Mark Prior leaves the game tonight after 1 and 2/3 innings pitched with a sore elbow.  This is likely the same injury that really shelved Prior back in March.
 
People are going to be all over the board on what this injury means.
 
I'll take the alarmist route.

It's time to consider, NOT CONCLUDE, but consider that Prior may be another flash in the pan.  A Mark Fydrich.  That means radical things for the franchise.

Most importantly, Jim Hendry needs to approach his remaining 2004 and the seasons thereafter that Prior may not be as much of a lock as previously thought.

That may mean re-thinking things like the future of Matt Clement.  Not trading either of Brownlie or Guzman.  Which free agents need to be targeted.  And a raft of other issues.

The three year plan for this team was obviously based on the triumverate of Prior, Wood and Zambrano.  This needs to be re-thought, possibly in its entirety.

More later after we learn more on the injury.