Mark Melancon has been a weapon at the back end of the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen over the past four seasons, but the team traded him Saturday to the Washington Nationals.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the news, and the Nationals confirmed the deal:
Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball shared the monetary details of the deal:
Melancon is 1-1 with a 1.51 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 2016. He has 30 saves in 33 chances. He has made the last two NL All-Star teams and is a three-time All-Star overall.
Melancon doesn’t have electrifying strikeout stuff (38 strikeouts in 41.2 innings this year), but he induces weak contact and holds opponents to a low batting average on balls in play, highlighted by a .257 BABIP, according to FanGraphs.
The downside with the closer is he is 31, plus BABIP is a difficult statistic to predict since at least some of it is predicated on luck. Fortunately for his new team, Melancon has been dominant the past four seasons (1.90 ERA/0.87 WHIP in 2014 and 1.39 ERA/0.96 WHIP in 2013) and won the 2015 Trevor Hoffman Award as the National League’s top reliever.
The Nationals can now breathe a little easier in the back end of their bullpen. Jonathan Papelbon has converted 19 of 22 saves, but he has a 4.41 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. Washington will almost certainly move him to an eighth-inning role.
Washington leads the National League in bullpen ERA at 3.05, per ESPN.com. That means the Nationals are bolstering what is already an area of strength, even if Papelbon has struggled with consistency this season. Melancon’s presence will theoretically move everyone one spot down in their allotted bullpen slot, which shortens the games against opponents.
The Nationals were six games ahead of the Miami Marlins and 7.5 games ahead of the New York Mets in the National League East coming into Saturday’s MLB slate. The addition of Melancon gives them yet another weapon in what has been a strong bullpen this year and makes any potential comeback for either of those teams even more difficult.
From the Pirates’ perspective, they at least managed to receive some value in return for Melancon, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, per Spotrac.
What’s more, one general manager believes there is no longer any stigma attached to trading closers, per Heyman, formerly of CBS Sports: “Everyone’s closer is available. People, especially the young GMs, have no fear of trading their closer.”
The Pirates acquired Melancon in the first place because of their willingness to deal an effective closer. Joel Hanrahan tallied 76 saves in 2011 and 2012 for the team, but Pittsburgh shipped him to the Boston Red Sox in a package deal that included Melancon.
Perhaps the Pirates landed their next star with this trade.
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