Dodgers Close to Finalizing Deal to Make Mark Prior Their Pitching Coach

When the Los Angeles Dodgers moved Rick Honeycutt to the front office a couple weeks ago, the belief was that bullpen coach Mark Prior would take over the reins as the team's pitching coach.

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, that plans seems to be coming to fruition, as the Dodgers are finalizing a deal to make Prior the pitching coach in L.A.

It's been a quick rise through the coaching ranks for Prior, who began in the San Diego Padres organization as their minor league pitching coordinator for three years. He then latched on with the Dodgers in 2018 to be their bullpen coach, and now he's earned a promotion to become the pitching coach.

After winning 18 games with a 2.43 ERA for the Chicago Cubs back in 2003, it looked like the former No. 2 overall pick was going to be the next great pitcher for the next decade.

Sadly, a rash of injuries cut his career short and over 106 career big league starts, all with the Cubs, he went 42-29 with a 3.51 ERA. Prior tried to return to the big leagues with several organizations, but it never happened for him.

While he wasn't able to have the career he was hoping for, Prior still boasts a ton of baseball knowledge and seems poised for an excellent career in coaching.