PEORIA, Ariz. – The San Diego Padres have signed right-handed pitcher Mark Melancon to a one-year contract through the 2021 season which includes a mutual option for 2022, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller announced today. To make room on the 40-man roster, the club placed right-hander Mike Clevinger on the 60-day Injured List.

Melancon, a three-time National League All Star with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2013, 2015-16), made 23 relief appearances for the Atlanta Braves in 2020, going 2-1 with a 2.78 ERA (7 ER, 22.2 IP) and 11 saves, tied for the third-most saves in the NL. He converted 15 consecutive save opportunities from the time he was acquired by Atlanta at the 2019 trade deadline until August 22 last season, the most in the Majors without a blown save opportunity during that span. In the 2020 Postseason, the right-hander converted both of his save opportunities across seven appearances, allowing just one unearned run with a .091 opponents AVG and five strikeouts against no walks.

In 606 career relief appearances between the New York Yankees (2009-10), Houston Astros (2010-11), Boston Red Sox (2012), Pirates (2013-16), Washington Nationals (2016), San Francisco Giants (2017-19) and Braves (2019-20), Melancon is 30-27 with a 2.85 ERA (192 ER, 606.0 IP) and 549 strikeouts, including an 87.3 save percentage (62-for-71) and a 2.47 ERA (37 ER, 135.0 IP) in 138 appearances versus NL West opponents. His 205 saves are sixth-most among active pitchers and he became the 52nd player in MLB history to reach the 200-save plateau since saves became an official stat in 1969. The 35-year-old was named 2015 Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year and finished 8th in NL Cy Young voting after leading the majors in saves (51). The Wheat Ridge, Colo. native was a member of the gold medal-winning Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and was originally selected by Yankees in the ninth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Arizona.