Los Angeles Angels acquire Joe Thatcher, Tony Campana from Arizona Diamondbacks

Less than 24 hours after the Oakland Athletics shocked the baseball world with a trade that landed Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, the Los Angeles Angels have made a trade to bolster their pitching staff as well.

More from Los Angeles Angels

• Shohei Ohtani trade rumors live tracker: Every update so far
• Shohei Ohtani Rumors: The best trade package from every NL East team
• MLB Rumors: Cardinals budging on Arenado, Orioles-Ohtani package, Yankees backup plan
• MLB Rumors: Shocking Shohei Ohtani suitor would be Dodgers, Giants nightmare
• MLB Rumors: Shohei Ohtani, Angels, Dodgers, Rich Hill

This deal is not necessarily on the headline-grabbing level of the trade made by Oakland, but it is still noteworthy in that it addresses the most glaring area of need for the Angels: the bullpen.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports that the Angels have acquired a left-handed relief pitcher and an outfielder from the Arizona Diamondbacks:

Thatcher is probably the more familiar pitcher of the two. The 32-year-old had spent his entire career with the San Diego Padres until a mid-season move last year to Arizona. He has a stellar 2.67 ERA and 9.4 K/9 in 37 appearances this season. In his career the side-winding lefty has held left-handed hitters to a .221 average against. He fills a hole for the Angels with that ability to get tough left-handed bats. The Angels had long been reported to want a left-handed reliever, and now they’ve added one.

Campana is a speedy outfielder who has struggled with the bat this season: in 61 plate appearances he is bating .150/.164/.200. He has shown better than that in the past, however, and could still impact games if put in the right situation. As for the Diamondbacks’ half of this deal, Nick Piecoro of azcentral.com reports the following.

This is a solid move for the Angels, one that will presumably be following by at least one more as things heat up in the American League West.