Bigger Bust - Mark Prior or Kerry Wood?

i would go with prior, but it's close. they've both been very huge busts.

Its all about expectations...i dont really remember if there was any buzz about Wood prior to his breakout rookie year when he struck out 20....after that, he has been solid, but frequently injured...Prior was the "Best College Pitcher of All-Time" and was supposed to win Cy-Young after Cy-Young. While Prior has only 4 seasons under his belt, he always seems to have a strange injury. He is still young and has a chance to put together an awesome career, but I think he has been the bigger bust

wow, I didn't realize how great wood was his rookie year. 233 strikeouts in 166 innings is amazing.

Prior's injuries area always mysteries. No one ever knows quite what is wrong. Is it a recurring problem, does he a series of unrelated injuries? It's hard to say. I think Prior is as good as people say. In the second half of 2003 he was already arguable one of the best pitchers in baseball. It seemed like he was right on track to achieve greatness. Wood has always been a great strikeout pitcher, but not much else. Even when healthy I think he is over rated.

In either case you have to tip your hat to guys like Randy and Clemens who are able to be effective healthy power pitchers for such a long period of time.

The Cubs totally ran Kerry into the ground that year (1998), though. His arm was dead by September, and he started 2 playoff games in the division series for us. Ugh.

I don't think it is fair to call either one of them a bust. Both are amazing pitchers. both also pitch for Dusty Baker. I would say with with how talented they are both have been somewhat dissapointing. But a bust is a guy like Butch Huskey or Alex Escobar or Todd Von Poppel. A guy who every touts as the next great who hardly makes a mark on the league.

Wood is the bigger bust. Prior's bizarre series of injuries has to end sometime, but Wood has only once had a season in which he didn't experience significant arm problems. Consider that with the fact that Prior is younger, and is also a better pitcher, and it's hard to consider Prior a bust if you're comparing him to Wood. </P><P/> But MJD is right to think of "Generation K" and recognize that, by those standards, Prior and Wood are hall-of-famers.

In 2004 and 2005 they combined for 14 wins each year. For guys considered #1 starters, I'd call that a bust.

The first Butch Huskey reference on Armchair. That has to be one of the best baseball names.

I think it has to be Kerry Wood at this point. I say that because Prior is still pretty young and could still turn out well. Wood, on the other hand, is not a young man anymore. He's starting to get old, and it's been far too long since he's been able to pitch for any substiantial amount of time. When he first came up, people compared him to Clemens because of his build, his style, and the fact that he was from Texas. He prompty threw a 20-strikeout 1-hitter (which should have been a no-hitter) against the Astros. He was going to be a star. Now, he's a failure. If Prior continues down this path, I think he would ultimately be the bigger bust. But, because he still has a chance to succeed where I don't think Wood does, I have to say that right now, Wood is the bigger bust.

I think I would say Wood too. Prior had some freak injuries (due to the fact that he is a cursed cub) too.

I can't hold injuries against a player the way that I can the inability to throw strikes, which is why Wood is a bust but Prior is not. When Prior is healthy, he is a pretty dominating pitcher. Wood, though, even when healthy, is wild both in and out of the zone, consistently, and has never won more than 14 games. Yet the media continues to play him up as though he is a stud pitcher that a team can ride into the playoffs.

Jbrokaw...that's because the media loves a hard-thrower. Look at the way they hyped A.J. Burnett this year. He was going to be a free agent, and the freaked out like whoever got him was getting the next Sandy Koufax. It didn't even matter that he's never played a post-season game, that he's injury prone and that his lifetime record is just below .500. The media loves a hurler.

Good point ASwaff.

Yes, because obviously a pitcher's W-L record reflects his true skill... When healthy, both of these guys are studs. In his four full years (we'll call >160 IP a "full" season), Wood has put up seasons of 58, 61, 72, and 81 Runs Above Replacement; his career Translated ERA is 3.22. Prior put up 93 (!) PRAR in 2003, and his career TERA is 3.13. By comparison, teammate Greg Maddux's career TERA: 3.24. If you're going to call either a "bust," I think it would have to be on the grounds of salaries: Wood stands to make nearly $10 million this season, one in which he may or may not even play, and Prior is up for nearly $4 million -- and we have no idea what the status of his arm is. But the injuries can hardly be blamed on the pitchers; Cubs management's consistent ignorance on the matter of pitch counts and general pitcher abuse theory -- Wood threw 120 or more pitches nine times in 1998, including a staggering 135-pitch outing late in the year that may have directly led to his TJ surgery. In '03, Wood did himself one better, tossing 120 fourteen times; Prior eclipsed 120 10 times, and averaged a majors-leading 114 pitches per start. In other words, the Cubs took their best investments and sabotaged their careers. If anyone can be termed a bust, let's call out Dusty Baker and Jim Riggleman.

I think busts can fall into two categories, hype-busts, players who never live up the hype and injury-busts, players who can't stay healthy long enough to perform up to expectations. In either case, from a team and fans point of view you're not getting anywhere near the production you are expecting of the player. While Prior and Wood still have time to turn things around, right now both of these guys are injury busts.

Re: "the media loves a hard-thrower" Full agreement, and this illustrates the point that Wood is over-rated, and most especially by the media.

you guys are all nuts. i agree, they have had trouble staying healthy, but if they were healthy, wood would be right up there every year at the top of strikeout rankings. look at 2003 for wood, 3.20 era, 1.19 whip, and 266 k's. he has the talent, but he just can't stay healthy. yes, i would consider that a bust, but i wouldn't call him overrated.

I agree, Enybo. I think it's been so long since anyone's seen Wood healthy that they've forgotten just how great his stuff was when he first came up. Before he got bit time after time by the injury bug. He had GREAT stuff. I think he was overhyped to be called the next Clemens, but writers do that all the time. They need something to write about, so they make ridiculous comparisons constanstly. Like this year, when you heard people comparing Reggie Bush to Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders. Or like calling Kobe the next Michael Jordan. They just LOVE finding the "next."

But Wood was not overrated. He had great stuff. He might still have it, but I doubt he'll be able to find it again. I guess only time will really tell. Who knows, he might come back as a closer one of these days.

By the way, I totally agree on the comments about Baker. He has a long history of driving pitchers into the ground. That's why I can't stand when I hear people call him a great coach. He has a great season or two, but at the expense of entire careers. What kind of managing is that?

I'm not a Baker fan myself, but I'll play devils advocate. Wood and Prior both have a tendency to run up high pitch counts. They are frequently near or over the 100 pitch plateau by the fifth inning. Pedro Martinez has found a way to transition from a pure strikeout pitcher to a guy who gets more balls in play and keeps his pitch count down. I think this is really extending his career as a 5-8 power pitcher. Why haven’t Prior and Wood made the same adaptations so they can pitch into the 7th inning on 100-110 pitches? If you're Baker what do you do? The Cubs bullpen has struggled mightily in recent years. Baker's job is to win games. Often leaving Wood or Prior in is your best chance to win. Would you rather Baker risk losing games in a pennant chase? He's in a lose lose situation.

After filling the up the minor leagues with our pitchers over the years I wonder what is the issue at hand...I vote for a new club owner..one that emphasizes winning above all else, with a mandate that ticket-buying consumers have plenty of fun in the process (and just not drinking beer, but that thing called a WIN!) We cant get a website cause we cant get three W's in a row (www.hahaha) But seriously, Woods and Prior and others have come and fallen. Lets spend the money to better the team already. Sox did it why shouldnt we. We're Chicago let's start playing like it and stop playing like a grass field team from Montana.