Baker and Rizzo react to the release of Papelbon

The Nationals released veteran closer Jonathan Papelbon on Saturday to make room for Reynaldo Lopez. Papelbon finished his career with the Nationals with 26 saves in 59 appearances. But he struggled with his command and velocity recently, no longer possessing the swing-and-miss stuff that is required from a top-of-the-line closer.

The Nationals went out and picked up Mark Melancon to close games. Papelbon's role diminished from there. Since July 28, Papelbon appeared in only two games. He surrendered eight earned runs on nine hits in his final five outings.

Manager Dusty Baker described the decision to release Papelbon.

"It was a tough decision," Baker said. "Let him go because there wasn't a real fit anymore. Didn't know where to use him. Pap understood because he told us last night that he felt like he was putting pressure on me and putting pressure on the bullpen where guys had to pick up innings where they might not have pitched in ordinarily.

"We let Pap go. We released him last night. His agent said it'd be better if we released him versus designating him for assignment because it would've been tougher to get him a job because he'd have to wait for 10 days or so."

President of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo said it was a "baseball decision" to release Papelbon.

"A roster move needed to be made when we needed a fifth starter for the first time in a couple weeks," Rizzo said. "We went with what we felt was our best 25 players, which was our best seven bullpen players. The business of baseball is you've got to cut a really good player, a really good veteran, a really good teammate like Jonathan Papelbon.

"I think he handled it like a professional, like he's done everything else here. He never wavered in the clubhouse. He never wavered in his commitment to the team. Every time he went out there, he pitched to the best of his ability."

Baker and Rizzo described the amicable conversation they had with Papelbon when they made the decision.

"We had a good conversation with Dusty, myself and Jonathan," Rizzo said. "He handled it like he's handled everything since he's been here, like a total professional. He's a man's man and a guy that takes on responsibility and doesn't make any excuses. He realized that he wasn't performing up to his capabilities the last week or 10 days or so, and he recognized it. This guy is a pro's pro and a guy who's been a great teammate and a guy who's loved in the clubhouse and is going to be missed."

Baker agreed that Papelbon handled the news of the release like a professional and wished the club only the best.

"He's never run from anything. He's faced the music whether it was good or bad," Baker said. "He handled like a pro. But this is what we kind of expected from Pap even though it was tough letting him go. He was a great teammate. He was popular with his teammates. They knew that he had their back and they had his. So we wish Pap the best. He wished us the best. Wanted us to win it. That was his parting words. He was a big part what we had accomplished already.

"I think he handled it as well as any man can handle it when the ball is taken from you because you get somebody else. He realizes that this is part of the game. It's not a very pleasant part of the game. But it is a reality and he must pass the baton at some point in time to somebody else whether you're ready to pass the baton or not sometimes."

Rizzo said in the end, Papelbon struggled because his best stuff wasn't getting strikeouts like he was able to dictate in his best seasons.

"When you analyze and evaluate what his strengths and weaknesses were, his command of his pitches was something that he relied upon in the last three or four years of his career," Rizzo said. "He was just missing his spots. When you miss your spots and you don't have blow-away, swing-and-miss stuff like Pap hasn't had the past couple years, you have to be very pinpoint and he wasn't."

Does Baker believe this is the last stop for Papelbon?

"Whether he pitches anymore, I don't really know, but I hope he does," Baker said. "Cause he was hoping to get to 400 saves this year. There aren't that many guys that are in the top 10 of their profession. So he's done some great things in his career."

Now the bullpen looks a bit different than it did on opening day. Melancon replaces Papelbon and Felipe Rivero is in Pittsburgh. Does Baker think this younger bullpen is the way to go?

"You don't know. Young isn't necessarily good sometimes," Baker said. "It's not about young, it's not about old, it's about production. How well that you're doing. A lot of people put emphasis on old. Seems like in our society we're pushing the old out in all walks of life. Experience does count for something. Experience counts for a lot. I'm just hoping that we have enough guys that have been down this stretch in the fire.

"Going to depend more on guys like (Shawn) Kelley. Depend on Matt Belisle, who's one of the veterans down there who's been through this. The guys that have been to the World Series and postseason. We call upon them. Whenever one leader leaves, somebody else always arises. So it's an opportunity for somebody else to pick up the flag."