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Tigers trade Greene, Castellanos for minor leaguers

Posted at 7:15 PM, Jul 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-31 19:15:33-04

DETROIT, Mich. -- It went down to the wire, but the Tigers did trade both Shane Greene and Nicholas Castellanos before Major League Baseball's 4 p.m. trade deadline Wednesday. Matthew Boyd remains with the team.

Greene was sent to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Triple A outfielder Travis Demeritte and Double AA left-hand pitcher Joey Wentz.

Demeritte has an OPS of .944 this season but has also struck out 106 times in 339 at-bats.

"(Demeritte) was actually accessible in the Rule 5 draft last year," said Emily Waldon, who covers the minors leagues for the Athletic. "He was accessible by the Tigers and they sidestepped him.  He's a swing-and-miss guy, he's very athletic and has some raw power. It's kind of deceptive, because of the way he's built -- kind of a leaner more lanky build -- can hit home runs, really natural defender, but the swing-and-miss is a little concerning. He's on the higher end: he's 24, so he'll have to cut that down if he wants the best value going forward."

Wentz is 5-8 with a 4.72 era this season with the Mississippi Braves. He has 100 strike-outs in 103 innings pitched but has also walked 45.

Castellanos went to the Cubs for right-hand pitchers Paul Richan and Alex Lange.

Richan was 10-5 with a 3.97 ERA at High A Myrtle Beach this season, striking out 86 while walking just 18.

Lange was a first-round pick back in 2017 out of LSU and struggled at high A this year before being promoted to Double AA Tennessee and pitching much better.

Lange was 2-3 with a 3.92 ERA with the Smokies in seven starts.

Richan was ranked as the Cubs #16 prospect by mlb.com; Lange was #23.