"The Angels needed to upgrade their offense, and in Dan Haren, acquired from Arizona on Sunday for left-hander Joe Saunders, two minor league pitchers and a player to be named, they got a guy who is batting .364 with a .527 slugging percentage.

One little problem: Haren, 29, is a pitcher who probably won't bat for the remainder of 2010 in the American League.

"We got a good pitcher, but it's not Kendry Morales," Angels center fielder and aspiring general manager Torii Hunter said, referring to the slugging first baseman the Angels lost to a season-ending leg injury in late May.

"We lost Kendry. I don't see too many players like him out there, and obviously they see the same thing. You've got to get some pieces, put them together and try to do what you can."

The Angels, whose 6-4 loss to Texas on Sunday night dropped them seven games behind the Rangers in the American League West, inquired about sluggers such as Adam Dunn and Prince Fielder but were apparently unwilling to part with the players Washington and Milwaukee wanted for the first basemen.

Unable to add an impact bat, they acquired a front-of-the-rotation starter in Haren, a three-time All-Star who has averaged 15 wins over the last five seasons and is signed through 2012.

The cost seemed steep. Saunders is one of the game's better young lefties, a 29-year-old who was 54-32 with a 4.29 earned-run average in five seasons in Anaheim.

One of the two minor leaguers in the deal, triple-A right-hander Rafael Rodriguez, is a fringe prospect. But the other, left-hander Patrick Corbin, is a 2009 second-round pick who was a combined 13-3 with a 3.87 ERA in 20 starts for Class-A Cedar Rapids and Rancho Cucamonga.

And the Arizona Republic reported Sunday that the player to be named is Tyler Skaggs, a highly regarded 19-year-old left-hander who is 8-4 with a 3.61 ERA at Cedar Rapids.

Including Thursday's deal with Kansas City, the Angels gave up a rotation mainstay and five minor league pitchers from a thin farm system for Haren and third baseman Alberto Callaspo.

So, the Angels mortgaged a sizable chunk of their future to improve an area of strength — the rotation — for a run at the Rangers, who added ace Cliff Lee and veteran catcher Bengie Molina."