After weeks of speculation, rumor finally became reality Saturday afternoon when the Washington Nationals agreed to acquire Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Mark Melancon for LHP Felipe Rivero and prospect Taylor Hearn. A 3-time All-Star, Melancon immediately solidifies the closer role for Washington, a position Jonathan Papelbon has poorly filled since his arrival last year at the trade deadline. According to media reports, the Pirates will also send approximately $500,000 to the Nationals to help cover some of Melancon’s $9.65 million salary.
The 31-year-old Melancon is in the midst of yet another solid season, providing the Pirates with a 1.51 ERA and 30 saves, with 38 strikeouts against only 31 hits and 9 walks in 41.2 innings pitched. For his 8-year career, Melancon has a 2.65 ERA, 1.052 WHIP and a 3.88 K/BB ratio. Melancon does not possess extreme velocity typical for a closer, rather relying on his masterful command of his 90-92mph cutter and a low-80s knuckle curveball. This allows him to limit his hits allowed (7.4 per 9), home runs (0.5 HR/9) and walks (2.1 per 9). In short, he does everything, except rack up massive strikeout totals (8.2 K/9) that one would want from a reliever. He should immediately take over for Papelbon as Washington’s closer and is set to be a free agent at the end of the season.
Acquired as part of the Jose Lobaton trade with Tampa Bay for Nathan Karns, Rivero has blossomed since his move to the bullpen last year. Rivero possesses an impressive 3-pitch arsenal with a 95-97mph fastball, an excellent upper-80s changeup and a hard low-80s slider. The 25-year-old lefty has not achieved the same level of success this season as he did as a rookie, when he posted a 2.79 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 48.1 innings for the Nationals.
Currently Rivero sports a 4.53 ERA over 49.2 innings pitched, though his underlying numbers (3.26 FIP, 1.168 WHIP and 53 strikeouts) show he has been significantly more effective than this ERA might indicate. Aside from a few poor outings in June, Rivero has been a solid relief pitcher during his time in Washington. Rivero is particularly attractive to the small market Pirates, as he is under team control through 2021.
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My immediate reaction to this trade was to proclaim it a steal for Washington, as I was letting the recent Aroldis Chapman trade cloud my thoughts on the price to acquire relief pitching. And certainly, Melancon is a lesser but comparable reliever to Chapman, but cost approximately half as much is future value to acquire. By that logic, Washington is a slam-dunk winner.
However, the Chapman trade, along to a lesser degree the Craig Kimbrel and Ken Giles swaps last winter, feel like the outliers while this feels like a more “normal” return for a pending free agent. Pittsburgh feels they can replace Melancon in-house, save some money in a year they are unlikely to reach the postseason, and receive 11 years of future control on two hard-throwing lefties. The Pirates drafted Hearn in 2012, so they obviously like his potential and Rivero immediately slots into their bullpen, replacing Melancon’s vacated spot. So from Pittsburgh’s perspective, this looks like a good long-term decision.
Nevertheless, I still think Washington did extremely well in this trade. Losing Rivero hurts their left-handed relief corps and Hearn was much higher on team’s “acquire lists” than on online prospect lists, so the cost is legitimate. Still, Melancon fills the team’s biggest weakness and swiftly upgrades the team overall. And neither Rivero nor Hearn figure to develop into players that will particularly burn the Nationals down the road – solid contributors certainly, but unlikely to be elite players.
Washington received one of the top-10 relief pitchers in baseball, did not part with any of their top prospects or hurt the franchise long-term, and have a stronger roster today than they did yesterday, making this a solid win for the Nationals.
NatsGM Overall Grade -> B+
