Nats get their closer

[Frayed Knot]

The Nats got their relief help, dealing off LHR Felipe Rivero and minor league LHP Taylor Hearn for ... Pittsburgh's closer Mark Melancon

Rivero, 25, has been with the Nits virtually all of this year and last, all of it out of the pen. 3.67 ERA overall, 4.57 this year.
Hearn is a 21 y/o currently in Low-A who was their 5th round pick in 2015. They say he's a hard thrower but aren't they all today.

Melancon, 31, has been the Pirates closer for nearly four seasons now, racking up 130 saves (incl. a league leading 51 in 2015) on a 1.80 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHiP in each of those four seasons. That's pretty consistent stuff.
He'll be a FA at the end of the year.

[Lefty Specialist]

Dorothy, you're not in 2015 anymore.

[Frayed Knot]

On the other hand maybe the demotion to set-up man will send Papelbon off the deep end like it seemed to do to Storen last year.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Y'know, what with the glasses and all, I don't see too good. But... I gotta say, looksta me like hat's a little less than the Yankees got for Chapman.

[Chad ochoseis]

Yeah, I'm rather puzzled as to what's in this for Pittsburgh. If they kept Melancon and he walked at the end of the season, they still get a 1st round pick as compensation, no? And Pittsburgh has been hanging in the wild card race, with Melancon as a key contributor.

[Guest cooby]

Very surprising.
I hope Pittsburgh isn't Fire saling

[nymr83]

bad trade for Pitt, if you cant get the Chapman package just hold onto him for the pick!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Well, if they had wanted compensation, they would have had to have tendered him a QO at season's end, and risked his accepting a 1/$15M deal.

[Frayed Knot]

And even if the Pirates do the QO thing and get the pick from Melancon walking, what are the odds that the 35th or so pick they'll get out of that whole deal is going to be better than either of the guys they got in the trade? Felipe Rivero is still raw but is already in the majors, has a good left arm, and five more years of club control. The other guy, a former 5th round pick, is still in A-ball but is also a lefty and is off to a good minor league career.
You'd like to think that a supplemental pick would at least have a higher ceiling than either of those, but more often than not they'll fall short.

[Centerfield]

Well, you also get to keep your guy, but point well taken.

[bmfc1]

And now they will release jackass Papelbon today. Everything is going well for Washington. No excuses. I can't wait for them to crash and burn in the playoffs.

[Edgy MD]

I can't wait either. So here's to them crashing and burning long before that.

[Lefty Specialist]

bmfc1 wrote: And now they will release jackass Papelbon today. Everything is going well for Washington. No excuses. I can't wait for them to crash and burn in the playoffs.

Cool, we can pick him up for the rest of the season for the league minimum. [/sarcasm]

[bmfc1]

From the Washington Post:

Having Jonathan Papelbon on the Nationals made rooting for the Nationals a little less enjoyable. Now maybe players don’t, or shouldn’t, care whether the home fans like them. If a Nationals player did care, though, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to wear a T-shirt reading “Obama can’t ban these guns” to his let’s-make-amends spring training news conference. Nor would he have, on multiple occasions, played a political anthem while reporters were inside the Nats clubhouse. The ditty was called “Vote For Trump,” and it included promises that “the wall will get built by Mexico” and that Trump would “bring back country [and] get rid of rap,” also noting that “if you don’t like it you can all just kiss our ass.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2016/08/13/jonathan-papelbons-acquisition-was-a-mistake-nats-fans-saw-coming/

[G-Fafif]

Jonathan Papelbon not an absolute pleasure to be around...who woulda thunk it?