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.

[Related: San Diego Padres Depth Chart]

The 39-year-old Thornton signed a minor league deal with the Padres last offseason. He missed most of the first two months of the year with Achilles tendinitis, then struggled in 17 innings with San Diego, posting a 5.82 ERA, 4.8 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. His velocity has dropped from the mid- to high 90s as a member of the White Sox several years ago to 91.4 MPH this year, likely a key factor to his steadily declining strikeout rate over the past few seasons. He has a 3.41 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in parts of 13 years in the big leagues.

Free agents who qualify for this distinction are those who have at least six years of Major League service time and had a Major League contract expire at the end of the previous season, but signed a minor league deal ten or more days prior to Opening Day.

The deadline for teams to decide on these players is today at 11am central time. By the deadline, teams with these players in camp need to decide whether to:

• Add the player to their 25-man roster or Major League disabled list (or agree to do so in writing).
• Grant the player his outright release from the minor league contract so that he may pursue opportunities with other teams.
• Pay the player a $100K retention bonus to keep him in the organization beyond the deadline and send him to the minors.

Here’s the latest news from around the league on Article XX(B) signees and their roster statuses with their respective teams (newest updates on top):

• Matt Thornton has been told that he’ll break camp with the Padres, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). The veteran southpaw signed fairly late in camp after failing to find a big league deal, ultimately reaching a minor league pact that will pay him $1.6MM at the MLB level. He can also take home up to $1.9MM in incentives depending upon how many appearances he makes.

Earlier Updates

• Outfielder Ryan Raburn will be added to the Rockies’ 40-man roster, Nick Groke of the Denver Post clarifies (Twitter links). He figures to play an important part-time role on the club, which features three left-handed outfielders in its regular lineup.
• The Braves have announced that outfielder Jeff Francoeur has made the Opening Day roster, with the team purchasing his contract. He’ll play a reserve role in his return to Atlanta, where he once featured as one of the most exciting young players in baseball.
• The Padres appear set to pay Brandon Morrow the $100K retention bonus to remain with the organization, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Morrow, 31, still needs to stretch out after getting a late start this spring.
• The Nationals have officially added righty Matt Belisle to the club’s 40-man roster and will be active on Opening Day, the team announced. He represents a somewhat surprising victor in the pen battle, and his addition seemingly leaves the organization with just one open job to give to minor league free agent lefty Sean Burnett or optionable righties Trevor Gott and Blake Treinen.
• Veteran outfielder Matt Joyce has made the Pirates’ Opening Day roster and will be added to the 40-man, GM Neal Huntington told reporters including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). He had a forgettable 2015, but put up strong numbers in camp.
• Likewise, the Indians announced yesterday that southpaw Tom Gorzelanny will remain in the organization in the minor league system. He’ll be due a $100K bonus for the privilege.

This post originally incorrectly listed Alex Torres as an Article XX(B) free agent.

Here’s more from Los Angeles and the rest of the NL West:

• Dodgers lefty Brett Anderson had surgery on the very same disk that was previously repaired, GM Farhan Zaidi told reporters including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The medical experts involved say that occurs in about ten percent of cases, suggesting that Anderson and the team got a bit unlucky. Plunkett also takes a look at the competition to fill in for Anderson.
• Newly-inked Padres lefty Matt Thornton is expected to have a solid shot at earning a job out of camp, GM A.J. Preller tells Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “He’s done it for a long time and still has quality stuff,” Preller explained. “I think the ‘pen is pretty open, so he’s got a legit chance to make the team.” Skipper Andy Green echoed that sentiment, calling Thornton “a very established left-handed reliever” who is “very dominant against lefties [and] very successful through his career.”
• Speaking of Green, it’s well worth checking out his recent interview with David Laurila of Fangraphs. The first-year manager addressed the concept and impact of defensive shifting from every angle, including the mental components and possible counter-strategies on offense. Ultimately, he concluded: “The game is evolving, and it’s important to evolve along with it.”

The deal will pay Thornton at a $1.6MM base salary if he can crack the MLB roster, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. It also includes $1.9MM in available incentives relating to his number of appearances.

Thornton, 39, saw his strikeout rate fall last year but continued to post excellent results while being tasked with a fairly light workload. Though he’s now within eyesight of 40, the southpaw owns a 1.98 ERA over 77 1/3 innings over the prior two seasons.

While he’s been particularly stingy against lefties, Thornton has also posted solid numbers (sub-.700 OPS against) in his exposure to right-handed pitching in that span. He’s finally experienced a bit of a downtick in velocity, but still brought his average heater at around 93.5 mph last year.

