Rays add Qualls in time for tonight’s game
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Jul 31, 2010 
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The Rays have officially completed a trade for reliever Chad Qualls, who will be in Tampa in time for tonight’s game against the Yankees.
Tampa is sending a player to be named to the Diamondbacks.
The trades for Berkman and Kearns very much have the feel of those great late season trades the Yanks made in the late 1990′s for guys like Fielder, Justice, etc.
Other teams could have made those moves. At first it looked like the yanks would be covering most if not all of Berkman’s money. But that turned out not to be the case. I’d imagine if a team offered the Astros better prospects they would have picked up more of the owed money. Lance Berkman, even now, is a better hitter than Jorge Cantu, for example, a guy the Rangers added for his bat and to who they are paying 1.5M.
The Red Sox are desperate for OF help. They couldn’t have used Kearns?
The best organizations, regardless of industry, are the ones that are honest with themselves, are self-critical and committed to try to continuously improve how they execute and perform. They are not satisfied with even being excellent. They are always striving to be better.
That’s the kind of organization the Yankees have become.
Berkman deal is official
I think the overlooked rationale behind the two trades is that they provide offensive depth if the health of Posada and/or Alex reduces their production, or if Jeter’s slide continues.