Detroit Tigers trade Shane Greene to Braves

Shane Greene

The Detroit Tigers have traded All-Star closer Shane Greene minutes before the 4pm deadline Wednesday to the Atlanta Braves.

Greene, 30, made his first All-Star game this season as the Tigers lone representative and has 22 saves on 25 chances this year while putting up a 1.18 ERA.  The six-year veteran was traded to the Tigers in 2014 from the New York Yankees and has a career 4.53 ERA with 65 saves.  He is a free agent in 2021.

"We're very excited to add two significant prospects to our organization," said Tigers Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, Al Avila in press releast. "Wentz is a highly competitive lefthanded pitcher with a three-pitch mix, who we see as a great addition to our already formidable stable of young arms in the player development system. We're also adding a solid athlete in Demeritte, who has shown spectacular power in Triple A and is someone we can see making an impact in our outfield in the near future.

"We'd also like to thank Shane for his hard work and dedication to this organization since he joined us in 2015, and wish him all the best in his future."

In return, the Tigers get pitching prospect Joey Wentz and outfielder Travis Demeritte.

Wentz, 21, was rated as the seventh-best prospect on the Braves according to MLB Pipeline.  With AA Mississippi, the 6-5, 210 pound left hander has 20 starts while posting a 5-8 record and 4.72 ERA.  He also has 100 strikeouts on the season.

Demeritte, 24, was rated as the 24th prospect on the Braves according to Baseball America.  With AAA, he is hitting .286 with 20 home runs.

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