Two former Cubs are now part of the farm system in San Diego.
Mark Prior and Moises Alou were Cubs teammates for a few years and both played key roles for the 2003 N.L. Central champions. (Let's leave a certain October game out of this discussion for now.)
The two ex-Cubs were named to minor-league positions by the San Diego Padres Wednesday, according to CSN Chicago:
Prior is the new pitching coordinator. He spent last season in a front office role with the Padres, working as an assistant in the baseball operations department. Though Prior did spend two years with the Padres organization in 2008 and 2009, his only major league appearances were with the Cubs, from 2002-2006. Alou, meanwhile, will be the Padres’ special assistant, player development. Alou posted a career .303 batting average and 332 home runs over 17 Major League seasons. Alou spent three years with the Cubs.
Alou has held executive positions in winter ball in his native Dominican Republic but this will be his first front-office position with a major-league team. Prior, who is 34, might be starting to set himself up for a big-league coaching or managing position sometime in the future.
I wish them both well.