• The Astros have asked about Tyler Clippard.  Houston has already made a couple of big offseason moves to reinforce their bullpen in trading for Ken Giles and re-signing Tony Sipp, and adding Clippard would only further deepen a relief corps that also includes Luke Gregerson, Will Harris, Pat Neshek and Josh Fields.  Clippard’s market was fairly quiet for much of the winter, though as Cafardo notes, things have started to heat up for the veteran righty with at least six teams (including the Rays and Diamondbacks) showing interest.
• Matt Thornton is drawing interest from around six teams, though the veteran lefty may have to settle for a minor league contract.  Thornton turned 39 in September and has a 1.98 ERA over 77 1/3 innings in 2014 and 2015, though with only a 5.9 K/9 in that stretch, ERA predictors such as xFIP (4.19) and SIERA (3.79) are less enthused with his performance over the last two years.  The Braves, Pirates and Twins were all rumored to have some interest in Thornton earlier this offseason.
• The Rays are likely to keep their pitching, despite “quite a bit of interest” from other teams about Alex Cobb.
• Teams have considered signing Cliff Lee, though they’re wary of giving him a contract in the range of $6MM-$8MM (plus incentives).
• Dan Uggla’s agent says that teams have called about his client, though no side has made any commitments.  The veteran infielder is another player who is likely to only find a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.
• “It’s just so slow out there” for the large number of veteran players still on the market, one agent tells Cafardo.  This offseason has been the apex of a growing trend in recent years for teams to spend on a few high-salaried stars and then rely on young, cheap talent for the rest of the roster rather than spend more on established veterans.  This not only goes for the rank-and-file veterans looking for bench jobs but also for would-be starters like Ian Desmond, Dexter Fowler and Yovani Gallardo, all of whom have had their markets slowed by the qualifying offer-attached draft compensation required to sign them.  “The [draft-pick] compensation issue is a factor, no question, and we have to do something about it with our collective bargaining talks because this is hurting good baseball players getting jobs,” the agent said.
• An AL general manager, however, implies that some agents should perhaps be a bit more realistic about their demands.  “The agents are still asking for major league guarantees for players who should be grateful for major league invitations and minor league deals,” the GM said.  “I hear the agents blaming the teams, but I think a lot of teams are willing to add these players. But we’re in February, and quite frankly the signings need to be on our terms at this stage of the game. Eventually, these guys will break down and sign minor deals but we’re close to spring training and there hasn’t been a lot of bend.”

As the market marches forward this winter, here’s the latest:

• Free agent southpaw Mark Buehrle remains in a sort of holding pattern as he ponders retirement, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. The durable veteran is neither planning to sign for 2016 nor ruling out a “possible comeback down the road,” says Crasnick. That seems largely to confirm prior reports, but dangles the interesting possibility that Buehrle could take some time off and look to make a return in the future.
• Lefty reliever Matt Thornton is among the solid players still looking for a deal, and he joined MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM to discuss his status (links to Twitter). The hard-throwing southpaw is getting on in years, but says he’s “not a typical 38-year-old” — a proposition that’s hard to dispute given that he still throws a 93.5 mph average heater (though that’s off a bit from recent years). Though Thornton said it’s been a “slow” market, he isn’t looking to settle. “I’m not taking an invite,” he said. “I’m getting a Major League deal or I need to look at myself and decide if I need to walk away.”
• Mets GM Sandy Alderson addressed reporters today at the press conference to re-introduce Yoenis Cespedes. He says the club is done with major league signings for the winter, as Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. That’s not too surprising, of course, as New York has already given out six MLB deals this winter.
• One of those Mets signings left righty Carlos Torres without a roster spot, and he has drawn quite a lot of interest since he cleared waivers and hit the open market, NJ.com’s Brandon Kuty writes. The Yankees have reached out, as have several Asian clubs, per the report. Torres has been a sturdy pen presence in recent years despite tough results in 2015.

