If the Plan Pans Out, the Nats' Future Could Be Wow

While pitching matters most, other Nats have provided pleasant surprises. Felipe Lopez is a much better second baseman than shortstop, maybe of all-star quality. At 29, shortstop Cristian Guzman's career is far from dead. Now hitting .256, you can play him or trade him. Either way, he's found money. "Those two are amazing around second base," Zimmerman said.

Given a full-time job, Ryan Church had more homers, RBI and extra-base hits entering last night than Alfonso Soriano in Chicago. "And I haven't even gotten hot yet," he laughed. Church can be a fourth outfielder for anybody and start for some teams. The season's biggest steal probably is catcher Jesus Flores, 22, a Rule 5 pickup who already augments Brian Schneider nicely. "A true talent behind the plate," Corrales said. In the bullpen, Jesus Colome, 29, may be a late-blooming power arm and Saul Rivera is steady. Finally, three pitchers -- Luis Ayala and starters Brandon Claussen and Mike O'Connor -- are due back in July.

There's plenty more, though with less impact. Dmitri Young can hit until Nick Johnson returns. Then he and fine utility man Ronnie Belliard probably will be traded to a contender in July for prospects. Billy Traber, Micah Bowie and Mike Bacsik all look like situational lefties or spot starters.

"Garrett Mock, who's healthy again, was the big piece in the Livan Hernandez deal," not Chico, Kasten said. "They could both end up in the rotation this year. . . . We have more pieces here already than almost anybody gave us credit for."

The biggest pieces, however, still are over the horizon. "The Braves are always much better when Chipper Jones is in the lineup," Kasten said. "His impact is disproportionate to his statistics, as great as they are." The Nats have no such player yet.

By next season, the Nats would prefer to add one or two free agents in the $5 million to $7 million range. And trades, even significant ones, now are possible with more depth of talent. At the very least, the whole Nats clubhouse expects a 30-homer bat under its Christmas tree. But the Hall of Fame-level, $15 million-a-year player -- the last piece of the puzzle, such as when Greg Maddux went to Atlanta in 1993 -- isn't going to arrive until the Plan is much closer to fruition. Bank on that.

For the next few weeks, until healthy pitchers return, the Nats remain in jeopardy of looking foolish, as they did in last night's 10-0 drubbing by the Dodgers. But the big question about this season probably has already been answered.

The stars, comparable to Zimmerman, that a winning team must possess will not arrive in Washington -- from the minors or other teams -- until the club plays in Southeast. But 15 or more of the franchise's other core players are either on display at RFK now or will be by midseason. The Nationals' future is arriving fast, and much of it suddenly is well ahead of schedule.