Knights Bring Qualls Back Into the Fold

(Special to the Daily Mirror - February 18, 2008)

NEW YORK - In an interesting turn of events, the Knights have brought reliever Chad Qualls back to New York by drafting him in the sixth round of the slow-moving 2008 NASBL draft.

Qualls was with the Knights in 2006 and 2007. After struggling in his first year in New York, the 29 year old righthander blossomed in his sophomore term, hurling 81 innings in middle relief, winning 5 games while posting a 2.55 ERA for the contending Knights. He was then surprisingly cut last month.

In a prepared statement faxed to New York sports media outlets, GM Mitch Pak said "Middle relief is critical in a league like the NASBL, since starting pitchers tend to wear down quickly. It was no secret that we hated to let Chad go after the kind of year he gave us. We were surprised and pleased to see that not only was he passed up in the supplemental draft, but he was still available in the sixth round of the current draft. We are very glad to bring him back to New York."

Qualls rejoins old bullpen mates Takashi Saito, Scott Linebrink and Kevin Gregg, while also greeting rookie Manny Delcarmen.

In other Knights news, the club addressed its two most glaring problems - right field and catcher - in the early rounds of the draft. The Knights used their first pick (#8 overall) on right fielder Matt Kemp. Kemp is considered a bit of a hothead whose temperament might not be a perfect fit for the sports cauldron that is New York City, but his hitting prowess is well-known and highly-regarded. At just 23 years of age, Kemp is not a full-time player, however, and will likely platoon with veteran Xavier Nady, whom the Knights drafted in the fifth round.

As expected, the Knights released both Jason Kendall and Gerald Laird last month and started over with a clean sheet of paper at backstop. The team drafted switch-hitting phenom, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, age 22, with its second round pick. Salty, as he perfers to be called will split catching time with veteran Johnny Estrada. The Knights reportedly have already received two trade offers for Salty, but have notified the league that he will not be dealt.

The Mirror's full analysis of the Knights 2008 draft picks and season outlook will appear after the draft's completion.