A few more notes on the relief market…

• The Nationals had dialogue with the Pirates about closer Mark Melancon, though nothing is serious at this time, Bill Ladson of MLB.com tweets. Before Washington could even acquire Melancon, they’ll probably have to move at least one of Jonathan Papelbon or Drew Storen to free up some room.
• Twins GM Terry Ryan says the team is unlikely to bring back relievers Brian Duensing and Blaine Boyer, as Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com writes. Minnesota is eyeing left-handed relief help in Nashville and is interested in both Tony Sipp and Antonio Bastardo, per Bollinger. The Twins also checked in on veteran Matt Thornton, but their preference is a more strikeout-oriented arm, says Bollinger, so Thornton may not be a fit.
• Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press hears that teams have reached out to the Twins about All-Star closer Glen Pekrins in their search for left-handed relief, but talks didn’t get far (links to Twitter). Perkins is owed a reasonable $12.8MM over the next two seasons and has a $6.5MM club option for the 2018 campaign. That option becomes a player option if he’s traded.
• The Cubs meeting with the agents for Bastardo, according to Robert Murray of Baseball Essential (on Twitter). The Cubs have been very active over the past 24 hours and are known to be seeking bullpen upgrades.
• Shawn Kelley’s agent, Mike McCann, told Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter) that his client has yet to pick a team.  The Nationals are among “multiple clubs” in “active discussions” with McCann.
• Right-hander Joe Blanton is drawing interest from a wide number of teams after a strong 2015 showing in the bullpen, tweets Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Blanton could be a candidate for a multi-year deal after his excellent bounceback campaign.
• Multiple reporters, including J.P. Hoornstra of the L.A. News Group, have tweeted that Todd Coffey is in Nashville hoping to latch on with a club as he eyes an MLB comeback. Coffey, 35, hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2012 but was excellent at Triple-A as recently as 2014.

Here’s more on the pitching market:

• The Giants have some interest in Maeda, skipper Bruce Bochy told reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). And the team has scouted him previously in Japan, colleague Henry Schulman adds on Twitter. Of course, Bochy also added that the club expects Maeda to draw wide interest, and didn’t make clear just how strong of a draw he represents.
• With uncertainty abounding, the Dodgers are holding internal discussions on what to do about the team’s prospective trade for Reds lefty Aroldis Chapman, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports via Twitter. It’s possible that the club could “pivot” to some other acquisition targets or that it might allow the situation to play out before committing in either direction, he adds.
• Recently non-tendered righty Craig Stammen is “100% recovered” from his arm surgery, a source tells MLBTR’s Zach Links (via) Twitter. Stammen, a stalwart of the Nationals pen for several years, was non-tendered recently. He’ll be entering his age-32 season after producing a 2.88 ERA with 8.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 246 2/3 innings over 2012-15.
• The Blue Jays are considering an array of options as they look at pen additions, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Toronto is considering everything from the best remaining free agent relievers to “bounce-back types,” he says.
• While a lefty reliever isn’t the Pirates’ top priority, the team has reached to free agent Matt Thornton, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter.
• The Pirates have shown interest in free agenty righty Kyle Kendrick, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter). Kendrick struggled last year for the Rockies, but he’s still just 31 years old and has had success at times in a swingman capacity. Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review broke down the Bucs’ efforts to find starters in a piece yesterday.
• Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima is eyeing a return to the majors for his age-40 campaign, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. The long-time Red Sox southpaw last appeared in the bigs in 2013 with the Athletics and has played in Japan for the last two years.

Here’s more on an active market for relievers:

• About a dozen teams have “checked in” on free agent righty Steve Cishek, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets. Non-tendered southpaw Cesar Ramos is also drawing wide interest he notes. But the Twins haven’t looked into either of those options. The club is set to meet with the representatives of Fernando Rodney and has some interest in lefty Tony Sipp as well.
• 39-year-old lefty Matt Thornton has drawn interest from six clubs, including the Twins, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter links). Thornton still brings a big fastball, and agent Adam Hubble says his client still hopes to pitch for another three or four seasons despite his advanced age.
• As has previously been reported, and Twins GM Terry Ryan confirmed today, Minnesota has interest in a reunion with lefty Neal Cotts, Berardino tweets. “We still have interest,” said Ryan.
• The Astros “have remained interested” in Yankees closer Andrew Miller, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. It remains far from clear, of course, whether any team will be willing to offer enough to get New York to part with the outstanding lefty, though Houston certainly has the young starting pitching coveted by the Yanks.
• As has seemed apparent all along, the Astros are continuing to cast a wide net after apparently missing on Aroldis Chapman. Per Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter), Houston is “looking” not only at Miller but also Mark Melancon of the Pirates. And Drew Storen of the Nationals might feature as a “fallback option,” he adds.
• While the prognosis seems promising, it’s worth noting also that Astros set-up man Pat Neshek just underwent foot surgery, as Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. Neshek was forced to pitch through the injury last year
• While internal options like Scott Oberg and Jairo Diaz will be considered, the Rockies also intend to check the market for a closer, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports on Twitter. Colorado recently non-tendered John Axford, who held down the 9th after Adam Ottavino was lost to Tommy John surgery.
• The Athletics took a shot at signing righty Mark Lowe before he landed in Detroit, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. Oakland has already done quite a bit of work in the bullpen, but it seems that the club could still be eyeing further additions.
• The Tigers are now moving down the line to address the team’s need for a left-handed reliever, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports. After already making several pitching additions, Detroit could consider free agents such as Antonio Bastardo, Tony Sipp, and Craig Breslow, says Fenech, though it remains unclear whether the club has specific interest in any of those particular players.
• While the Mets were involved in talks for Chapman over the summer, assistant GM John Ricco said today that the team hasn’t pursued him over the winter, as Tim Rohan of the New York Times reports on Twitter.
• Former Royals minor league lefty Buddy Baumann appears to be quite a hot commodity among minor league free agents, per Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Despite never having thrown an MLB inning, Baumann has already drawn five big league offers this winter. The 27-year-old worked to a 3.04 ERA in 77 frames at Triple-A last year, spending most of his time in the pen, with 9.8 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9.

