Mark Who? F. You!

Today's printed Daily Herald featured a forward to a Sports article about the Cubs' win yesterday with the tagline "Mark who?" Excuse me, but Mark Prior is a valuable part of the team. He's a quality pitcher who's been the recipient of bad luck. He had a bad inning against Houston this season, but his losses or no-decisions are generally the fault of the lack of run support.

"Kerry who?" is more appropriate. I have a soft spot for Kerry Wood as he's from my neck of the woods, but he might be as overrated as the more blowhard Cub fans have been chanting all season. It's hard to say if the Cubs would be in a better position with him in the starting rotation, but he hasn't been "2003 good" since his first start against the Marlins in the 2003 NLCS. Prior was "2003 good" after returning from the DL toward the end of last season and has been "2003 good" for most of this season.

My call would be to swap Mitre with Prior upon return from the DL, trade Mitre out of the Cubs' farm system, keep Koronka (provided he's as good tonight as he was his last start) and Rusch, and work a sixth man/reliever just in case more bad luck befalls the rotation. Could that sixth man be Wood? I doubt it, but stranger things have happened, especially when a player finds himself in a fight for legitimacy.