Last night, Pirates’ closer Mark Melancon was awarded the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Yeard Award, given to the best reliever in the league every season (one is also given to an American League reliever). Melancon very much deserved the award, as he led the NL in saves and was generally dominant from the middle of May until the end of the season.
There’s been a lot of talk since the year ended that the Pirates should consider trading Melancon. In fact, it’s almost a foregone conclusion to some that he’s already as good as gone.