Tigers claim Chad Qualls, may now work out trade with Astros
By Dan Zinski
The Detroit Tigers have been revealed as the team that put in a claim on relief pitcher Chad Qualls, who was placed on revocable waivers by the Houston Astros.
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The next step is for the Astros and Tigers to work out a trade for Qualls. They have until Wednesday to make a deal happen.
There is no guarantee that a trade will get done, but considering how badly the Tigers need relief pitching help, you have to believe they will work hard to hammer out an agreement.
The Tigers have been scrambling for weeks to shore up the back end of their bullpen, even restoring to the desperate measure of signing struggling reliever Jim Johnson.
Detroit hoped that Joakim Soria would be the answer after they acquired him from Texas, but Soria quickly went down with injury and has been on the DL ever since.
Qualls at least offers Detroit some hope of getting their bullpen right, given his experience as a short reliever, and given the fact that he’s been fairly good this season for Houston.
But the way things have gone for Detroit, you almost assume something is going to go wrong with Qualls. Either they won’t be able to work out a trade, or they’ll get him and he’ll get hurt.
The Tigers are apparently not meant to fix their bullpen. They are stuck with Joe Nathan.
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