Mark Prior has made 106 major league appearances. None have occurred since August 10, 2006 in Milwaukee and none have occurred as a relief pitcher.

If first impressions mean anything and many times they do not, perhaps Prior could finally suit up for the Yankees. If you're reached this point, you might be wondering suit up, what do you mean?

In 1998, the Yankees actually drafted Prior out of high school with the 43rd pick at the end of the first round and then he turned a significant bonus to pitch at Vanderbilt. Eventually Prior switched to USC and was part of the 2001 draft, the same first round that produced Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira, David Wright and Jeremy Bonderman.

A year later, Prior was in the majors and a year after that he was wowing the North Side of Chicago, going 18-6. One of those wins was against the Yankees on June 8, 2003.

Since then, it has been one injury after another and a stint in the independent league. Until December, he was not with any organizaton until the Yankees decided to take a chance. Besides scouting, the Cub ties might have factored in as manager Joe Girardi was a catcher on the 2002 Cubs and pitching coach Larry Rothchild was the pitching coach.

Yesterday, he threw a routine fifth inning of two pop-outs and a strikeout that occurred on the split-finger fastball. Many power pitchers have used that pitch and in some ways like a cutter, it is a pitch that might transform a career like it did for Kerry Wood.

It doesn't seem obvious there is a spot and there may be some minor league time, but opportunity tends to arise and Prior could wind up back in the majors either with the Yankees or someone else if he shows to be completely recovered.

"I understand what I signed up for,” Prior said to reporters. "I understand the situation here, my situation. I know I haven’t pitched, I mean, I haven’t really pitched since 2005. Even though I pitched in 2006, it wasn’t really pitching, it was surviving. Or trying to. I understand that just because you go out and throw one inning, that’s not going to make or break what they see and what I feel. I understand that I need to get famliar with the process."

And if he gets familiar with the process, perhaps there will be a role for him in pinstripes.