Dodgers: Shane Greene is the best fit amongst trade targets

The Dodgers have been linked to Shane Greene over the last few weeks and the latest report has them still interested in the Tigers’ closer.

The Dodgers have been eyeing Detroit Tigers’ closer Shane Greene for the last few weeks and on Friday another report surfaced that LA remains interested in the All-Star closer.  I wrote back in May about how Greene would bolster the bullpen and he still remains the best fit for the Dodgers amongst their trade targets.

For one, the Tigers are in dead last in the AL Central and are looking to trade away any assets they have to help accelerate their rebuild process.  With the second wildcards now in play, there are a lot of teams stuck in between selling and buying depending on how they view the second wildcard.  The Tigers are one of the teams that are looking to sell without any doubts.

One of the teams stuck in wildcard purgatory is the San Francisco Giants.  Due to being a borderline wildcard contender, the Giants are going to seek more for their relievers, especially from a division rival like the Dodgers.  By dealing with the Tigers, the Dodgers would not have to send prospects inside the division and possibly see them hurt the team down the road.

Shane Greene is arguably the best reliever on the trading block outside of the Giants’ Will Smith.  Greene is also not a rental as he has one more season of arbitration left before becoming a free agent after the 2020 season.  If the Dodgers were to give up prospects for Greene, he would help next season as well. Greene currently makes just four million dollars this season.

So what would Shane Greene bring out of the Dodgers’ bullpen? The closer is currently 22-24 in save opportunities and throws a sinker, cutter, and slider as his primary three pitches.  Shane throws his slider roughly 50% of his pitches with his cutter being his second most used pitch at just over 30%.  He will also mix in a slider.

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While Greene has absolutely dominated right-handed hitters this season, limiting them to a .100 average, he is also still very effective against left-handed hitters.  Lefties are batting just .226 against him with one home run.  Even in 2018 when Shane struggled to an ERA over five, he still was more effective against left-handed hitters.

If the Dodgers want to aim high in their search for bullpen help, the best fit for them is Shane Greene.  Playing on a definite seller, Greene is also outside of the division which would make surrendering prospects easier than it would to the club’s biggest rival.

Ken Giles is another reliever who fits the seller and out of division criteria, but he has given up much more hard contact this season at a clip of 39% compared to Greene’s 27.3%.  Not to mention Giles’ awful 2017 postseason where he lost the closer job and had an ERA over 11.00.

Shane Greene is not only cost-effective but he is more than a rental. It makes too much sense for the Dodgers to target Greene.  The Twins are another contender that has been linked to the Tigers’ closer, but the Dodgers have plenty of talented prospects that they can surrender without compromising the farm system.

The trade deadline is just eleven days away now so the trade rumors should get hotter by the day.  Hopefully, the Dodgers come out of the trade deadline with an upper-tier reliever like Shane Greene in their bullpen.