Report: Nationals have inquired about Holland
The Washington Nationals, having already re-signed Brandon Kintzler, now appear to be interested in fortifying their relief corps with an available All-Star.
Washington has reportedly inquired about free-agent closer Greg Holland, perhaps the best reliever available on the open market, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.
It's not clear how advanced talks between the sides may be.
The Nats' interest in Holland is apparently nothing new, as Heyman reports they also tried to sign him last season when he was coming back from Tommy John surgery. Ultimately, the 32-year-old spent 2017 pitching for the Colorado Rockies, where he returned to his pre-surgery form, becoming an All-Star for the third time and saving an NL-best 41 games en route to winning Comeback Player of the Year honors.
The bullpen - and specifically the ninth-inning job - has been the Nationals' Achilles' heel during their recent half-decade of success. General manager Mike Rizzo took a number of steps to address the issue last summer by trading for Kintzler and Sean Doolittle, who were effective down the stretch and into the playoffs; behind those two, however, bullpen depth remains a problem.
If he were to join Washington, Holland would likely take over as the team's closer, allowing rookie skipper Dave Martinez to deploy Kintzler and Doolittle in the seventh and eighth innings as part of a potentially lethal shutdown late-inning trio of relievers.
Washington also reportedly reached out to another All-Star free agent in Wade Davis in recent weeks, according to Heyman. On Friday, however, Davis reportedly agreed to a record contract with the Rockies, where he'll replace Holland as their ninth-inning man.
The St. Louis Cardinals have also been connected to Holland this offseason.