The Pittsburgh Pirates, despite being in the NL Wild Card race, are open to to trading closer Mark Melancon. With Andrew Miller and Wade Davis, the other tradable top closers unlikely to be moved, there's plenty of interest in Melancon. At the top of the list are the Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals. His contract expires after this year, making him a rental. That's also likely a big reason why the Pirates are considering dealing him before the deadline. The Pirates reportedly want both a 7th inning-reliever and prospects for Melancon. Below, we have all the latest rumors surrounding Melancon, broken down by team and in alphabetical order.
UPDATE:
Mark Melancon is heading to the Nationals. Click here for the trade details.
Original story below:
As new information is made available, we'll update this post.
Cleveland Indians
The Indians tried to land Aroldis Chapman, but weren't able to do so. So it's not a surprise then that they're looking at other closers.
Sources: #Indians, #SFGiants in mix for Melancon along with #Nationals. #Pirates want MLB reliever, 7th-inning type, as part of any deal.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2016
The biggest issue for the Indians is a lack of salary space. Melancon makes $9.65 million and although most of that has already been paid, the Indians couldn't afford Chapman, who makes less than $2 million more. That could be an issue in getting Melancon and the Indians are hesitant to move any one big.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants have kicked mentioned with various relievers. They spent big on pitching during the offseason, but need some bullpen help to boost their World Series chances. They were mentioned in the above tweet, but didn't make a serious run at Chapman because they don't want to give up a ton for a rental. That could be an issue again with Melancon.
Washington Nationals
At this point, what reliever aren't the Nationals looking at. Jonathan Papelbon is struggling, making their biggest need even greater. They've been linked to the Yankees for both Chapman and Miller, as well as the Royals' Davis.
Sources: #Nationals talking to #Pirates about Melancon as well as #Royals about Wade Davis. Multiple teams pursuing Melancon.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 29, 2016
Melancon would be a cheaper, although lesser alternative for the Nats.
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