Brandon Phillips is heading to Anaheim.
Phillips accepted a trade to the Angels on Thursday night, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported. The teams had until the end of the day to make a deal and beat the waiver trade deadline and did so. Atlanta even held Phillips out of the lineup Thursday in case of a trade.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman says the Braves are receiving minor league catcher Tony Sanchez as compensation for Phillips. Sanchez was the No. 4 overall pick by the Pirates in 2009, but he didn’t do much over three separate brief MLB stints with the team. He’s a career .257 hitter in the minors.
The acquisition of Phillips helps fortify the Angels’ weak batting lineup entering the final month of the season.
Outside of MVP candidate Mike Trout, the Angels did not have an offensive player with an OPS over .800, and only two were over .730. Phillips has a .753 OPS and is a big upgrade at second base over what the Angels had in Kaleb Cowart and Cliff Pennington. The Angels also acquired Justin Upton on Friday. His 28 homers would lead the Angels, and his .904 OPS ranks second behind Trout.
The Angels are 69-65 entering a three-game weekend series against the Rangers.
