Highest Paid Relief Pitchers: Mark Melancon
4-Years, $62M ($15.5M AAV)
Another surprising addition to this list, relief pitcher/closer Mark Melancon comes in at #3 on the list of top paid relief pitchers in the MLB at an even $19 million dollars.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Melancon is a weird case in that not only has he been a reliever his whole MLB career, he was also primarily used in the bullpen during his playing days with the University of Arizona.
His stats in college would intrigue the New York Yankees enough to draft him in the 9th round of the 2006 amateur draft, throwing him in the bullpen once again.
Melancon would make his debut with the Yankees in 2009 and would ride the options train all year between AAA and the MLB.
The following season, Melancon would be traded to the Houston Astros, and would again be traded in 2011 (to the Boston Red Sox) and in 2012 (to the Pittsburgh Pirates) before finally staying on an MLB roster for more than one year.
It was during his time in Pittsburgh that Mark Melancon would be used primarily as the closer, saving over 130 games with the Pirates in his 3.5 years with the team.
In mid-June of 2016, Melancon would be traded to the Washington Nationals before entering his free agency year and would go on to sign a 4 year, $62 million dollar contract with the San Francisco Giants.
For those of you who got bored and skimmed to this part of the story, he has played for 6 different teams since making his debut in 2009 and is now being used in more of a setup role with the Giants since signing his long term deal.
He has also won the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award once and is a 3-time All-Star.
Over the course of his 11 years, Melancon has pitched to a 2.74 ERA and has amassed over 182 saves with 5 different teams (he did not have a save with the Yankees).
With Melancon becoming a free agent after the 2020 season, he will be in a difficult spot in that teams may not be willing to fork over a lot of money to a premier relief pitcher who will be entering 36 years old.
Even though Melancon is not closing games with the Giants, he is still an effective reliever/set-up man, and has thrown in 13 innings this year and has a 2.03 ERA.
He should be able to secure a deal with a club when his contract expires, albeit for less money than what he previously signed, but still pitching in the major leagues.