The Dodgers have added some late-inning relief help in the form of Ryan Madson. A trade has been consummated with the Nationals, the teams announced Friday.

Since it's August 31, Madson will be eligible to be on the Dodgers' playoff roster, should they make it. They are currently two games out in the NL West and 2 1/2 games back from the second NL wild card. 

Andrew Istler, the player going back to the Nationals, is a 25-year-old reliever in Double-A. He's made two appearances in Triple-A, 10 in high Class A and 29 in Double-A this season, pitching to a 2.37 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings. He's made one start, but has mostly been deployed as a multi-inning reliever. 

Ever since Kenley Jansen's irregular heartbeat resurfaced, the back end of the Dodgers' bullpen has been an utter mess. They had a stretch where they blew five games in a row, and the bullpen ERA is 4.73 this month. The bridge to Jansen has been a big problem, and since he's come back, he's allowed seven earned runs in four innings. He hasn't yet had an outing without a run allowed as his ERA has jumped from 2.15 to 3.09. 

Madson has a career track record of success in late-inning situations, but he hasn't been good this year. He's pitched to a 5.28 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. In August alone, he's given up seven earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. One of the high-profile moments of the season was David Bote's walk-off grand slam in Wrigley Field earlier this month, and that came off Madson. 

Still, Madson has had a quality career as a late-inning reliever, and the Dodgers didn't give up anything of great value here. They need more arms to try and find something in the late innings, so the move makes sense.