Sep 23, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Zach Duke (30) throws in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Nats’ first step was a good one. They re-signed Duke to a one-year deal, a reasonable reward for a pitcher who had a 1.32 ERA in 13.2 big-league innings last season. He will likely fill the role that Gorzelanny did last year, as a long-relief man. The Nats also signed Bill Bray, a former Nat who was traded to the Reds in 2006 along with Gary Majewski for Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez. Bray only threw 8.2 innings last year, and his deal is a minor-league one. the best case scenario for him is likely to join the team at some point in the middle of the season if he can stay healthy and pitch well at AAA. Bray’s career MLB ERA is 3.74, but he has had a sub-3.00 ERA twice since 2008.

Shortly after these deals were signed, Sean Burnett joined the Angels on a 2-year, $8 million deal witha $4.5 million option for 2015. The Nationals reportedly did not compete with this offer, and at that amount, their non-involvement was likely a smart move. While Burnett did have a 2.38 ERA last season, signing relievers to expensive deals is generally unwise, not to mention the fact that he will be 30 in 2013 and battled an elbow injury last season.To replace him, the Nats are reportedly chasing former Tampa Bay Ray J.P. Howell, who had a 3.04 ERA last season. He is the same age as Burnett, but will likely come at a lower price.

According to ESPN’s Jim Bowden, the Nationals are now competing with the Reds to sign Gonzalez, who had a 3.03 ERA last year.  If they fail, their free-agent options will be all but nonexistent, and the Nats will be forced to carry only two lefties or acquire a lefty in a Michael Morse trade if Adam LaRoche is re-signed.

The Nationals’ left-handed reliever situation may seem dire, but with a few reasonable free agent signings, the lefty stable could be as good as last year’s.

Oct 8, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Edwin Jackson (33) looks on during game two of the 2012 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 12-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Jackson finally got his big pay-day, signing with the Cubs for a reported 4 years and $52 million according to several sources on Twitter, including former teammate Gio Gonzalez.

Gorzelanny signed a two-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for a reported $6 million which is right around where he would have been if he had been tendered by the Nationals.

Both pitchers were deemed replaceable by the Nationals not necessarily for their pitching but for the money they would have been making or were seeking for the role they would have played in Washington. Gorzelanny’s role is essentially replaced by Zach Duke or Bill Bray while Jackson’s is replaced by Dan Haren who is making the same yearly salary as Jackson but for only one year. Next year, it could be Haren in Jackson’s place for all we know.

The two signing elsewhere, along with John Lannan signing in Philadelphia earlier this week, closes the door on most of the Nationals free agents. The only ones that remain are Adam LaRoche and Jesus Flores from the Major League team a year ago. The Nationals are still major players on LaRoche but it seems that news around him is at a stand still. Whether that is due to the holidays approaching or due to a new market evolving after the signing of Josh Hamilton to the Los Angeles Angels and the trade of Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners, no one knows.

September 19, 2012; Washington, D.C., USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher John Lannan (31) pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

This comes as no surprise for Lannan and Flores. Lannan, now 28, started on Opening Day twice for the Nats, owns a career 4.01 ERA, and made $5 million last season, spent almost all of the season at AAA Syracuse. The team chose to go with Ross Detwiler over him for the fifth spot in the rotation, and he made only six major league starts, most of those coming as Stephen Strasburg‘s replacement at the end of the season. He would have received a raise from his salary this season through arbitration, and the Nationals were unwilling to pay that much for him to stay in AAA for another season. He was the second-longest tenured National, behind only Ryan Zimmerman, but now figures to draw interest from teams like the Royals and Mets.

Flores, also 28, came to the Nats as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Mets in 2007, the same season he made his MLB debut. He had been a fairly highly regarded prospect, but was 23 years old and still playing in A ball. He played decently in the majors, with a combined .252 average over his first two seasons. He was hitting .301 29 games into the 2009 season when he suffered a stress fracture in his shoulder that caused him to miss the rest of the season. Repeated setbacks caused him to miss the entire 2010 season as well. He finally returned in 2011, but was not the same player, hitting .209 in 30 games. In 2012, he was given a chance to become the team’s number one catcher after Wilson Ramos tore his ACL in May, but failed to take advantage of that opportunity, hitting .213 in 83 games. With the acquisition of Kurt Suzuki from Oakland in August, Flores was made expendable. He made $815,000 last season, and would likely have received a similar or slightly higher amount in 2013. He has already drawn interest from the Mets, and figures to receive calls from a few other catcher-needy teams as well.

Gorzelanny’s non-tender came as a bit more of a surprise. He was acquired from the Cubs before the 2011 season in exchange for prospects Michael Burgess, A.J. Morris, and Graham Hicks. Burgess hit .259 as a 24-year-old in AA last season, the 26-year-old Morris missed all of the 2011 season with an injury but had a 2.24 ERA in 52.1 IP in High A last year, and Graham Hicks recently returned to the Nats as a minor league free agent. Gorzelanny was an effective reliever with the Nats, throwing to a 2.88 ERA in 72.0 IP last season, but made $4 million last season and was going to receive a raise, a hefty cost for a reliever. However, with Gorzelanny’s becoming a free agent, the Nationals now have no left-handed relievers on their roster. In addition to Gorzelanny, Sean Burnett and Mike Gonzalez are free agents, but the Nationals could conceivably re-sign all three, or sign any other free agent relievers in order to put lefties in their pen.