Prior Falters in Season Debut

Speaking of losers, the Chicago Cubs continue their downward spiral. Any time now, they will likely hit the cellar of the National League Central division, overtaking perennial cellar dwellers, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This weekend’s home series against the Detroit Tigers was a debacle. I know the Tigers are a very good team this year, but I would think hosting an American League team at Wrigley Field would have inspired the Cubs to play better baseball. Instead, the Tigers simply revealed how bad the Cubs are.

The series concluded with a poor outing by Mark Prior on Sunday, who made his season debut after recovering from a strained shoulder during spring training. While I did not expect Prior to look sharp after so much time off, I certainly didn’t think he would be this bad either.

Obviously, he is still not ready for major league action. One local broadcaster suggested Sunday that the Cubs started Prior to showcase him for a possible trade down the road. After yesterday’s poor showing, Prior would be lucky to fetch a winning lottery ticket.

But I understand where the Cubs are going with this. If there is a chance the Cubs could trade Kerry Wood or Mark Prior to pick up one or two good prospects, they should take that chance. Even in their fragile condition, Prior or Wood can help another team that is in the playoff hunt. Since the Cubs don’t seem to be going anywhere but down these days, they need to salvage something from this season. They might as well look ahead to next season, because the 2006 season ended long ago.