Nats' remaining closer options; Boras on Harper and Strasburg

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 catcher. They still haven't addressed perhaps the biggest need of them all: closer. And their options continue to dwindle.

Mark Melancon signed with the Giants on Monday for four years and $62 million. Wade Davis was traded to the Cubs on Tuesday for Jorge Soler. And Aroldis Chapman signed with the Yankees late Wednesday night for five years and $86 million.

So who does that leave? Well, Kenley Jansen is the last of the big-name free agents still unsigned, but the Dodgers and Marlins appear to be going hard after him now, with Miami reportedly willing to make an offer not all that much lower than what the Yankees gave Chapman.

On the trade front, there's David Robertson of the White Sox. ("Hello, Rick? It's Mike again. Anybody left in our farm system you're still interested in?") There's Greg Holland of the Royals. There's perhaps Sean Doolittle of the A's. And there's Alex Colome of the Rays.

Keep an eye on Colome, a surprise All-Star this season with a 1.91 ERA and 37 saves. The Nationals have held some talks with Tampa Bay about the 27-year-old right-hander this week, according to a source familiar with the discussions. He's got four more years of club control and won't even qualify for arbitration until 2018.

* Scott Boras held his annual Winter Meetings media scrum Wednesday afternoon, always a highlight of the event. Only the super agent could turn a question about baseball's new collective bargaining agreement into an eight-minute screed that included an argument that rugby would be as popular as football in America if only they gave out more college scholarships.

Boras, of course, has several high-profile clients with the Nationals, none more high-profile than Bryce Harper. And given how Harper emerged in the news earlier this week - USA Today published an article in which an unnamed Nationals executive suggested the club is "balking" at the outfielder's demands for a long-term extension and are preparing themselves to be without him after 2018 - it's no surprise Boras was asked several questions about the subject.

He reiterated what he told some reporters on Monday: A long-term extension for Harper isn't something he and the Nationals have begun talking about in significant terms yet.

"I really have not had any form of discussion with them about that," Boras said. "We talk about a lot of things Nationals, but it just really has not gotten to that."

Boras was asked if Harper is happy playing in Washington.

"I know anybody who is playing for the Nationals, they're in the playoffs, they have a chance to win," he said. "It's a good place to play baseball. He enjoys Washington, D.C."

Harper, of course, is coming off a disappointing season in which his numbers dropped off dramatically from his MVP campaign in 2015. Boras admitted what many suspected: Harper wasn't 100 percent healthy at times this year, though he felt there were other more significant reasons for his struggles.

"Certainly Bryce played through some nagging injuries," the agent said. "Not anything that was of any permanence. A lot of time with a hitter, when you have a strained muscle, it affects your neck or what you're doing. But I don't think Bryce is the type that's going to come out and talk about excuses. I think a lot of this had to do with adjusting to a different format, a patience level. ...

"Major League Baseball really took a different approach by walking him so much. And I think the adjustments you have to make to your at-bats, the patience, the expectancy of being an MVP the prior year and doing what you want to do, there's always adjustments you have to make. And certainly that's something that Bryce operated in and dealt with. And I think he'll move forward from it."

* Another of Boras' high-profile Nationals clients, Stephen Strasburg, ended the season on the disabled list with a strained flexor mass in his right elbow. Club officials have insisted all along the pitcher will be good to go in spring training, and Boras concurred that rest alone all winter will be enough to get Strasburg back to full health.

"I just go by what the doctors tell me about, the medical practitioners," Boras said. "They're all telling me that Stephen will be fine, and that this is something that just needed a period of time for it to heal. They don't foresee anything that would cause him any form of impairment going forward."