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The Astros have signed Chad Qualls, the right handed reliever whom was a key cog in the bullpen during the glory days. The two year deal is worth $6 million with possible incentives, and a club option in 2016 to the tune of $3.5 million. The 35 year old Astros product turned journey man, whom has thrown for eight different clubs, will return home and likely slot into a setup role. Quallsy is coming off a huge age 34 season with the Marlins boasting a WAR of 1.8, and will instantly become the best arm out of the 'pen. The big right hander is a strict sinker ball, slider type, and those two offerings have served him well with mostly positive values over the years. Last year Chad posted the highest average velocity of his career with his sinker at 93.9 MPH, so it would appear he has found a second wind with no sign of regression. Upon leaving Houston for Arizaona with Chris Burke via the Jose Valverde trade, Chad saw stints closing in 2009 and 2010, but likely will not return to the role upon his homecoming. Qualls figures to shoulder a heavy workload, but the durable reliever should have no trouble doing so as he hasn't seen less than 50 innings of work in any campaign but his rookie one. This move addresses by far the biggest hole in the roster, and will not be the last move to bolster the bullpen. The last week has been very fruitful for Jeff Luhnow & Co. and the big league club has improved leaps and bounds. It's nice to have a member of the 2004-2005 teams back in Houston, and hopefully Qualls can experience winning baseball in an Astros uniform yet again. Below are a look at Qualls' numbers via baseball-reference.com and a video of the fist pump heard round the world.





Year Age Tm ERA SV IP ER HR BB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 2004 25 HOU 3.55 25 33.0 34 13 13 24 123 1.273 9.3 0.8 2005 26 HOU 3.28 77 79.2 73 33 29 23 60 130 1.205 8.2 0.8 2006 27 HOU 3.76 81 88.2 76 38 37 10 28 56 119 1.173 7.7 1.0 2007 28 HOU 3.05 79 82.2 84 29 28 10 25 78 146 1.319 9.1 1.1 2008 29 ARI 2.81 77 73.2 61 29 23 18 71 164 1.072 7.5 0.5 2009 30 ARI 3.63 51 24 52.0 53 23 21 45 123 1.154 9.2 0.9 2010 31 TOT 7.32 70 12 59.0 85 56 48 21 49 57 1.797 13.0 1.1 2010 31 ARI 8.29 43 12 38.0 61 41 35 15 34 51 2.000 14.4 1.2 2010 31 TBR 5.57 27 21.0 24 15 13 15 71 1.429 10.3 0.9 2011 32 SDP 3.51 77 74.1 73 30 29 20 43 102 1.251 8.8 0.8 2012 33 TOT 5.33 60 52.1 63 34 31 14 27 76 1.471 10.8 1.2 2012 33 TOT 5.20 52 45.0 53 29 26 11 25 77 1.422 10.6 1.4 2012 33 PHI 4.60 35 31.1 39 18 16 19 89 1.532 11.2 2.0 2012 33 NYY 6.14 7.1 10 72 1.773 12.3 0.0 2012 33 PIT 6.59 17 13.2 14 11 10 59 1.171 9.2 0.0 2013 34 MIA 2.61 66 62.0 57 18 18 19 49 148 1.226 8.3 0.6











