ANAHEIM — As the Angels players came off the field following batting practice Friday, several of them wondered what all the commotion was about as a large contingent of reporters waited to talk to general manager Jerry Dipoto about the trade that had landed Cy Young winner Zack Greinke from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Some of them had an inkling something was about to go down.
Right fielder Torii Hunter faced Greinke plenty of times when both players were in the American League Central, Hunter on the Minnesota Twins and Greinke in Kansas City.
“I’ve seen him mature, as a kid and now one of the best pitchers in the game, so I’m excited to have him as a teammate,” Hunter said. “I’ll probably be the first one to greet him.”
Dipoto indicated Friday’s move likely will be the Angels’ only trade before Tuesday’s deadline. That is welcome news to outfielder Peter Bourjos and pitcher Garrett Richards, both of whom saw their names thrown around in trade rumors over the past few weeks.
“To take away from our major-league club right now, where we stand, would have been particularly painful,” Dipoto said.
Here are lineups for Friday night’s game with the Tampa Bay Rays:
Tampa BaySam Fuld LFB.J. Upton CFBen Zobrist 2BMatt Joyce RFJeff Keppinger DHCarlos Pena 1BBryan Roberts 3BJose Lobaton CElliot Johnson SS
AngelsMike Trout CFTorii Hunter RFAlbert Pujols 1BMark Trumbo LFKendrys Morales DHAlbert Callaspo 3BHowie Kendrick 2BMaicer Izturis SSBobby Wilson C
