Minnesota Twins: Ranking the Twins’ potential targets at the trade deadline
By Chris Schad
8. RP Shane Greene (Detroit Tigers)
Another in-division trade that the Twins may look to pull off comes from Detroit, where Shane Greene has been having a career year. The Tigers All-Star has put up video game numbers at the back end of the Detroit bullpen this year as he’s registered a 1.09 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .158 batting average this season.
Where Diekman gets it done by missing bats, Greene has done it by getting opposing batters to pound the ball into the turf. FanGraphs has Greene at a 53.4% ground ball percentage and that helps offset his 9.3 K/9 rate in 2019. To further help the cause, Greene’s walk rates of 2.7 per nine also trump someone like Diekman.
Greene probably is due for some regression in the second half of the season, but the Twins wouldn’t be looking for him to close. Greene also comes with the added bonus of an extra year of control, which means the rebuilding Tigers may be looking to get whatever they can for the 30-year old. Greene isn’t a shutdown reliever, but he has enough to be an upgrade.