Nationals make astute move in acquiring Mark Melancon

It became very clear that the Washington Nationals were going to get a reliever from somewhere prior to Monday’s MLB trade deadline, and they made one of the better moves they could have in acquiring Mark Melancon from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of Fox Sports confirmed Saturday that the Nationals were getting Melancon for left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn.

It was reported immediately that Melancon would displace Jonathan Papelbon as the club’s closer.

Melancon will close for the Nationals. Papelbon has been told, was understanding, according to someone familiar with the situation.

— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) July 30, 2016

Melancon is an excellent reliever in his own right. He has a 1.51 ERA this season, and if he can keep it under 2 for the season, it would be the third year in the last four that he’s put up a sub-2 ERA, with the lone exception coming in 2015 when it clocked in at 2.23. His WHIP is under 1 for the fourth consecutive season. He’s not an elite strikeout reliever, having averaged a K an inning only once during his Pittsburgh tenure, but he doesn’t need to be. Really, over his career, he’s had one bad year — 2012 in Boston — which has proven to be an outlier.

Yes, the Nationals parted with some decent pieces. Rivero is a young lefty who is capable of putting up big strikeout numbers and improving. He’s struggled this year, though, and is still a work in progress. The emergence of another lefty, Sammy Solis, makes it a loss the team can absorb. Hearn, talented as he may be, is not one of Washington’s top prospects.

Friday, it was said that the Nationals were willing to trade Lucas Giolito — arguably the top pitching prospect in all of baseball — straight up for Andrew Miller. That would have been a poor move on their end. No, Melancon is not as good as Miller, nor is he under team control for as long, but he’s a reliable, trustworthy relief pitcher with a track record of success who will help Washington’s bullpen immensely. Better still, they did not have to give up any of their truly top prospects to make it happen. It’s a very wise move for the Nationals, and one that should help them in October without ripping a huge hole in their farm system that could punish them severely in the future.