• The Twins don’t have interest in free agent southpaw Matt Thornton, 1500 ESPN Twin Cities’ Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link), though in a subtweet, Wolfson said “seven or so” other teams are interested.  Wolfson speculated that Thornton could be a fit in Minnesota due to the team’s familiarity with him as an AL Central rival in Chicago for so many years.  The Twins are also in need of bullpen help and the 39-year-old Thornton has posted a 1.98 ERA over 77 1/3 innings in 2014-15 (though advanced metrics aren’t as bullish about his performance).
• In today’s mailbag, a reader asked Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer about the Indians’ decision not to protect Hector Rondon in the Rule 5 draft after the 2012 season.  Thanks to injury troubles, Rondon didn’t pitch much in the three years leading up to that Rule 5 draft.  Beyond that, Rondon was asked to pitch in relief in after returning from elbow surgery and the Tribe’s bullpen was already stacked.  Of course, Rondon would go on to break through with the Cubs and become their closer.
• Also from Hoynes’ mailbag, he discussed a bit of trade speculation and said he personally doesn’t think the Indians will end up dealing Carlos Carrasco.
• Tigers GM Al Avila said the team extended a contract offer to Rajai Davis before deciding to trade for Cameron Maybin instead, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes.  “At the end of the day, we felt [Maybin] was the best option for us,” Avila said.  With Maybin now in the fold, Davis will almost certainly be with another team in 2016.
• Tigers executive vice president and GM Al Avila has followed through on his promise to beef up the club’s scouting and analytics staffs, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News writes.  The Tigers announced several new additions to both departments and their international scouting staff earlier this week, all of which are listed in McCosky’s piece.

MLBTR’s Zach Links also contributed to this post

10:26pm: There’s been no shortage of teams connected to Darren O’Day this winter, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Dodgers are in “big time” pursuit of the former Orioles setup ace, noting that two sources have said as much to him in the past week. A more surprising team now being linked to O’Day, though, is the Braves, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Atlanta is in the midst of a rebuilding phase but is nonetheless eyeing O’Day as well as left-hander Matt Thornton, Rosenthal writes, adding that execs from other clubs feel that the Braves could actually submit the largest offer for O’Day’s services.

O’Day is said to be seeking a four-year pact in the range of $28-36MM total and reportedly left last week’s GM Meetings with multiple offers in hand. Presumably, none of the offers extended to him in Boca Raton were in that range, but the Dodgers have been connected to O’Day from the onset of the offseason and were said by Crasnick last week to have “significant” interest, which seemingly hasn’t waned as widespread interest potentially works in O’Day’s favor.

While Atlanta makes a curious fit, it should be noted that despite the fact that 2014-15 was an offseason spent largely rebuilding, the team did add veteran Nick Markakis on a four-year deal. Adding O’Day would be a similar win-now move amidst a slew of other re-tooling maneuvers, though any multi-year deal agreed to would extend into the 2017-18 window in which Atlanta aims to contend with a rebuilt staff of impressive young pitchers.

Thornton’s asking price isn’t known at this time, but the 39-year-old vet did just conclude a 2015 campaign that saw him work to a pristine 2.18 ERA in 41 1/3 innings. While Thornton’s strikeout numbers (5.0 K/9) are down considerably from his peak years with the White Sox, he held left-handed opponents to a miserable .198/.205/.279 batting line and was also reasonably effective, albeit not dominant against right-handers as well (.229/.333/.357).

