As quiet offseason continues, Nats still looking for a closer

Teams across baseball tend to take a break around the holidays, but they usually get back to work right after New Year's Day and continue altering their rosters as the clock to spring training starts ticking down.

That holiday break, though, seems to have extended into mid-January this time around. Because there's been an awful dearth of news so far in 2017, unless the signings of Trevor Plouffe and Colby Rasmus, and trades involving Yovani Gallardo, Seth Smith, Jarrod Dyson and Nate Karns get you excited.

The Nationals have not made a single roster move since Dec. 13, nearly a full month ago.

Not that general manager Mike Rizzo had a lot of pressing needs this winter, with most of his roster returning from 2016. But this has been an unusually prolonged quiet period for the Nats, who typically have made at least a little bit of news during the dead of winter.

There's still reason to believe the Nationals will be active before pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach, Fla., in five weeks. They still need help for their bullpen and their bench, not to mention some rotation depth if possible.

And there are plenty of viable free agents still out there waiting to land jobs, so it's not like the Nationals have been shut out to date.

The most accomplished closer still on the market is Greg Holland, who despite missing last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery still owns a career 2.42 ERA and 145 saves in 161 opportunities, all with the Royals.

Given his injury and drop in velocity, Holland is a risk, and the Nationals know that. Otherwise they probably would have already swooped in and made the 31-year-old right-hander an offer he couldn't refuse.

But if they're determined to trot out a closer with more than cursory experience in the role, Holland is the best remaining option on the free agent market.

A trade remains a possibility, with the White Sox's David Robertson and the Rays' Alex Colome still available. But Rizzo to date has not been willing to give up what it would take to land either reliever, and unless the opposing GMs' prices drop soon, they may continue to be stuck at an impasse.