Qualls asks for trade after being designated for assignment
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Qualls asks for trade after being designated for assignment
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Phillies reliever Chad Qualls asked to be traded Thursday after the team informed him that he was being desginated for assignment.
Qualls, 33, signed a one-year, $1.15 million deal with the Phillies at the end of January and was being counted upon as a late-inning reliever. He leaves the team with a 1-1 record and 4.60 ERA after surrendering three runs on three hits in Wednesday night's 11-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"I felt like I had been throwing the ball well all June," Qualls said. "I had only given up runs in two outings this June. No excuses for (Wednesday). I felt like I was throwing the ball better, but the organization felt like they wanted to make a move and that's fine."
Qualls, in fact, had allowed runs in just two of his 15 appearances this month. He still, however, had a 4.26 ERA in June and seven of his 15 outings were less than one inning because he has atrocious numbers against left-handed hitters. Lefties are hitting .377 with a .441 on-base percentage against him. Qualls had a 6.10 ERA in May after going 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA in the first month of the season.
Pitching coach Rich Dubee walked with Qualls into manager Charlie Manuel's office, where general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was also in attendance.
"I asked Ruben to trade me and that's basically what he's trying to do," Qualls said. "I think they have eight to 10 days to try to do that, so right now he just kind of said that I'm in baseball limbo. They wanted a little bit more consistency. Hopefully, the move is better for the team."
Amaro said he will try to trade Qualls, but to this point there has been no interest. The team can also designate the pitcher for assignment or release him in the next 10 days. Qualls can decline an assignment to the minor leagues, but he would forfeited his remaining salary for this season. A release seems like the most likely scenario at this point.
"We just thought it was the right thing to do," Amaro said. "There have been some inconsistincies with him and it's something we discussed a little bit over the last several weeks. His stuff is good. I just don't know if he has been effective as his stuff has shown."
Qualls' spot on the roster was filled by lefthander Jeremy Horst, who was called up from triple-A Lehigh Valley. Horst, a 26-year-old lefthander, was acquired in the offseason trade that sent infielder Wilson Valdez to the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched in 12 games with the Reds last season and posted a 2.93 ERA. He was 2-1 with a 2.11 ERA in 26 appearances with Lehigh Valley this season. He had walked 18 batters and struck out 32 in 38 1/3 innings.
"He's been pretty consistent," Amaro said. "He's been OK as far as the guys who are down there. He's thrown the ball pretty well."
Horst will be the sixth pitcher who opened the season at Lehigh Valley to spend time on the Phillies' roster this season, but Amaro admitted that the bullpen remains a major concern.
"I think it's an area we have to address," he said. "Right now, we have to give these guys an opportunity to try to grow. How much they can grow throughout the course of the season, I don't know. We have some talent there, but it's tough to put some of the kids in this position, because we're in a position to win and we want to win on a consistent basis. It's not an easy thing to do. It's a good challenge for them and in some ways it will help them develop a little bit. At the same time, it's an area that we lack consistency. It's something we'd like to address."
Earlier in the day, the Phillies had called up righthander Brian Sanches from Lehigh Valley to fill the roster spot created when lefthander Joe Savery was optioned to the Iron Pigs Wednesday night.
Trade Qualls to Japan. They have fast 200mph trains out of the city! Take Charlie and Amaro too! Bunting for tie in the 9th inning. Are u kidding me Charlie! This team needs all the outs you can muster the way they hit with RISP. You can't give outs away with this poor hitting team. I'm sticking to my 15 games out by all star break.
— Pap- and after Kendrick gives up 5 runs in the 1st inning and is clearly a walking disaster that every Phllie fan wishes would just go away like Qualls and Baez, so-called "dogbisuitthedope" insists that he provides a "Solid Outing" and was worth $7.6 million ... and also insists that Hunter Pence is a superstar ... tell your mama to quit as g.m. and get you a job as the clown at a carnival— warbiscuit
- Who's next? Kendrick? Bastardo? Schwimmer? Wheeler and McCarthy?— bobcitydoc
- Straight up for Trout. C'mon Rube.— TVGuy22
- Qualls' as bad as his numbers have been, the fact is, that Qualls as much as anything else, was badly exposed due to the lack of better options around him.
He was never a guy who fared well against left-handed hitters, and in an adequate bullpen, wouldn't have been out there in key situations facing them.
You can't even blame this on Dubee or Manuel because there were no better options available to them, this is on Amaro.
Qualls as a situational pitcher vs. righthanded batters does have some value, and could perform in that role, and has in the past.
It's all well and good, to say "this guy isn't good enough" and designate him for assignment, but there should have been a replacement brought in first, and there are some other young pitchers in bullpen right now, who are not ready to be major leaguers.
I think as was pointed out earlier, Amaro built a poorly contructed bullpen, has failed to act to stabilize it, badly mismanaged his roster options for yesterday's game, was rightfully embarrassed, and made a kneejerk decision here, when the Phils would have been better served acquiring a quality major leaguer, knocking Qualls back into a role his abilities are more suited for, and demoting one of the not quite ready young guys to AAA where they could receive regular work in high leverage situations and improve their game.
Now the Phils have lost Qualls completely, still have the same holes in their bullpen, are in a more desperate "buy" mode for pitching help, and will leave their young pitchers even more exposed until another arm is brought in. Again, another instance where the GM's attempts to recover from an initial and obvious blunder, figure to set the franchise back even further both now and in the future (as yet more prospects are sure to be sacrificed for the latest desperate quick fix)— andyd - Why was Qualls playing here?— Seal Rock
- What will I do with my Qualls jersey?— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- A trade? This is the funniest thing I have heard this week.— Marie Elena
- Chris "Wheels" Wheeler is devastated. He said Qualls, before he got hurt,was really, really good; had nasty stuff with a fast ball that had a little giddy yup to it, and was also a great guy in the clubhouse. He's sure he'll sign on with someone very soon.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- I, too, would like to be traded.— ghostofozark
- Sayonara-and take CM with you...— M60tanker
- He sucked but he sounds like a situational guy but Manuel can't deal with making numerous pitching changes in an inning. There aren't many relievers who can pitch to both RH and LH pitchers all the time.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- He wants to be traded lol... I have to give RAJ credit, I couldn't keep a straight face if he had said that to me. If anyone offers you two cans of Miller Light for him Rube, go ahead and take it!— drbob1
- Qualls has blown 5 to 7 games this year. Without this guy we would be about 2-3 games out of first. Trade him where? No one wants him.— joeyc444
- @andyd -- i actually don't totally disagree with you --to a point --that a guy like Qualls could fit in with a smart manager with a good bullpen (like SF, NYY, Wash) if used judiciously ONLY to get out an occasional righty..however Chollie badly misused him initially as an 8th inning set-up guy, once used Qualls as 9th inning closer to blow a surefire Cliff Lee win, and then thinks that he could use him as a long man ... since Chollie has no clue how to use his bullpen or a guy like Qualls, having him on the roster is simply a waste of a roster spot ..the blame is on Ruben for acquiring Qualls and not reliable 7th and 8th inning options and for having a strategically-challenged manager like Chollie who badly mangles his bullpen and can only win when all the guys in the bullpen have clearly defined roles and perform their roles perfectly (like the bullpen assembled by Gillick in 2008)— warbiscuit
