much attention throughout his career. As a prospect, his symmetrical, seemingly effortless delivery was widely regarded as mechanically efficient and sound. Prior's former personal pitching coach Tom House labeled the right-hander a "can't-miss" prospect. However, after Prior suffered a series of debilitating arm injuries, many experts have re-examined Prior's delivery.
As easy and flowing as Prior's pitching mechanics seem to be, his arm action contains elements that some analysts believe to be hazardous. According to Chris O'Leary, a pitching mechanics analyst, Prior's injury problems are largely derived from his arm action. More specifically, they are due to Prior's Inverted W arm action, in which he lifts his elbows above and behind the level of his shoulders, with the forearm pointing down. According to O'Leary, this creates a timing problem that places an undue stress on the muscles and ligaments of the shoulder and elbow because the arm gets up to the "cocked position" too late.
Similarly, Dick Mills, a former major league pitcher and co-author of The Science and Art of Baseball Pitching and Pitching.com, has speculated that Prior's injuries were a result of a movement known as scapular loading. Scapular loading is a movement in which a pitcher's shoulder blades are pinched together and elbows are taken behind, and sometimes above, their shoulders. The idea that scapular loading is dangerous has been disputed by some in the field of athletic training.
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