Aug 16, 2016 By John Perrotto for The 3 min read

Trading Mark Melancon was not one of the more popular moves made by the Pirates in recent seasons.

Regardless of what they said publicly, most of the Pirates’ players were not happy about the July 30 deal that sent the three-time All-Star closer to the Washington Nationals for left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero and a minor leaguer.

Regardless, the Pirates felt they needed to trade Melancon during the season because his contract expires after the World Series.

The decision was made that Melancon was not going to be tendered a qualifying offer needed to ensure they would receive amateur draft pick compensation if he left as a free agent. If Melancon accepted the QO, he would have been under contract for $16.7 million next season, which would have been the highest salary in franchise history.

Most executives and scouts feel Pirates general manager Neal Huntington did well to extract Rivero in the trade.

“You’re not usually going to get a player off a contending team’s 25-man roster but that shows how much the Nationals wanted Melancon and the hard bargain Neal drove,” an executive from an American League team said. “To get a kid with a big arm like Rivero was a pretty good pickup.”

Big arm is the operative description when it comes to the 25-year-old native of Venezuela as his fastball has averaged 95.3 mph this season and topped out at 99.

The heater has resulted in Rivero notching 53 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings over 47 games with the Nationals before the trade. However, his ERA was just 4.53 and he allowed 49 hits and 15 walks.

However, Rivero had a perfect 0.00 ERA through seven appearances with the Pirates going into Monday night’s game against the Giants at San Francisco. He had allowed two unearned runs in seven innings along with five hits, while striking out 13 and walking four.

“I was a little surprised that I got traded because we were in first place (In the National League East) in Washington, but I feel real comfortable with the Pirates now,” Rivero said. “We have a good team, too, a contending team. They are giving me the ball in important situations and I’m trying to do my best to get outs.”

Rivero has certainly done that and the Pirates have actually gotten closer to a fourth consecutive postseason berth since the trade.

They were three games out of the second NL wild card then and entered Monday’s play only one game back.

The Pirates are counting on Rivero to play a big role in the pennant race as he is now their top lefty set-up reliever with Tony Watson being shifted to the closer’s role as Melancon’s replacement.

However, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Pirates are considering trying Rivero as a starter next year in spring training because he has a three-pitch arsenal that includes a plus change-up and slider.

Rivero was a starter until last season when the Nationals moved him to the bullpen at Class AAA Syracuse before promoting him to Washington, where he had a sparkling 2.79 ERA in 49 games as a rookie.

“I just like to pitch,” Rivero said when asked if he preferred starting or reliever.

He then smiled and added, “And getting people out.”