JANUARY 4, 2020: Thornburg would earn $1.25MM in the majors, with up to $750K in incentives if he reaches 65 appearances, Nightengale adds on Twitter.
DECEMBER 31, 2019: The Reds have agreed to a deal with righty Tyler Thornburg, according to Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter). It’s a minors pact with an invitation to participate in MLB camp.
Thornburg, 31, is looking for a fresh start after finally wrapping up an injury-plagued tenure with the Red Sox in 2019. He ended up throwing just 42 2/3 innings of 6.54 ERA ball in Boston after arriving via trade in advance of the 2017 season.
Last year’s hoped-for rebound never came to pass, leading the Sox to cut Thornburg loose in the middle of the season. He landed with the Dodgers on a minors deal but didn’t make it back to the bigs as his struggles continued at Triple-A.
Despite the obvious issues in recent years, Thornburg has in the past been quite a good reliever. Some physical tools are there, as he still carries a mid-nineties heater and generates excellent spin rate on his pitches, though he managed just an 8.6% swinging-strike in the majors in 2019.
nice buy low deal. this guy should be good if he is healthy.
Arte Moreno here is my number 555-5555 please call me. ive got 101 reason on why you need a new GM. number 1 Brad Ausmus
Tired.
Hasn’t been remotely decent since 2016.
Yeah, he was terrible for Boston.
If he had much if anything left, don’t you think he’d still be with Boston or have signed earlier?
Another student for one Kyle Boddy.
If he’s close to the 2016 version this is a great signing. Likely though he’s the guy he’s been for last two years. No control and gets lit up. Still minor league deal very minimal risk.
Right, and it seems like Boston was just a nightmare for him from the beginning. Maybe getting out of Boston, having the off-season to clear his head, stay healthy, and have time to work on his craft just might be the right recipe for him to rediscover his previous success..
DJ had him in Milwaukee in ’16 so fingers crossed!
Nice low risk move, guy was great in 2016. Maybe he breaks camp and turns into a solid set up option.
On a different note, I’m kinda intrigued by Tijuan Walker and Shelby Miller. Has anyone heard anything about a club kicking the tires or of a potential landing spot? At the worst they could be stashed at AAA and work their way back or make the team out of spring training as a 5th starter or swingman. Walker would actually make a good reliever, in my opinion.
If I had to pick one, it would be Walker in a heartbeat. Miller looked downright awful last season even in the minors. Not sure he has many opportunities left at this point. Walker on the other hand, just needs to get and stay healthy since that’s been his main issue.
The Reds strong offseason continues. Love this pickup & the Deleon one. Along with the obvious other moves. Still think they can add more to the pen. Possibly another Lefty to pair with Garrett.
I still think they need to go after Will Harris
The Padres have a plethora of LH relievers, maybe CIN & SD can hook up on a deal. With Pomeranz and Castillo locked in, Padres can deal Adrian Morejon or Matt Strahm.
I thought that the Reds tried to bring him on last year but medicals or something of that nature didn’t clear.
hope he finally gets healthy and strikes some suckas out. I was excited to see him in Boston, but was sad he never figured out how to stay on the field
Guy was a complete waste of space in Boston. Good luck I guess
This just shows how quickly arm injuries can derail a career. He was lights out in Seattle, looked to be a linchpin in the Sox bullpen, but has completely fallen apart.
He never pitched for Seattle….. Not sure if you’re getting him and Edwin Diaz backwards or the Mariners and Brewers backwards or what…..
He’s thinking of Carson Smith
But too be fair it’s tough to keep track of all the relief pitchers who have completely bottomed out once the Sox acquired them.
Ah yes. He’s pitched so little the past 3 seasons I guess I completely forgot about him. He hasn’t really fallen apart though, at least not like Thorny, he just can’t stay on the hill.
The way relievers are used today: use’m, burn’m, replace’m. DD bought too late on Thornberg and Smith. The Mets may have done the same with Diaz although he’s young and perhaps a stretch on my point. I wonder if the big lefty in Milwaukee is next though. I’d be leary of overpaying.
Indeed.
I guess throwing strikes is not in analytics yet…
When they sent Shaw to Mil for this loser I was pissed. Everyone knew he was trash, but nooo management had to get him.
Good luck Reds fans.
Love that hindsight. Thornburg was anything but “trash” before they acquired him. Easy to be a genius when you have years of armchair review experience.
Nice move by the Reds.
What makes this a nice move? Is it his mid 5 ERA? That’s earned run average if you didn’t know.
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Maybe this Greta Thunberg stuff was a spell and threw him out of sync, and now he will get it back. Hopefully! Or, Tyler Thornburg is a pollution-loving-SOB and that’s why he fell so far. Good luck to him either way.
As a Brewers fan I have mixed feelings about this signing. I hope he can resurrect his career and believe if anyone can get him back on track it will be DJ but at the same time wish he wasn’t going to a division rival.
I’m also a Brewer fan and wished we could have signed him to a low risk deal. We’ll have to watch out for the Reds next year.
Assuming for LA that Friedman is going to use Gonsolin/May as relief/spot starters given his lack of activity.
Low risk, DJ is a miracle worker and I hope for the best for his career, go Reds
Go Cubs Go
Lottery ticket. Let’s see if DJ and Boddy can make it a winner.
Probably be a stud. Reds always sneak in with the good “roster invite” pickups.
The Reds signed Tyler Thornburg? I thought they wanted to compete this year?