Welcome, Josh! It's so great to have you, and I hope we will provide just the sort of great place to talk about baseball that you're hoping for.
Most of us feel the team improved from 2007 in the offseason, but our confidence has been shaken by the recent 9 game losing streak. Realistically, we expect to contend (for the divisional title) in 1-2 years from now, but our division is not very solid at the moment and if we get our act together the season is still very much in play.
I never lost hope, but then again my mantra is "don't panic". I expect us to win at least as many games as we lose this year, and next year we could be contenders for a wild-card playoff entry. Two or three years from now, when our pitching prospects are in the big leagues and when players like Ryan Zimmerman, Jesus Flores, Wily Mo Pena and Lastings Milledge are entering their primes - we'll be very formidable indeed.
