The Padres have moved on from Andrew Thurman, the veteran right-hander who was trying to revive a baseball career that had already taken a few wild turns before San Diego ever entered the picture.
Thurman was released by Triple-A El Paso, according to the club’s transaction log on MiLB.com. He had only recently been promoted there, and the move ends his run with the organization after he signed a minor league deal with San Diego in January.
The results in El Paso were rough. Thurman posted a 12.08 ERA in five appearances, covering 12.2 innings.
For Thurman, the release sends him back into free agency as he tries to keep a comeback alive at age 34. He is still chasing his first appearance in the major leagues.
His road to this point has been anything but normal. Thurman was drafted by the Astros in the second round of the 2013 MLB Draft and, after one full season in Houston’s system, was dealt to the Braves in a five-player trade before the 2015 season. At the time of the move, he was ranked as Houston’s No. 16 prospect.
He remained a top-20 Braves prospect in each of the next two seasons, but he never advanced beyond Double-A. Atlanta released him late in 2016, and he then signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers before the 2017 season.
That stop also ended without a breakthrough. Thurman spent a year in the Dodgers organization and still didn’t get higher than Double-A. After the 2017 season, he was out of affiliated baseball and signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Professional Baseball, only to be released before their season began.
Then came a long layoff. Thurman was out of the game for seven years before resurfacing in 2025 with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
After that full season in the Atlantic League, the Padres gave him another shot. He made 25 appearances, including six starts, in Double-A and went 2-6 with a 5.71 ERA, along with 59 strikeouts and 35 walks across 58.1 innings. His Triple-A work came next, and for the first time in his career he reached that level, though the numbers never really cooperated: 17 earned runs allowed in 12.2 innings, with eight strikeouts and 15 walks.
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