The Atlanta Braves have landed Detroit Tigers All-Star closer Shane Greene, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Buster Olney of ESPN:
#Braves close to acquiring Shane Greene from the #Tigers, source tells The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2019
Braves get Shane Greene, pending medicals
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 31, 2019
Greene has been one of the best relievers in the game this season, ranking fourth in the bigs with 22 saves while also posting a 1.18 ERA and 10.2 K/9 in 38 innings of work.
The Braves, meanwhile, are looking to make a major play for a late-game reliever that they have been desperately lacking for the last two seasons.
Atlanta's bullpen has been a sore spot for a number of years. In fact, their relief corps ranks last in the majors in terms of fWAR despite posting a respectable 4.15 ERA as a unit. Although he has shown good stuff, Luke Jackson has blown eight of his 25 save opportunities, including on Wednesday against the rival Washington Nationals shortly before this deal.
Greene is kind of impact arm that the Braves desperately needed to retain their lead in the National League East while also gaining a slight advantage over the Los Angeles Dodgers, another serious NL contender that has yet to address their own bullpen needs at the deadline.
On a similar note, Atlanta's aggressive move for Greene might force the Dodgers to eventually give up a premium prospect like Gavin Lux in order to acquire someone such as Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez.
So this move not only has ramifications for the Braves' success in the present, but also in a potential playoff matchup with Los Angeles.
For his part, Greene might also benefit from pitching closer to home (he is from Florida) while being on a team in the thick of the playoff race.
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