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All quiet for Angels at trading deadline

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BALTIMORE (AP) Unwilling to shuffle the current roster or depart with young talent, the Los Angeles Angels stayed inactive on the final day of the non-waiver trade deadline.

While AL West-leading Oakland obtained left-handed starter Jon Lester, the second-place Angels appeared OK with the prospect of playing a pat hand down the stretch.

''We're very happy with the way our pitching staff lines up,'' general manager Jerry Dipoto said. ''Our bullpen is deeper and much improved over the last month-and-a-half. Our starting rotation has been steady throughout.''

The Angels tweaked the roster previously with trades in late June and earlier this month that added three solid relief pitchers.

''Our deadline was some time ago when we acquired Joe Thatcher, Huston Street and Jason Grilli,'' Dipoto said. ''Today was just Thursday to us.''

Los Angeles started the day with a 63-43 record, second-best in the AL behind Oakland (66-41).

''We like our team,'' Dipoto said. ''There is no secret about it, we weren't necessarily looking for anything today.''

Also playing in the decision: Starter C.J. Wilson is expected to return Saturday from a right ankle sprain on Saturday and outfielder Collin Cowgill will soon come back from a nasal fracture.

''That will bolster us,'' Dipoto said.

Still, the A's addition of Lester created a stir in the clubhouse before the Angels faced the Orioles on Thursday night.

''It makes their pitching staff better, for sure,'' outfielder Mike Trout said. ''Facing Lester is always a battle and now he's in our division. ''

Manager Mike Scioscia said of Oakland: ''They were good yesterday and they're good today.''

And the Angels?

''We're very happy with our team,'' Scioscia said. ''We're psyched to have C.J. coming back. We have a lot of baseball left and we're still looking at the big picture and focusing on our team moving in the right direction.''

Trout indicated that there's something to be said for not shaking up the roster in the middle of the season.

`The chemistry here is great. We're very loose,'' he said. ''We have a great group of guys here who get along.''