Nationals reliever Jonathan Papelbon was not long ago bumped from the closer's role after the team acquired Mark Melancon from the Pirates leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline. That's understandable, of course. Melancon has established himself as one of the best closers in baseball, while Papelbon has struggled this, his age-35 season, with a 4.37 ERA and a career-worst 2.21 K/BB ratio.

Now, Papelbon's time in Washington is over, as the Nationals on Saturday announced that he'd been released. They called up right-hander Reynaldo Lopez to replace him on the active roster.

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that the Nationals were already planning to designate Papelbon for assignment. Papelbon, however, requested his release so that he might find a new team sooner.

Given Papelbon's history, it's certainly worth noting that there appears to be no petulance on the part of the veteran reliever. From Janes:

Papelbon was "extremely professional" and thanked Rizzo and Dusty Baker for the opportunity with the Nationals, all according to a person familiar with the situation.

Papelbon appeared in just two games since the Melancon trade, both blowouts, so he was clearly a long way from getting any more save opportunities in Washington. Papelbon's 368 saves rank ninth on the all-time list, but it remains to be seen whether he can land a closer's job elsewhere.