Washington Nationals fans have plenty to look forward to. Young third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is going to be a star for years to come, the club finally has an ownership group in place, and a new stadium is in the works.

Unfortunately for those fans, the team is going to be absolutely dreadful this season.

A lot of teams struggle to find an ace on their staff, a guy who can take the ball and dominate whenever the team needs a big win; a guy who can  be the stopper when the team has lost two in a row to a division rival and needs to pull out a game to avoid a sweep. Not only do the Nationals not have that guy, I’d say they don’t have anybody that could even lay claim to being a #2 or #3 starter.

De-facto #1 starter John Patterson is a nice guy to have as your fourth starter; his best season came in 2005 when he went 9-7 with a 3.13 ERA. Last year Patterson made exactly eight starts. Not encouraging. Things only get better from there. Jerome Williams, Tim Redding, Michael O’Connor, Shawn Hill; that’s the rotation as it stands now. In case you were wondering, not one of those pitchers has a winning career record. I’d wager (without having done the research) that Washington is the only team in baseball in such a predicament.

It doesn’t get much better in the bullpen. Closer Chad Cordero had a monster year in 2005 (I know this because I had him on my fantasy team), saving 47 games with a 1.82 ERA for a Washington team that was in contention most of the year. Last season Cordero couldn’t match that incredible breakout season but still performed well (29 for 33 in save opportunities, 3.19). And what did two great years get Cordero? Well it might get him a ticket out of town, as the Nationals have explored trade possibilities for the closer all offseason.

Dealing Cordero might actually be the smartest move for this team, since they won’t have the lead often enough to get him a significant number of save opportunities. And even if the Nationals do get a lead, the rest of the bullpen likely won’t be able to hold it. Even if you know Jon Rauch, the club’s only reliable setup man, chances are he’s the only Nationals reliever you’ve heard of. Don’t believe me? Well unless you live in the D.C. area and are a diehard Washington fan, odds are this is the first time you’ve seen these names: Beltran Perez, Jason Bergmann, Billy Traber (a former Mets prospect), Luis Ayala, Micah Bowie. Writing this list out, I don’t see how this team wins more than 65 games, I really don’t.

Offensively, there are a few more bright spots than on the pitching staff, but not that many. The aforementioned Zimmerman, the runner-up for last season’s Rookie of the Year Award. With 20 home runs, 110 RBI, and some spectacular defensive plays at third base, Zimmerman confirmed the Nationals hope that he can be their third baseman for the next decade. Unfortunately for the Nationals Zimmerman doesn’t have much help in the lineup, and it will be difficult for the 22-year-old to carry a team all by himself.