Brewers claim Angels pitcher

All of a sudden there isn’t a starting pitcher the Brewers don’t want.

The team continued to stockpile arms on Thursday, claiming right-hander Nick Green off waivers from the Angels on the same day club officials expected to finalize a deal with free agent pick-up Braden Looper.

Green, 24, who was placed on waivers by the Angels on Tuesday to make room for free agent addition Bobby Abreu, was once considered a top Angels pitching prospect but is coming off a so-so season at Triple-A Salt Lake. He was 8-8 with a 5.32 ERA in 28 starts and surrendered 31 home runs in 158 innings.

He was better in 2007, going 10-8 with a 3.68 ERA in 178 innings for Double-A Arkansas and earning a spot on the Angels’ 40-man roster. With Milwaukee, Green, who has Minor League options remaining, will probably join the starting rotation at Triple-A Nashville along with recently-acquired left-hander Chase Wright.

The Brewers needed a 40-man roster spot for Green so they designated right-handed reliever Luis Pena for assignment. Pena, a power pitcher who struggled in 2008 (6.93 ERA in 52 games at Nashville), had been a Brewers farmhand since 1999, when he signed out of Venezuela.

The Brewers will have to make another move to clear a spot for Looper, whose one-year contract should be finalized by the end of the day Thursday.