Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal, left, tags out Washington’s Jayson Werth at home for the final out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Werth tried to score from first base on a double by Ryan Zimmerman in what became a pivotal moment in the game.

Dodgers, 4, Nationals 3 Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal, left, tags out Washington’s Jayson Werth at home for the final out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Werth tried to score from first base on a double by Ryan Zimmerman in what became a pivotal moment in the game. John McDonnell/The Washington Post

The Washington Nationals have four major offseason needs — catcher, closer, an answer to where to play Trea Turner and an outfield bat with pop. And they have 10,000 ways to address them.

Welcome to winter baseball, even though it’s still autumn. For months, every permutation will be weighed, every possible trade explored and many a free agent courted. Then, just cross your fingers. In this world of interlocking kaleidoscopic moving parts, everybody makes a wish list. Here’s mine.

First, call Ian Desmond and try to sign him for $75 million for five years to play center field. Desmond ended up hitting just as well for the Rangers (. 285 batting average/.335 on-base percentage/.446 slugging percentag e) as he did in Washington in 2012, 2013 and 2014, when he won three Silver Sluggers as a shortstop (.275/.326/.462). That would return one of the best leaders the Nats have had to his original club. If you can do it (big “if”), there’d be a clubhouse ovation.

With Desmond in center, where he is graded as an average defender who plays deep but has a great arm, Turner moves to shortstop, his career-long spot. This season his slash line was .342/.370/.567 with 33 steals in 74 games. That’s Ty Cobb — playing shortstop. So, please, assume Turner can’t be that good. Instead, just let him be whomever he turns out to be.

[Nats position by position season review: the starting rotation]

Ian Desmond reacts after hitting a double against the Blue Jays in the seventh inning of game two of the American League Divison Series last week between Texas and Toronto. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Turner to shortstop might be good news, long term, for Danny Espinosa, too. After a 24-homer, 1.7-WAR (wins over replacement) year, he has trade value. He is not a free agent until after 2017. Deal him to a team that needs a slick shortstop for several years and isn’t scared by Espinosa’s poor hitting in October. That’s his payday.

Are the Nats and General Manager Mike Rizzo on good enough terms after Desmond’s rocky exodus for Texas that such a return is even worth attempting? After all, “you can never go home again” usually applies.

“Yes, we’re on good terms,” Rizzo said Tuesday.

If you can’t get Desmond, then things get tougher. The other palatable free agent outfielders all play in the corners. Go that route and you probably move Bryce Harper back to center, where he played as a rookie in 2012. Does he want to do that? Don’t you want to keep his mind clear, and his body intact, so that he can fix his awful hitting the last five months of 2016?

In theory, any player can be traded, even a Harper. But, in reality, it’s probably crazy to sell low, especially on a drawing-card star. The better course is to trust in his talent, ambition and work ethic — as well as that slash line, built up over five full years of .279/.382/.501 , which says he’s either a very good player (and still cheap in 2017 and ’18) or the National League MVP of 2015 just waiting to reemerge.

The market for corner outfielders is scary. Right fielder Mark Trumbo, who hit 47 homers for the Orioles, may be overpriced after a career year. He’s no Mr. Consistency. After him, the next-best free agent might be 35-year-old Jose Bautista (. 234, 22 homers ) — a huge drop.

So then make a trade, right? You can imagine a hundred deals, but one — a gamble — is a tease. Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen, only 30 and the 2013 NL MVP, had a 2016 campaign so bad that it makes Harper’s year look glorious. The nickel-counting Pirates owe him $14 million in 2017 and have a $14.5 million team option for 2018. What if you got him for a reasonable trade price, then he rebounded — you could control him through ’18, too.

The Nationals lost to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLDS, leaving fans wondering what the team can possibly do better next season. Beat writers Jorge Castillo and Chelsea Janes break down the loss and offseason opportunities. (Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post)

[How Nats fans should process this latest loss in the playoffs]

What’s next on our docket? Tell 23-year-old Pedro Severino, who looked polished behind the plate and brought energy everywhere in September and October, that he is your starting catcher — period. Everybody in the District in Buffalo headgear loves and appreciates Wilson Ramos, but his future, after rehab (by mid-2017) from a second major right knee surgery, is strictly in the American League with the DH.

Finally, make a big move to sign Mark Melancon and keep him in Washington. Don’t wait for the free agent market for relievers to go to the moon for Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen. Trends don’t stop once they start. Elite relievers have been undervalued for many years. That’s changing. But any top five closer you sign this winter will look like a bargain in two years.

In the last four years in all of baseball, Melancon is third in saves, third in ERA (1.80), second in WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched), second in innings, second in games and second in fewest home runs per nine innings pitched. He doesn’t look as dominating as Chapman, Jansen, Wade Davis, Zach Britton, Craig Kimbrel and Andrew Miller. But he is.

This will be the Nats’ hardest decision of the winter. They haven’t acted like they are much interested in Melancon. There’s a natural industry fear of signing a pitcher, 32 next year, to a lengthy deal. Besides, Melancon looks like a normal-sized guy who walked in off the street with an MLB-average fastball/cutter and an overhand curve. Why can’t we teach one of our young kids with a big arm to be that good?

Because it seldom happens. Projecting a Koda Glover is fun. But Melancon actually exists.

The odds on all these things happening is close to zero. Besides, every wish list is different. But mine would probably increase payroll by about $30 million in 2017 and several years thereafter. However, the Nats’ obligation falls by about $20 million next year with Jonathan Papelbon, Ramos and others off the roster. And after 2017, Jayson Werth’s $21 million per year drops off the log.

My notions, especially adding an outfield bat, would lengthen the lineup and mitigate the No. 6-through-No. 9 nightmare seen last week against the Dodgers when Ryan Zimmerman, Espinosa, Severino-Jose Lobaton, plus the pitcher had a combined 2016 batting average of .206. That can’t be allowed to stand.

Zimmerman isn’t going anywhere. Get used to it. The Nats still owe him $48 million. He hit .353 in the playoffs, and Manager Dusty Baker said he thinks he had a horrible-luck season that won’t be repeated in 2017. Put that all together and the good-glove Zimmerman is still the first baseman, although perhaps in a platoon with Clint-Robinson-or-other if he doesn’t hit next spring.

Of course, as many offseasons prove, the best plan is sometimes dumb luck. Last year, Plan A for the Nats was to sign Ben Zobrist. Luckily, that didn’t work. Instead they ended up with Daniel Murphy, who signed for what now seems like a pittance: $37.5 million for three years. Last week, Nationals Park rang with chants of “MVP” when he batted and Clayton Kershaw called him “the best hitter on the planet.”

Plans A, and B and C are great. But don’t forget the lucky pennies, rabbit’s feet and four-leaf clovers.