The Nationals have announced the release of veteran reliever Jose Valverde. As Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com notes on Twitter, Valverde had an opt-out clause in his deal.

While Valverde never got the call to the big league club, he did put up some solid numbers over his time at Triple-A. Over 26 1/3 innings, he owns a 2.39 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against just 1.0 BB/9. The latter number is particularly notable, given that Valverde has walked nearly four batters for every nine innings pitched over his lengthy MLB career.

It has been a few years since Valverde has been a productive pen arm at the game’s highest level. He’s been hit hard since a three-year run as a quality late-inning arm for the Tigers, during which he tossed 204 1/3 innings of 3.00 ERA ball. Nevertheless, given his results in the minors, it would not be surprising to see the 37-year-old pop up onto an active roster late in the season.