Phillies Add to Bullpen; Sign Chad Qualls

Right-hander Chad Qualls signed a one-year, $1.15 million contract with the Phillies, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today.  The contract includes performance and awards bonuses.

Qualls, 33, went 6-8 with a 3.51 ERA in a team-high 77 games for the San Diego Padres last season.  In his final 19 appearances, he posted a 1.96 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .219 batting average.  Qualls made the eighth-most relief appearances among all major league pitchers last year.

Over the past seven seasons (2005-11), Qualls has made more appearances (512) than any other major league pitcher and ranks second in relief wins (34), trailing only Jesse Crain (38).

Originally a second-round selection by the Houston Astros, Qualls has a career record of 38-34 with 51 saves and a 3.78 ERA in 537 games for the Astros (2004-07), Arizona Diamondbacks (2008-10), Tampa Bay Rays (2010) and Padres (2011).

Qualls will wear #50.

Our Take: Qualls much like Juan Pierre who signed last week, is a name that the Phillies have been connected to for the past few years.  In eight big league season, Qualls has pretty good numbers working out of the pen.  His 3.78 ERA and 1.269 WHIP are good numbers, not great.  He does have 51 saves in his eight season, so could close a game in a pinch, but it seems like those days are behind him.

Pitching at Citizens Bank Park has not be kind to Qualls, lifetime he is 2-2 with a 11.12 ERA and 2.11 WHIP in 13 appearances.  It will be interesting to see where he fits in, there seems to be a lot of competition in the Phillies bullpen.

Most of his work has been done between the 7-9 innings, giving the Phillies a lot of arms that can work in those important innings.

Overall, its a low-risk, high0reward type of deal, but my expectations are low.