Cubs Sign Former All-Star Pitcher

Hmm, this one is interesting I guess. Teams are always bringing in pitchers throughout the season and sometimes they'll hit big on a minor league signing. The Chicago Cubs have reportedly signed former All-Star relief pitcher Shane Greene and have assigned the right-hander to the Arizona Complex League.

Greene, 34, has bounced around a few teams and has recently spent most of his pitching down in the minors following his 2019 All-Star season with the Detroit Tigers.

The veteran right-hander made single appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees in 2022, while pitching in 27 combined games at Triple-A and then went un-signed this past offseason. With the latest wave of injuries to Cubs relievers, you could see Greene being moved up to Triple-A once he builds up pitching in the Arizona Complex League and may possibly be an option later in the year for big league club.

In his prime years, Greene was an excellent set-up man and closer with the Tigers. From 2017-20, the right-handed reliever posted a 3.25 ERA in 221.1 innings. During those four seasons Greene recorded 64 saves and 33 holds, as he struck out 24.2 percent of the batters he faced.

After making the 2019 American League All-Star team as the lone representative for the Tigers, Greene was dealt to the Atlanta Braves at the trade deadline in exchange for Joey Wentz and outfielder Travis Demeritte. The Braves used Greene as their set-up man and he was fine, posting a 4.01 ERA in 27 relief outings down the stretch for Atlanta. In 2020, Greene had a great season, posting a 2.60 ERA in 27.2 innings.

However, since the beginning of the 2021 season, Greene has quickly declined and in the past two seasons he's thrown a total of 26.2 innings with the Braves, Dodgers and Yankees, respectively.

Greene made his MLB debut back in 2014 with the Yankees. In his rookie season, Greene made 14 starts and one relief appearance and had a productive year. The righty had a 3.78 ERA in 78.2 innings. On December 5, 2014, the Yankees traded Greene to the Tigers in a three-team deal that sent Robbie Ray and Domingo Leyba to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Didi Gregorius to the New York.

In nine MLB seasons Greene has a 4.53 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 470.2 innings. As a reliever, he has a career 4.03 ERA in 297.1 innings, striking out close to 10 batters per nine innings.

Greene was selected in the 15th round of the 2009 draft by the Yankees.