Where do the Nationals turn now in search for a closer?

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 agents with closing experience, headlined by Greg Holland and Brad Ziegler.

Holland, 31, is the most accomplished reliever still out there. He has 145 saves in 161 opportunities, a 2.42 career ERA, strikes out 12.1 batters per nine innings and surrenders only 6.6 hits per nine frames.

But the former Royals right-hander comes with a major red flag attached to him: He missed the entire 2016 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Nationals certainly have experience with pitchers returning from that elbow procedure, but any signing of Holland would come with a significant risk.

Ziegler, 37, is older and has traveled a more winding path in his career, having held a variety of bullpen roles for the Athletics, Diamondbacks and Red Sox. The sidewinding right-hander converted 48-of-52 save opportunities for Arizona the last two seasons, but he doesn't have overpowering stuff, and he relies on weak contact instead of swings and misses to record his outs.

Ziegler has stuck out only 6.1 batters per nine innings in his career. He does, however, have an excellent 2-to-1 groundball-to-flyball ratio and has allowed only 23 home runs in 596 2/3 big league innings.

The Nationals remain engaged on the trade front, as well, and sources familiar with their discussions said they continue to be interested in the Rays' Alex Colome and the White Sox's David Robertson.

Colome, 27, was a surprise breakthrough All-Star for Tampa Bay this season, posting a 1.91 ERA and 37 saves in 40 attempts to go along with a stellar 71-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But because the right-hander is under team control for four more seasons, the price to acquire him will be steep.

Robertson is signed with Chicago for two more seasons and $25 million. His numbers - a 3.32 ERA, 110 saves in 129 opportunities over the last three years - are less dominant, though the 31-year-old has struck out nearly 12 batters per nine innings throughout his career.

None of these options would provide the Nationals with the kind of peace of mind Melancon gave them in the ninth inning over the season's final two months, or that Chapman or Jansen or Davis would have given them in a curly W cap. But for whatever reason, they weren't able and/or willing to do what it would have taken to acquire any of those four relievers.

The Giants, who desperately needed a closer after the way their season imploded, outbid the Nationals for Melancon. The Yankees went above and beyond to bring Chapman back to the Bronx. Jansen's agent, Adam Katz, told the New York Post's Joel Sherman than the Nationals actually offered his client more money than the Dodgers did, though the offer included salary deferrals, and Jansen preferred to return to Los Angeles anyway.

We'll see how this all ends up playing out, but the sense here is that general manager Mike Rizzo ideally would prefer to bring in an experienced closer for the short-term while at the same time grooming his young relievers (most notably Koda Glover) to take over the ninth inning at some point. Both Rizzo and manager Dusty Baker mentioned in the last week how closers usually are developed from within, a much more sound strategy than spending lavishly on veterans who may not be able to sustain their success long-term.

That's why Davis might well have been the best option for the Nationals, signed for one more year and $10 million. The problem: The Nats didn't have a Jorge Soler (a young, major league-ready position player with five years of control) to trade to Kansas City.

Perhaps they can fill that need with someone like Holland or Ziegler. Perhaps they can swing a trade for Colome or Robertson. Or perhaps they're willing to enter 2017 with an unproven closer.

Whatever the end result, the Nationals certainly didn't want to find themselves in this position today, still seeking a closer while other teams gobble up the best available options.

Notes: The Phillies officially announced the signing of left-hander Sean Burnett to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp in the spring. Burnett made his return to the majors in September with the Nationals after rehabbing from his second career Tommy John surgery and posted a 3.18 ERA in 10 appearances but did not appear to be in the club's plans for 2017.

The Nats also sent minor league right-hander Mario Sanchez to the Phillies as the player-to-be-named in last month's trade for reliever Jimmy Cordero. Sanchez, 22, had a 3.46 ERA, 62 strikeouts and 22 walks in 78 relief innings for Single-A Potomac this season.