Phillies trade Luis Garcia to Angels for lefthanded reliever Jose Alvarez

The Phillies acquired their second lefthanded reliever in four days as they parted on Thursday night with longtime reliever Luis Garcia in a trade with the Angels.

The Phillies received Jose Alvarez, a 29-year-old reliever who pitched in 76 games last season and logged a 2.71 ERA in 63 innings. The Phillies tendered Garcia a contract last week after he posted a 6.07 ERA last season in 46 games as he shuffled between triple A and the majors. Garcia turns 32 in January and spent parts of the last six seasons with the Phillies. He was the team’s second-longest tenured player behind Cesar Hernandez.

Both Garcia and Alvarez are out of minor-league options and it was hard to imagine the often-erratic Garcia sticking in the majors for a full season. So the Phillies will take their chances on Alvarez, who held lefthanded batters to a .207 average last season and averaged 8.4 strikeouts and 3.1 walks per nine innings.

The Phillies acquired lefthander James Pazos on Monday as part of the Jean Segura trade with the Mariners as they continue to build lefthanded pitching depth. The Phillies will try to add to their bullpen next week at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas and it would not be a surprise if they tried to land a dominant lefthander like Andrew Miller.