Are Nats finally ready to jump into reliever market?

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.

That still leaves a bunch of spots that need to be filled, at least four of them.

One of those spots could go to one of the several rotation candidates who don’t make the final five out of spring training. Michael Soroka, Trevor Williams, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker can’t all make a rotation that already has MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin penciled into the top two roles. Three of them will make it, and then perhaps one of the other two will open the season as a long reliever, with the other headed to Triple-A Rochester (especially if it’s one of the young lefties).

But the Nationals still need more true relievers to fill out an eight-man bullpen, experienced arms with some kind of track record in the role. And, ideally, someone who has closed before.

In choosing to non-tender Finnegan earlier this winter, the Nats created a hole in the ninth inning that wasn’t there before. Lopez (who has 31 saves in nine major league seasons) could fill that role, but he’s probably better suited to be a setup man. Same for Law (13 saves in eight major league seasons), who was invaluable last season as a workhorse who led the league with 90 relief innings.

We still don’t know how much the Nationals are willing to spend on a closer. (They didn’t believe Finnegan was worth the $8 million to $9 million he was likely to get through arbitration. If they’re willing to pay something comparable, or even higher, they could still pursue someone like David Robertson, Kenley Jansen or Craig Kimbrel. They could, in theory, attempt to bring Finnegan (who remains a free agent) back at a lower salary, if the two sides are willing to work together again.

Beyond that, the Nats still figure to seek out several more experienced bullpen arms, perhaps some willing to sign minor league contracts with a chance to make the club in spring training. That path led them to Law, Barnes and Matt Barnes one year ago, with the first two spending most of the season with the big league club and the latter getting released after a rough April.

And with Joe La Sorsa (who was designated for assignment last week to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Ogasawara) now unconditionally released, there’s a need for at least one more left-hander to join Ferrer in the 2025 bullpen.

So, there’s still plenty of work to do. There’s still time to do it, and some of these moves may not come until after everyone’s reported to West Palm Beach. But based on the recent actions of other clubs, the Nationals might not be able to afford to wait too much longer.