Los Angeles and Atlanta are just two of many teams that have reportedly shown interest in O’Day. He’s also been linked to the Tigers, Mets, Cubs, Nationals, Red Sox and Royals. Of course, Boston and Detroit have already acquired help for the back of their bullpens and may not wish to spend to this extent to further bolster their relief contingents.

Here’s more from the NL East:

• With the Nationals expected to shift Anthony Rendon back to third base next year, the club will face a decision on fellow infielder Yunel Escobar, as Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington writes. Escobar could shift to second, where he was expected to play this season, return to his natural shortstop, or even be dealt. The Nats’ roster could be tweaked in any number of ways over the winter, but deciding upon a strategy up the middle is a clear need.
• Nationals lefty Matt Thornton just logged his tenth straight season of sixty-or-more appearances, as James Wagner of the Washington Post writes. Thornton has delivered excellent results since he was acquired via waiver claim last August. He turned 39 in the meantime, but says he has plenty of gas left in the tank. “Right now, I’m focused on finishing this year healthy and finishing strong here and looking forward to my opportunity next year and the years after that,” said Thornton. “I feel great right now. I really do. I look forward to continuing my major league career. I love this game. I love the ins and outs of it.”
• Phillies first baseman Darin Ruf has favorably impressed the organization with his play of late, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury reports. Manager Pete Mackanin indicated that the club was glad to be getting a look at Ruf in more regular duty, which he’s received since Ryan Howard went down. “He’s swinging the bat very well,” said Mackanin. “We’re trying to get him at-bats so we can make a decision on him for next year. He’s swinging the bat better now against right-handers and he’s just been dominant against left-handers. It’s good to see.” Ruf’s situation obviously is interwoven with that of Howard. As Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News writes, Mackanin says that the veteran slugger needs to get his legs healthy and improve his glovework at first base to command playing time next year.

• Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia will miss his start due to a shoulder issue, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports. Garcia likely will not be in the team’s Opening Day rotation. Garcia had impressed the team in camp and might well have made the Cardinals’ rotation, particularly since having him start rather than Marco Gonzales or Carlos Martinez would have been the best way for the Cards to protect their assets — they could have easily just optioned Gonzales to the minors, put Martinez in the bullpen and kept all three pitchers. Instead, it’s yet another injury for Garcia, who’s dealt with plenty of them in the past few seasons. There is, however, reason to hope it won’t be serious — GM John Mozeliak (via Langosch on Twitter) characterizes the injury as fatigue and the missed start as “more of a pause than anything.”
• Pitcher Carlos Villanueva, who’s on a minor-league deal with the Cardinals, can opt out of that deal Monday, Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch notes (via Twitter). Villanueva has gotten fairly good results in camp and has a track record of providing solid performances in a swingman role, so the Cardinals could try to find space for him on their roster.
• Intentionally or not, the Nationals, who have lefty relievers available, gave the lefty-starved Mets a look at Jerry Blevins Saturday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. (Blevins struck out Curtis Granderson but gave up a triple to Lucas Duda.) The Nationals have Blevins, along with Xavier Cedeno and Matt Thornton, and all are out of options, so they could end up trading one.

More from around the National League:

• The new Dodgers front office is finding its hands tied somewhat in putting together a final roster, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. While the organization likely would prefer to open the year with recent acquisitions Chris Heisey and Enrique Hernandez on the bench, the contracts of Andre Ethier and Alex Guerrero make that difficult. Both Heisey and Hernandez have options, creating some flexibility, and will presumably start out at Triple-A unless the team swings a trade.
• Eric Young Jr. is the early leader for the Braves center field job out of camp, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports. Manager Fredi Gonzalez says that the club feels comfortable with Young’s ability to play the position defensively in spite of his limited experience.
• Reliever Pat Neshek says he was somewhat disappointed, but understanding, of the Cardinals’ decision not to pursue him after his breakout year with the club, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Neshek ultimately landed with the Astros for two years and $12.5MM. In discussions during last season, GM John Mozeliak told Neshek that he held a “lottery ticket” and that the team would not be able to compete with the offers Neshek would receive on the open market. “In one sense it was kind of disappointing,” said Neshek, “but he knew it. He saw better. He could do something cheaper and try to get better. I see where they’re coming from. It was a good run. It worked out for everybody.”