Mark Prior has been released from the Boston Red Sox, according to Brendan McGair of the Pawtucket Times.
Ever since Prior has returned to the game of baseball in 2010, he has had a decent run of success as a minor-league reliever. For example, while he was with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox this season, he appeared in 19 games and went 1-0 with a 3.96 ERA.
However, what is much more impressive than all of that is the fact that he has 38 strikeouts in only 25 innings. Part of that might come from the fact that he is a veteran and has pitched enough to know how to outsmart the young hitters.
The other part that might come from the fact that he really is getting some of his stuff back. Originally, Mark Prior flew onto the scene at a 21-year-old rookie with the Chicago Cubs. Although he only went 6-6 that season, he posted a 3.32 ERA and averaged 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
That set the stage for his phenomenal sophomore season when he went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA. His strikeout rate went down a tiny bit to 10.4 per nine innings, but nobody was complaining. In fact, he came in third place in Cy Young voting that year.
He did pitch two more strong seasons with the Chicago Cubs, but 2006 saw his career start to tumble. He hasn't been in the major leagues since, and even though he has had a decent amount of success in AAA for a few different franchises, he hasn't made the breakthrough.
Bullpen help is at a premium, so there is an outside chance that someone might want to pick up Prior. It is definitely a risk, but some teams might be willing to take that chance.
He was brilliant at one point in his career, and he is only 31, so maybe he can carve his way back into a major-league role.
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