Good News: Qualls to Tampa Bay

Good news for the Mets: the Diamondbacks won’t have Chad Qualls in the bullpen tonight. That’s because Qualls is on his way to Tampa Bay, traded by Arizona for a player to be named later.

Qualls has been abysmal this season, but he struck out two in a perfect, 13-pitch inning against the Mets on Friday night. It’s possible that the D-Backs will be shorthanded, as they have also unloaded Chris Snyder … hard to say whether they will get replacements into NYC in time for the ballgame tonight. If nothing else, the replacements will be a bit stressed from the news and the travel. Let’s hope that, in addition to the upheaval of the Diamondbacks clubhouse, proves to be a distraction and gives an advantage to the Mets this weekend.

In related news, the Rays are reportedly in talks with the Orioles to obtain Luke Scott and/or LOOGY Will Ohman.

Meanwhile, the Mets look like they are standing pat, confident in the organization’s personnel.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.