RHP Al Alburquerque cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. He has six saves, a 1-0 record and a 2.40 ERA in 15 relief appearances for Salt Lake this season. Albuquerque has not appeared for Los Angeles yet.

RHP Al Alburquerque cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake.

RHP Al Alburquerque was designated for assignment on Saturday. Alburquerque, signed as a free agent from the Detroit Tigers in January, spent the season at Triple-A Salt Lake and never pitched an inning for the Angels.

RHP Al Alburquerque and the Angels agreed to a one-year, $1.1 million non-guaranteed contract Tuesday.The 29-year-old was not tendered a contract by the Tigers after going 4-1 with a 4.21 ERA in 61 games last season. In 62 innings, Alburquerque struck out 58 and issued 33 walks. The Angels would be responsible for about one-quarter of the contract if the hard-throwing but sometimes erratic veteran is cut by Opening Day.

RHP Al Alburquerque was non-tendered by the Tigers on Wednesday, making him a free agent. Alburquerque, 29, went 4-1 with a 4.21 ERA in 67 relief appearances while earning $1,725,000 for Detroit this year. The Tigers didn't want to pay the amount he would earn through arbitration this winter.

Albuquerque (hip) threw a 10-pitch bullpen session Thursday, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

Albuquerque has not pitched in more than a week as he continues to deal with soreness in his hip. The Tigers were encouraged by Thursday's session, however, and Albuquerque could return to active duty as early as Friday versus the Indians.

Alburquerque is dealing with soreness near his right hip, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

An MRI was ordered, and while the results have not yet been released publicly, Alburquerque seems confident it's not a serious issue. He's hoping to be available to pitch Wednesday against the Royals.

Alburquerque hasn't pitched in a week since allowing three earned runs and registering no outs in an August 24 rout at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds.

He's had a bad year, but then again, this seems to be a pattern for the reliever. Excluding 2012, he has alternated good and bad seasons, at least in terms of ERA and WHIP. However, he's struggled with control in most seasons and he's had just one where he registered at least three strikeouts for every walk. This season, he's struggling with a 1.43 WHIP and 50:28 K:BB rate and should be nowhere near an active fantasy lineup.

Alburquerque has 42 strikeouts in 42.1 innings of work this season.

The strikeouts are great, but his 1.42 WHIP is a bit high for our liking and his K:BB rate 42:22 doesn't instill confidence either. Like most of the Tigers' bullpen, Alburquerque is struggling to keep runners from getting on base and scoring. Right now, he doesn't even offer any value to those in leagues that count holds.

Alburquerque has allowed just one run and posted a 13:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his last 11 appearances.

He started slowly this season, but has pitched well of late. He does have an option remaining, so he could still be demoted if the Tigers need to make a roster move. But that appears unlikely at this point given his improved play.

Alburquerque (illness) recorded two outs in the eighth inning of Tuesday's loss to the Twins.

Alburquerque was unavailable for a couple days due to an illness, but he is presumably healthy now. He has allowed eight hits and served up seven walks in his seven innings out of the Tigers' bullpen this season, so he will likely be limited to middle relief duty while he figures things out.

Alburquerque will see a doctor Sunday for a sinus infection, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

This is almost definitely just a blip in the radar for the right-hander, who has struggled mightily in his last couple of appearances.

Alburquerque took a beating Wednesday night, allowing three earned runs on two hits including a home run in one inning of work. He faced six batters, walking one and striking out another.

Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger; sometimes you're the ball. He needs to shake this off and prepare for more late-inning work now that Joe Nathan felt something in his arm "pop" in a rehab outing Wednesday.

Alburquerque figures to be in the mix for the Tigers' set-up job now that Joe Nathan has hit the disabled list and Joakim Soria has been promoted to closer.

He, Ian Krol and Joba Chamberlain all figure to see time in the eighth inning and manager Brad Ausmus may roll all three through the position to see who ends up claiming the role. Albuquerque had the first shot at setting up Soria on Wednesday against the Twins, although it was a low-leverage situation with the Tigers up 11-0.

Alburquerque agreed to a one-year, $1.725 million contract with the Tigers on Saturday, avoiding arbitration, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.

Alburquerque cut his walk rate nearly in half last season (from 6.2 BB/9 to 3.3 BB/9), though the reduced walk rate came at the expense of his strikeout rate (9.9 K/9). While the right-hander finished with a 2.51 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 57.1 innings, his career-worst 3.78 FIP suggests he overachieved in his fourth major league season. Regardless, Alburquerque will receive a nice raise in his first year of arbitration, and should open the year as one of the Tigers' top right-handed setup men.

Tigers avoided arbitration with RHP Al Alburquerque by agreeing to a one-year contract.

The financials of the deal are not yet known. Alburquerque was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter after qualifying for Super Two status. He put up a 4.59 ERA but struck out a whopping 70 batters over 49 innings last season.

Tigers recalled RHP Al Alburquerque from Triple-A Toledo.

Alburquerque continued to struggle with walks since his demotion to Triple-A, but he also continued to strike batters out at an eye-popping rate. In the majors and minors combined, the righty holds a 53/26 K/BB ratio over 28 2/3 innings this season. Manager Jim Leyland doesn't totally trust him given his control issues, but it wouldn't be a surprise if he winds up giving his big arm some high-leverage innings.

Tigers optioned RHP Al Alburquerque to Triple-A Toledo.

Alburquerque was sporting a 3.14 ERA in 14 1/3 total innings for Detroit but had allowed a run in each of his last three appearances. The Tigers want him to work on his command against a lower level of competition.

Al Alburquerque experienced a pinching sensation in his right groin Wednesday but expects to be fine.

"I think I need to stretch more before I pitch in the game," he told reporters. "It's nothing serious. I don't feel like it's anything serious." Alburquerque has a 1.69 ERA and 18/6 K/BB ratio in 10 2/3 innings this year.

Al Alburquerque pitched another perfect inning Friday to lower his spring ERA to 1.13.

Alburquerque has a 12/4 K/BB ratio while allowing one run and four hits in eight innings. He's yet to really prove to be reliable, but Alburquerque is pretty obviously the Tigers' best reliever, having posted a 1.59 ERA in 56 2/3 innings since debuting in 2011. He's a sleeper candidate for saves.