MILWAUKEE _ The Mark Melancon era in Pittsburgh ended Saturday when the Pirates traded the three-time All-Star closer to the Washington Nationals for a pair of hard-throwing left-handers. The team's return for Melancon is reliever Felipe Rivero and prospect Taylor Hearn.
Melancon woke up from a midday nap Saturday and saw he had three missed calls from general manager Neal Huntington. When he called back, Huntington began to explain the move.
"Neal, you don't have to explain," Melancon recalled saying. "I understand. I get it."
Later, Melancon circled the visitors clubhouse at Miller Park and said his goodbyes. In four seasons with the Pirates, he had a 1.80 ERA and 130 saves while pitching 2601/3 innings.
"Pittsburgh has a special place in my heart," Melancon told reporters before heading to the airport. "My family has been treated so well. The experiences we've had are running through my mind. Wild-card games, big games that we've been in. From where we started to where we are now. It's an honor to be a Pirate and say that we got to go through those experiences together. My teammates are best friends. That's what you can wish for and hope for, and that came true."
Huntington called the move a "very difficult decision" but one he hopes will "continue the chain of quality production" that began when the Pirates dealt another closer, Joel Hanrahan, and Brock Holt to the Boston Red Sox in 2012 and received Melancon and more in exchange.
"We're not giving up anything. We're not lowering the bar. We're not settling," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Our organization made a baseball trade with confidence that our bullpen is going to be in a good place. We're going to be able to compete this year, we're going to be able to add to our competition level in years to come."
Rivero is expected to join the Pirates (52-49) on Sunday. He will handle seventh-inning duties, with left-hander Tony Watson moving to closer with right-hander Neftali Feliz as his set-up man.
"We feel very confident in the strength of our bullpen now," Hurdle said.
Rivero, 25, has a 4.53 ERA in 49 2/3 innings this season, a step back from his 2.79 mark last year. Rivero will not be arbitration-eligible until 2018 and won't reach free agency until 2022.
Hearn, 21, was drafted by the Nationals in the fifth round in 2015. The Pirates drafted him in the 22nd round in 2012 but did not sign him. Hearn had a 5.16 ERA this season for Class Low A Hagerstown. He missed some time earlier this year with a foot injury.
"We've dealt from an area of strength and strengthened our future without changing our goals and our intent for this season," Huntington said.
The general manager said the Pirates continue to work the phones as the trade deadline nears.
"We are still working through the process to see if there is something we can add to this group that complements this group," Huntington said, "that fits this group and that continues to allow us to be a team that pushes toward being one of those five teams that makes the postseason."
Watson, the new Pirates closer, sat at his locker, next to Melancon's, and readied for a new challenge.
"I told (Melancon) thank you for the 3{ years that I was able to set up for him," Watson said. "We've had a good run at the back end. ... What he brought every day, every year, was really, really impressive. A couple of us were talking around here, I'm not sure this organization has seen that kind of a run from a back-end arm in the history of this organization. It's pretty impressive."
