Matt Thornton Rumors

White Sox Exercise Option On Matt Thornton

The White Sox exercised their 2010 option on reliever Matt Thornton, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez. At $2.25MM, it was an easy call for GM Ken Williams. Even if the Sox had declined Thornton's 2010 option, he'd still have been under team control as an arbitration-eligible player. The team also has an option on Thornton's first possible free agent year (2011) for $3MM. Thornton, a 33-year-old lefty, posted another fine season with a 2.74 ERA, 87 strikeouts, and 20 walks in 72.3 innings. The former first-round pick was acquired by the White Sox for Joe Borchard in March of '06,...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Towers, Ricciardi, Jenks, Barajas

Some links on a surprisingly busy Saturday morning... Here's a link to this morning's post containing comments from Padres CEO Jeff Moorad about the firing of Kevin Towers. It was quickly buried by the news of J.P. Ricciardi being let go, so you may have missed it. FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that Towers "should be relieved to be out of an organization in which he constantly faced ownership interference, payroll reductions and other forms of nonsense." Stoeten at Drunk Jays Fans provides some fan reaction to the Ricciardi move. Moral of the story: it was a move that had to...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Holliday, White Sox, Pirates

Good morning everybody! Let's check out some links... Matt Holliday has meshed beautifully with the Cardinals since being acquired in July, writes Matthew Leach of MLB.com. Ozzie Guillen says that Matt Thornton has "good enough equipment" to step into the closer role, but wants to learn more about his mental makeup as the season winds down, writes Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune. Thornton may asked to be the White Sox' fireman in 2010 if the team trades Bobby Jenks, who is entering his second year of arbitration. If the Giants don't pick up his 2010 option, Freddy Sanchez...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: White Sox, Phillies, A's

Only a handful of games on the schedule tonight, but here are some links to make up for it.... White Sox GM Ken Williams is let down by his team's performance this season, according to Chris De Luca of The Chicago Sun-Times. Players like Jake Peavy and Alex Rios were acquired with more than just 2009 in mind, but the Sox still hoped to earn a playoff spot in a weak division this year. Dave Cameron at FanGraphs and Rob Neyer at ESPN.com point out that the White Sox didn't underachieve, but rather performed almost exactly as expected. Whether Williams'...   Continue Reading

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Mets and Devil Rays

Ryan McConnell of the New Jersey Star-Ledger posted a run-down of Mets' rumors, mostly old hat by now. Items of note: The Mets are being asked too much for both Chad Cordero and Octavio Dotel, causing them to take another look at Eric Gagne. They are also looking at Matt Thornton (White Sox), Shawn Chacon (Pirates), Chad Bradford (Orioles) and Jon Rauch (Nationals). I think they should go for Chad Bradford, silly contract be damned. We've all heard about second base possibilities in Mark Grudzielanek, Mark Loretta and Luis Castillo. I think that of these candidates, Grudzielanek is the best..   Continue Reading

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Latest Mets Rumors: Luis Castillo, Chad Cordero

Let's have a look at the latest rumors swirling around the Mets. Second base remains an area of focus. A Twins scout was at Shea recently, presumably trying to figure out what to ask for from the Mets for Luis Castillo. The Mets were recently scouting the Twins as well. The problem is that Castillo is not yet officially available. A couple of Marks, Grudzielanek and Loretta, remain on the radar. The Astros might consider signing Loretta to an extension, though no details have been discussed. The Devil Rays hosted the Red Sox last night, and a Mets scout was..   Continue Reading

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Yankees Interested In Garland, Thornton

According to George King of the New York Post, the White Sox have scouts watching the Single-A Tampa Yankees. Outfielders Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata are the big names from that team, far as I can tell. Which White Sox players interest the Yankees? They've already had a go with Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras, which leaves Jon Garland. It seems the Yanks might want lefty reliever Matt Thornton as well, according to King. Thornton had a breakout last year by developing decent control, but he's regressed this season. His strikeout rate is down as well. Rather than go year-to-year..   Continue Reading

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