Zack Greinke: How LA Angels Rotation Now Stacks Up with Texas Rangers

Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers take notice. The LA Angels of Anaheim just got a much-needed shot in the arm.

Friday, Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com reported the Angels acquired Milwaukee Brewers' starting right-handed hurler Zack Greinke in exchange for prospect Jean Segura and two Double-A pitching prospects.

In what is now a powerful 1-2-3 punch, Greinke joins Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson in the Angels' starting rotation.

More critically, it puts pressure on the Rangers, who were also in pursuit of Greinke’s services, per ESPN. While LA’s rotation still has holes, it is indisputable the addition of Greinke further solidifies a team that already boasts a powerful offense.

Assuming the Angels’ struggling right-hander Ervin Santana gets bumped from the rotation, here is a breakdown of LA’s rotation with Greinke (stats current through July 28th).

PITCHER	W	L	IP	H	ER	WHIP	BAA	ERA
Weaver	13	1	115.2	84	29	0.95	.201	2.26
Greinke	9	3	123.0	120	47	1.20	.254	3.44
Wilson	9	6	131.0	102	42	1.21	.217	2.89
Heren	8	8	115.2	130	59	1.37	.286	4.59
Richards	3	2	48.1	49	21	1.55	.266	3.91

For the Rangers, Greinke comes as a tough blow, especially in the wake of the team losing Colby Lewis for the season to an elbow injury (according to Yahoo Sports).

While Lewis was not having a great year statistically (6-6/3.43 ERA), he has been an anchor in a Rangers rotation that has won back-to-back American League pennants.

Losing out on Greinke means Texas will have to find other means to replace Lewis, which, at this point may be a challenge.

The Rangers recently brought up Martin Perez to temporarily plug the fifth spot in its rotation.

Texas has also considered moving Neftali Feliz back to the starting rotation, not to mention the Rangers also have Barret Loux at Double-A who has looked very sharp this season.

That said, even without Greinke, the Rangers still have an excellent top-half of the rotation, though it begins to deteriorate beyond Derek Holland.

PITCHER	W	L	IP	H	ER	WHIP	BAA	ERA
Harrison	12	5	128.1	127	43	1.25	.260	3.02
Darvish	11	7	122.1	106	55	1.39	.230	4.05
Holland	7	5	95.0	89	50	1.25	.246	4.74
Oswalt	3	1	29.1	43	17	1.67	.344	5.22
Perez	1	1	19.0	20	9	1.47	.267	4.26

By looking at the above rotation, it becomes hard to argue the Rangers would not have had a golden opportunity to put some breathing space between them and the Angels with Greinke in its rotation.

Will LA beating Texas to the punch for Greinke be the move that alters the course of the AL West race?

Who knows.

But one thing is for certain, the Angels just fired a warning shot at the Rangers. With just a few days left till the trade deadline, it will be interesting to see how Ryan and Co. respond.

More proof the 2012 MLB season is shaping up to be one of the best in years.