ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Angels acquired relief pitchers Luis García and Andrew Chafin from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Jake Eder and Sam Brown, the teams announced on Wednesday.
García, 38, will be joining the Angels organization for the third time after spending the entirety of the 2019 season with the club, and being a primary trade chip for the organization at last year's trade deadline that brought back four fringe 40-man prospects from the Boston Red Sox.
Garcia began the 2025 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he had a 5.27 ERA in 27 1/3 innings. He was designated for assignment on June 29 and released soon after. In 10 innings with the Nationals, he has allowed one run. Garcia's stats on the Angels in 2024 were promising though, as he boasted a 3.71 ERA, 40 strikeouts, 11 holds, and 4 saves in 43.1 innings pitched before being moved to the Red Sox later that season.
Angels Manager Ray Montgomery spoke about the message it says that they acquired two proven veteran relievers,
"I think it's a good message. We added experience to a bullpen where it's lacking, not performance wise, just we have a lot of youth in there. We added different looks to our bullpen and got experience, which is important."
Chafin, 35, has been among the best left-handed run-prevention relievers in baseball for the bulk of his 12-year career. He has a 150 ERA+ in 2025 in 20 innings. He will join fellow southpaws Reid Detmers and Brock Burke as high-leverage arms in the Angels bullpen. Montgomery is thrilled with the competitive spirit Chafin will bring to the organization,
"He's an unbelievable competitor...he's willing to take the ball in every situation, obviously being a left hander with a good breaking ball, it gives you a lot of room. He's still doing it at a high level."
Eder, 26, was acquired by the Angels in late March after being designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox. He has a 4.91 ERA in 18 1/3 innings with the Angels this season. Once a top prospect for Chicago, he was ranked the 24th best prospect in the Angels system by Baseball America.
Brown, 23, was the Angels 12th-round draft selection in 2023. He has spent the last two seasons with Double-A Rocket City, while holding a 117 wRC+ this season.
Jose Quijada was designated for assignment to make room on the Angels 40-man roster.
Though they didn't have to give up much to acquire Garcia and Chafin, this move signals that the Angels are at least considering "buying" at the deadline and not "selling". There is still another day for moves to be made (trade deadline is Thursday July 31st at 3 PM PST), but as of right now the Angels have not moved any significant players on their roster or in their farm system.
The Angels lost 6-3 to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night making them 3 games under .500 (53-56) after their final game before the trade deadline. With the Seattle Mariners losing to the Athletics on Wednesday night as well, they are still 4 games back of the final WC spot with 53 games to go this season.