Tigers send Greene to Braves for prospects

DETROIT -- Two years to the day after a Trade Deadline deal made Shane Greene the Tigers' closer, another deal has sent him out. The Tigers traded Greene to the Braves on Wednesday for left-hander Joey Wentz and outfield prospect Travis Demeritte, both former first-round Draft picks.

Given Greene’s breakout season as a closer on a rebuilding team, it’s a deal everyone expected. The destination and the return went down to the final hour before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline.

“I thought it was pretty good considering the market for relief pitchers out there,” general manager Al Avila said Wednesday evening. “There were a ton of pitchers available. The process went to the wire. Considering everything involved, I thought it was pretty good.”

Wentz, the Braves’ seventh-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, went 5-8 with a 4.72 ERA in 20 starts for Double-A Mississippi. The 40th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft struck out 100 batters over 103 innings with a combination of a low-90s fastball, a changeup and a curve. Two evaluators who have seen Wentz this year said he has potential to crack the Tigers’ future rotation, though he’s a work in progress.

Wentz will join a Double-A Erie rotation that already includes three of the Tigers’ top four prospects in Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Tarik Skubal, along with No. 9 prospect Alex Faedo. All but Skubal are right-handed, which is part of the reason Detroit saw value in the 21-year-old Wentz.

In Demeritte, the 30th overall selection in the 2013 Draft, the Tigers saw a hitter enjoying a breakout season at the Triple-A level with a chance to hit in the Majors this year, if not immediately. Though the 24-year-old right-handed hitter has a .244 career average and an .803 OPS, he hit .286 (97-for-339) this year at Gwinnett with 28 doubles, 20 home runs, 74 RBIs and a career-best .944 OPS.

One scout who had seen Demeritte a few times this summer said a compact swing has helped him translate his athleticism to the plate. It was a vast improvement from last year, coming off a .222 average and a .732 OPS at Double-A Mississippi that led the Tigers and other teams to bypass him in the Rule 5 Draft.

The trade ends the best tenure for a Tigers closer since Jose Valverde’s 84 saves in 2011-12. Greene did his best to stabilize the back end of Detroit's bullpen through the team’s rebuild, piling up 63 saves for a team that has won 112 games since he became closer at the '17 Trade Deadline.

“It’s exciting,” Greene told reporters on his way out of Angel Stadium on Wednesday. “There’s mixed emotions. I mean, I’ve been traded before [from the Yankees to the Tigers in 2014], so I get it, but this time I obviously had a little bit more relationships with my teammates -- I’ve been here longer -- the coaching staff, training staff, all that. So, saying goodbye to them and starting a new chapter.”

Of the three Tigers most widely available on the trade market, Greene carried the widest interest. Though he wasn’t the most likely Tiger to be dealt -- Nick Castellanos carried that title as a soon-to-be free agent -- the expectation was that Greene’s value would never be higher than now. It’s not just about his career-best season, but also his services for the 2020 season before he’s eligible for free agency. Greene will be eligible for arbitration one more time this coming winter after pitching on a $4 million salary this season.

The Tigers’ struggles since mid-May have made Greene’s early-season dominance a distant memory. There was a time this year when Greene led the Majors in saves, having become the first pitcher in MLB history to record a save in seven of his team’s first 10 games.

Greene was 15-for-15 in save chances with a 1.50 ERA on May 12, 38 games into Detroit’s season. He has just seven saves and 20 appearances in 64 games since then, his role becoming little-used amidst the Tigers’ two-month funk. He hasn’t recorded a save since June 29, though he finished off their 7-2 win Monday against the Angels.

“Obviously, you want to win,” Greene said. “The 2019 Tigers -- I’ve said it before -- they’re a group of guys who might not be winning baseball games, but we have a lot of fun, and I think that’s where it starts. You’ve got to have guys that care about each other and love each other and pull for each other on the field. That’s where the winning starts, and I think that they have that here.”

Many teams saw Greene as a setup reliever more than a closer, and his ability to work four or five outs at a time as recently as last season gave him added versatility. The Braves, however, have a need at closer that Greene could fill. Regardless of the role, the Tigers maintained a high asking price on Greene, looking for Major League-ready hitters.

With their bullpen needs evident, the Braves picked up their interest in Greene and joined the Yankees, Nationals and the Dodgers in talks Wednesday, according to a source. The Nationals, having turned down demands for top prospect Carter Kieboom, moved on Wednesday. By mid-afternoon, talks were down to the Braves and Dodgers, though Los Angeles was seen as a stronger suitor for Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, who was not traded by Pittsburgh.

The Tigers had a chance at Demeritte in last winter’s Rule 5 Draft, but they passed, not wanting the challenge of carrying him for a full season on the Major League roster coming off a .222 average and a .732 OPS at Double-A Mississippi at age 23. His rebound season since then recaptured his prospect value.