We’ve been waiting all winter for the reliever market to heat up. Finally, with two weeks to go before pitchers and catchers report across Florida and Arizona, we’re starting to see action.

Just not by the Nationals. Yet.

Over the course of 24 hours Tuesday through Wednesday, six prominent late-inning relievers either signed as free agents or were traded to new clubs. The list includes bona fide closers like Carlos Estevez (two years, $22 million with Royals), Kirby Yates (one year, $13 million with Dodgers) and Ryan Pressly (one year, $14 million with Cubs) and noted setup men Taylor Rogers (one year, $12 million with Reds), Tommy Kahnle (one year, $7.75 million with Tigers) and Ryne Stanek (one year, $4.5 million with Mets).

It often just takes one move to trigger an avalanche, and it does appear that’s what is now happening with the reliever market. The next question: Will the Nats dive in themselves?

We’ve noted several times how much the Nationals bullpen is lacking in proven arms after losing Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey, Dylan Floro, Robert Garcia and Jacob Barnes from last year’s group. So far, they’ve added only one experienced reliever in Jorge Lopez (one year, $3 million) to go along with holdover Derek Law. Young left-hander Jose A. Ferrer figures to be a prominent member of the group, and Rule 5 draft pick Evan Reifert figures to get a serious look this spring as the club decides whether to put him on the Opening Day roster or offer him back to the Rays.

There are some baseball analysts that feel the usage of bullpen pitchers could look a little different during the 2017 regular season. They feel we will see more of what we saw in how select bullpen pitchers were used during the postseason last year. While that seems unlikely to me, we certainly saw some of the top closers and others used in more innings and, in some cases, much earlier in games than we are used to seeing them. Andrew Miller of the Cleveland Indians and Kenley Jansen of the Los...

First Mark Melancon signed with the Giants. Then Aroldis Chapman signed with the Yankees. Then the Cubs acquired Wade Davis from the Royals. And then yesterday, the Dodgers managed to retain free agent Kenley Jansen with a reported five-year, $80 million offer. All of which leaves the Nationals right back where they started at the beginning of the offseason, still needing a closer, now with far fewer options available to them. So where do they turn now? There do remain several second-tier free...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Winter Meetings officially ended around 9:30 a.m. when the always-dramatic Rule 5 Draft came to a close, leading to a mass exodus of baseball executives from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center and a long line waiting for cabs to Reagan National Airport. But the end of the Winter Meetings is by no means the end of the hot stove league, so the Nationals aren't exactly closing up shop and refusing to pick up the phone for the next two months. They still...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The news late yesterday afternoon of the Nationals sending Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning to the White Sox for Adam Eaton sent more than a few shockwaves through the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. It also pushed aside a bunch of other interesting tidbits of the day related to the Nationals. Better late than never, though, so here you go ... * The Nats have addressed two of their three biggest needs this winter so far: an outfielder and a...

The Cubs will defend their World Series title with a new closer next season. Instead of investing millions long-term for lefty free agent closer Aroldis Chapman and his 100 mph fastball, the Cubs acquired closer Wade Davis, a two-time All-Star, from the Royals for outfielder Jorge Soler on the third day of the winter meetings. Chapman and Kenley Jansen are the two free agent closers left on the market, but the Cubs couldn't fit either into their 2017 budget. Former Nationals closer Mark...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Fans and media may be wondering who will close for the Nationals in 2017. So is manager Dusty Baker, though he didn't sound too concerned Tuesday during his media session at the Winter Meetings. Speaking in a ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Baker said he was disappointed that the Nationals weren't able to re-sign incumbent Mark Melancon, didn't think the Nats had been in touch with free agent Aroldis Chapman because he's asking for too...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Nationals have employed four different experienced closers in the last four years, and it appears they'll have to employ a fifth one next season. Mark Melancon, whom the Nationals acquired in July to fortify a tenuous position at the back end of their bullpen, has agreed to a deal with the Giants, according to ESPN's Buster Olney. And if that deal is finalized after Melancon passes a physical, the Nats will be left searching elsewhere for a ninth-inning pitching...

It is perhaps the Nationals' biggest dilemma this winter - who's going to pitch the ninth inning? - and there is no easy solution to the problem. The Nationals could sign one of the three big-name closers on the open market this winter, luring Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen to D.C. or bringing Mark Melancon back. They could take a chance and entrust the job to one of several in-house candidates, either veteran Shawn Kelley or young relievers Blake Treinen, Sammy Solis or Koda Glover. Or...

Closer Kenley Jansen, his goggles pushed up on his forehead, sat on the champagne-soaked hallway floor that leads to the Dodgers clubhouse early Friday morning. He was exhausted and trying to put into words what had just happened. "When I saw that Clayton Kershaw was warming up, I said to myself, 'Am I dreaming?' " Jansen said. "It was unbelievable. It was awesome." And it was a game the Dodgers and their will never forget. They beat the Nationals 4-3 in Game 5 of the National League...

The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw turned in rare clunker of a pitching performance Friday night at Nationals Park. He allowed three runs for the first time since June 26. He threw 101 pitches in five innings, the first time he's been that inefficient in two seasons. Yet thanks to a steady stream of lockdown relief pitchers, the Dodgers beat the Nationals 4-3 and have a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five National League Division Series. "I felt like I had decent stuff, but I had to grind out...