Washington Nationals Rumor: Nats Interested In Mark Melancon

As the search for a closer continues, the Washington Nationals are interested in acquiring Mark Melancon from the Pirates

Despite the Washington Nationals winning last night against the Giants, it was one of the low points of the year for Jonathan Papelbon as he was pulled in the bottom of the ninth for the second straight outing. With the trade deadline fast approaching, the search for a closer continues.

Today, another name emerged as a possible trade target for the Washington Nationals. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and MLB Network, the Nats are one of the teams trying to get closer Mark Melancon from the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Melancon, who will be a free agent at the end of the year, is 30-for-33 in saves this year with an ERA of 1.51 and has 38 strikeouts to nine walks in 45 games. However, two of those three blown saves came this month, including one against the Washington Nationals on July 17 (Daniel Murphy pinch-hit home run in the ninth).

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The 31-year-old right-hander has had 30 or more in saves in each of the last three seasons, including 51 saves in 2015. Plus, he has appeared in 70+ games in the three seasons prior to this year (2013-2015).

If you go off of the Rosenthal report of the Pirates looking for a late inning reliever, a prospect to watch in this kind of deal from the Washington Nationals would be Koda Glover. Glover, who is currently at triple-A Syracuse, made his Major League debut this month, has a 2.87 ERA in 11 games.

Even though the Pirates are only two games out of a playoff spot heading into today, they can afford to deal Melancon for the right price because of the success of Tony Watson. The Pirates current setup man has a 0.82 ERA this month and is under team control for next year.

According to Fangraphs, Melancon averages about 92 miles per hour on his fastball, but he only uses it 10.4% of the time. The pitch that he goes to the most is his breaking ball (25%).

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While Melancon doesn’t have the lights out velocity on his fastball, he has shown consistency in the closer role, which the Washington Nationals definitely need. Plus, I wouldn’t think they would have to give up top prospect Lucas Giolito in this kind of deal like they would probably have to in an Andrew Miller or Wade Davis deal.

If the Washington Nationals could pull off a trade for Melancon, it would be a definite upgrade to their bullpen situation. Right now, the Nats could use any help they can get. If they can find the right deal for Melancon and still keep some of their top prospects, it would be a successful deal.