Atlanta Braves traded Tommy Hanson to the Los Angeles Angels for Jordan Walden Friday.
The 26-year-old Hanson and 25-year-old Walden are promising pitchers, who could not perform as per expectations during the previous season due to different reasons.
Hanson started his major league career in 2009 and ended the season with 11-4 with a 2.89 ERA, but in the last season he struggled a bit on the field. He was 13-10 with a 4.48 ERA. He struggled through the season because of shoulder and back problems.
"It's a good risk on a pitcher we really believe in," the Associated Press quoted Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto as saying.
"I don't know that we're necessarily looking for a bounce back. He won 13 games. I don't think it would be fair to qualify it as a disappointing season. ... His velocity remained consistent from month to month.
"Our scouting reports remained consistent with what we've always thought of Tommy. He's done it for four years at the big league level, and we think he'll continue to do it."
Although the Braves won more games last season, Hanson had his worst ever ERA at 4.48.He could not play during the last two months of the 2011 season due to an ailing shoulder.
"I think toward the end, I didn't feel I was as strong as I need to be," Hanson said of this season. "I think as the years have gone along I've learned how to have a better understanding of how to stay healthy and be strong. I think it was a little bit of a learning experience last year and I'm looking to improve."
Walden, who had 32 saves in 2011, was at 3-2 mark with a 3.46 earned run average for the Angels. He lost his place as a closing pitcher to Ernesto Frieri. With a 100 mph fastball and 48 strikeouts in 39 innings this year, he could be an asset for his new team.
"We've been focused on adding a power arm to our bullpen all offseason," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "We felt if we added one power arm we would have a bullpen that would stack up with the best bullpens in our league.
"Jordan Walden has closing experience and the kind of arm that will stack up well in a seventh and eighth-inning role for us."
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