Cubs give up on Prior

The long, winding, promising and mostly frustrating road of Mark Prior's career came to an inglorious end Wednesday night when the Cubs non-tendered the former rock star of the pitching staff, making him a free agent at 27 according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Unable to trade the rehabbing Prior, general manager Jim Hendry opted to cut him loose rather than face another arbitration process that figured to result in a 2008 salary of about $3.4 million for a pitcher whose surgically repaired shoulder was a question mark for next season.

''It's time to turn the page,'' Prior's agent, John Boggs, said after receiving word from Hendry more than two hours ahead of the 11 p.m. tender deadline. ''And it's already a new horizon for Mark because he's coming off the first surgery of his career, and we anticipate he'll be a productive pitcher in '08.''

Source: Chicago Sun-Times