Washington Nationals: Under-the-Radar Additions Could Have Team on Right Track

"Adam Dunn hates baseball."

"Joe Beimel isn't worth the money he's asking."

"Scott Olsen is getting older."

"The Nationals just plain stink from top to bottom and have no hope of being any good."

Yes, we've heard it all before. The detractors who say that Washington baseball is doomed to failure even before the team breaks camp are a loud bunch.

The thing is, while this team is nowhere near ready to be mentioned as a World Series contender, the Nats are a lot further along than it was at this time last year.

They didn't make any huge offseason moves. They didn't go out and sign a big-name free agent, though they flirted with a couple of them (Mark Teixeira, and to a lesser degree, Manny Ramirez).

They didn't make a huge trade. There was no package of talent for an attractive player, so the Nationals instead chose to work small.

Former GM Jim Bowden might have been maligned for his ties to a bad recruiting scandal in Latin America, but he wasn't a fool.

Adam Dunn, Joe Beimel, Scott Olsen, Josh Willingham, Julian Tavarez, and Daniel Cabrera are in the fold. No, none of them will blow you away, but they might be one of the most underrated classes of pickups this offseason.

Then there's the non-roster invitees, and that's not a bad crop either. There are a lot of guys who've hit a career wall or are coming off injuries.

Jesus Colome, Wilfredo Ledezma, and Kip Wells headline a list of pitchers who still have some potential despite career falloffs.

Corey Patterson, Jose Castillo, Javier Valentin, and Dmitri Young are similar in their life stage, but can do damage on the other side of the ball.

Again, no one who will blow you away, but some potentially key additions.

But I haven't even gotten to the real club strength: youth. Young players at or ready for the Major-League level are the toast of the team.

Jordan Zimmermann is one of them. He's been lights-out this spring and is poised to make a jump into the starting rotation with a good finish. Stephen Strasburg should be the top draft choice this year, and that'll another star arm to the rotation eventually.

On the hitting side of things, Ryan Zimmerman has plenty of mileage left and is growing into the third base job he has manned since he reached the bigs a couple of years ago.  Jesus Flores, a young catcher, and Elijah Dukes, the troubled but talented outfielder, are other talents that should make a huge impact on the Nationals' future.

This team probably won't be on anyone's Playoff lists for 2009, and they shouldn't be. But in a couple years, they might just be making some noise in a stadium near you.