It’s less than six weeks now until Opening Day. The Nats have signed Adam Dunn — yes, THAT Adam Dunn — and re-signed Zimmerman, at least for now. Hope for mediocrity springs eternal.

The Nats were out of the race by the end of April in the last two years. They rebounded quite a bit two years ago, turning in a decent performance for the rest of the year. Last year, smacked by injuries and a lack of depth, they played some of the worst baseball to darken a major league park in some time. They scored the trifecta: No-hit, no-field, no-pitch. That, of course, led to no-win, and led fans to question why they were wasting their time on this franchise.

But April comes closer by the day. The sun shines, the weather gets warmer and life renews itself. The baseball sins of the past get washed away, if only for a few weeks. And hope is renewed.