The Diamondbacks have managed to not only trade Chad Qualls for a player to be named later, but got the Tampa Bay (not Devil) Rays to take on the rest of his salary.
That's what teams in a pennant race do. They take a flyer on a guy who's having a horrible year, but whose stuff still seems to be there. A guy with a long and impressive career track record.
For the Diamondbacks, Qualls personifies all that's gone wrong this season with the bullpen and there is little chance of fan backlash at this particular salary dump.
AZ Snakepit will have all the fan celebration reaction.
Here's the official press release on Qualls.
(PHOENIX) - The Arizona Diamondbacks announced today they have traded right-handed pitcher Chad Qualls to the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named later, according to D-backs' interim General Manager Jerry Dipoto.
Qualls, 31, has a 30-26 ERA and 3.74 ERA in 433 games in seven Major League seasons with the Houston Astros and D-backs from 2004-10. The right-hander had a 1-4 record and 8.29 ERA (35 ER in 38.0 IP) with 12 saves, 15 walks and 34 strikeouts in 43 games for the D-backs this season. His career-high 24 saves in 2009 rank sixth on the D-backs' single-season list, while his 1.21 walks per 9.0-innings ratio and 6.43 strikeouts-to-walks ratio led all Major League relievers. Qualls was acquired by the D-backs, along with Chris Burke and Juan Gutierrez, from the Astros on Dec. 14, 2007.