Headlines

  • Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft
  • 2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results
  • Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear
  • Astros Promote Brice Matthews
  • Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow
  • Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Matt Thornton To Retire

By Steve Adams | November 7, 2016 at 11:31pm CDT

Veteran left-hander Matt Thornton has decided to retire, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The 40-year-old spent his final big league season in the Padres organization but was limited to 17 innings due to an Achilles strain and was released in mid-August.

MLB: Chicago White Sox at Texas Rangers

Originally selected by the Mariners with the 22nd overall pick of the 1998 draft, Thornton didn’t make his big league debut until his age-27 season in 2004 and didn’t establish himself as a quality bullpen piece until his age-29 campaign. Traded from the Mariners to the White Sox in exchange for light-hitting outfielder Joe Borchard, though, Thornton blossomed on Chicago’s south side and eventually became one of the game’s premier left-handed setup men. From 2008-10, Thornton recorded a 2.70 ERA with 11.0 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9, showing a mastery over left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters alike thanks in large part to a fastball that averaged just shy of 96 mph.

Those three seasons may have represented Thornton’s peak, but the lefty was predominantly excellent for the better part of a decade from age 29 through age 38. In that time, Thornton recorded a 3.11 ERA and averaged just under a strikeout per inning. Overall, the lefty’s career will come to a close with a losing 36-46 record but a very solid 3.41 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP, 23 saves, 206 holds (164 of which came with the White Sox — a franchise record), 8.7 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 48.2 percent ground-ball rate in 662 2/3 innings as a Major Leaguer. Thornton earned more than $28MM in his Major League career, per Baseball-Reference (plus a $925K signing bonus). We at MLBTR wish Thornton continued success in his post-playing days and offer a hearty congratulations on an impressive career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Share 0 Retweet 10 Send via email0

Newsstand Matt Thornton Retirement

Hoops Rumors Seeking Part-Time Writer
Main
Red Sox Interested In Carlos Beltran
View Comments (9)
Post a Comment

9 Comments

  1. 24TheKid

    9 years ago

    Oh Seattle

    Reply
  2. InvalidUserID

    9 years ago

    Yankees gave up too soon on him.

    Reply
  3. CubsFanFrank

    9 years ago

    If there’s one thing that Kenny Williams did well, it’s strike it big with low risk-high reward players. Matt Thornton, Jose Quintana, Carlos Quentin, Bobby Jenks, and Sergio Santos are all examples of guys that he plucked from the scrap heap with fantastic results.

    Reply
  4. jd396

    9 years ago

    I always felt like Matt Thornton and Boone Logan wouldn’t have even gotten a chance if the Sox weren’t trying to find someone specifically to face Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

    Reply
  5. lilojbone

    9 years ago

    Thank you for the memories, Thornton. I had the opportunity to watch you pitch several times at Comisky.

    Reply
  6. hitless1

    9 years ago

    One of my fave Sox!

    Reply
  7. bourffman

    9 years ago

    I’ve been a White Sox fan for about 45 years, and Matt Thornton has been the best left-handed reliever during that time, in my opinion. Hope he enjoys retirement, and if he wants to get back in I hope he can land in the organization.

    Reply
  8. vick7777

    9 years ago

    What a great career.! Great example to follow.

    Reply
  9. alwaysaTiger

    8 years ago

    Way to represent our small town of Centreville! Good luck on the next stage of your life.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Recent

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Padres Interested In Korey Lee

    AL East Notes: Red Sox, Alcantara, Cabrera, Fried, Gil, Garcia, Rodriguez

    Eight Teams Showing Interest In Luis Robert Jr.

    Tigers Sign Geoff Hartlieb To Minor League Contract

    Brewers Designate Drew Avans For Assignment

    Mariners Agree To Sign First-Round Pick Kade Anderson

    Blue Jays Interested In Zac Gallen

    Cardinals Activate Ivan Herrera, Place Lars Nootbaar On 10-Day IL

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version