Detroit Tigers: Making sense of a Shane Greene Trade

Detroit Tigers closer Shane Greene had his name come up plenty of times this offseason in the trade rumors.

This past week the Detroit Tigers veteran had a profile on him done by Max Bultman of the Athletic. It’s a great read if you have a subscription already to the Athletic. If you don’t I highly recommend subscribing, it’s worth the investment.

Yesterday, the Tigers closer notched his twelveth save of the season. The 29-year old has had rocky moments throughout the season but the veteran has post respectable strikeout numbers this season. According to FanGraphs, he’s posting a 10.03 K/9 rate, he’s averaging more than a strikeout per inning.

The Tigers are rebuilding, and somehow still in the AL Central race. They’re not going to make a serious run in the AL Central race, so trading away veterans who’ve been playing well makes sense. With that said the veteran closer could be a viable chip asset as the trade deadline nears closer.

A trade for Greene wouldn’t bring in a J.D. Martinez or Justin Verlander Haul. At best the Tigers could get a similar package to what the received for Ian Kinsler.  Kinsler is posting a negative fWAR rate this season, so the Tigers seem to have made a good move in trading him.

For Kinsler, the Detroit Tigers received OF Troy Montgomery and RHP Wilkel Hernandez from the LA Angels. Respectively, they were ranked 20th and 24th in the Angels farm system. Any trade for Greene would receive a similar package of prospects. That might the absolute best case scenario given that Greene has had shaky moments throughout the season.

Next: Exploring a trade with the Seattle Mariners

Trading Greene away this season makes sense. The Tigers still need to make moves this season and with Greene playing well there will be several teams who will inquire about the veteran closer. I think that Tigers will land a couple top 30 prospects for the 29-year old but I wouldn’t be surprised if they got something better or worse.