The unloading of veteran Diamondbacks continues, as they've shipped reliever Chad Qualls to the Rays for a player to be named later. The Rays will pay the entire $1.48MM remaining on Qualls' contract, keeping interim GM Jerry Dipoto's streak alive of not sending cash in his transactions.
Qualls, 31, began the season as Arizona's closer but lost the gig by mid-June. He has an 8.29 ERA, 8.1 K/9, and 3.6 BB/9 in 38 innings on the season with five home runs allowed. Silver lining: he tossed a scoreless inning last night and there's almost no way his batting average on balls in play remains at .434. The Rays' pen is in good shape, especially from the right side, so Qualls is something of a luxury for the wild card leaders.
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal first reported the Rays' serious interest in Qualls, with MLB.com's Steve Gilbert reporting the agreement.
