Napa Winers Team Preview... smells like vomit! Read at own risk.

Oh alright, I'll do one. Management had decided to let the play speak for itself but is folding under peer pressure. ( Napa management is not liable for anyone vomitting after reading this! )

After assembling a offensive powerhouse, Napa management decided to tear it apart and start over with a different philosophy. The problem with the offensive juggernaut that WAS the Napa Winers, THEY COULDN'T FIELD!!!! It was 2-run homer or nothing. Napa got tired of seeing the dreaded "so and so couldn't get to it, single... so and so couldn't get to it, double plus error" results.

Then Napa couldn't figure out who exactly they wanted and thus the roster has been a revolving door, hence not being able to contribute to the "who do you still have" conversation. To be honest with you, since I am not around my roster, I am going to leave somebody off of this preview because I am not entirely sure who exactly IS on my team!!! So without further adooooooooodooooooooodooooo adaaaaaadaaaaaaadaaaaaaaa... Sorry, got sidetracked.

Stadium change- Napa, realizing it could no longer hope to outslug its opponents has decided to relocate from the cozy confines of the little league park in Colorado (recently sold to Washington), and moved to the much more spacious park in Washington. Hopefully we will one day be able to assemble a respectable starting staff to benefit from this move.

C- Napa acquired Wilson Ramos to handle the majority of the catching duties this year and for the future. The young backstop is hopefully over his kidnapping and will be able to return to normal and build on the promise he showed as a rookie. The backups, I think are Posada and Stewart. Posada should be valuable as a bat against righties, and stewart can get on base decently against lefties and provides a decent arm. But neither figures to get much time as Ramos is the now, and the future.

1B- It was going to be Matt Laporta and maybe some Logan Morrison. But Napa made a deal to bring in Brandon Belt. So it will be Laporta and Belt. Hopefully Bruce Bochy will get off whatever he is on and let Belt play this year. If Belt lives up to the potential he has shown in the minor leagues, he will anchor first base for a number of years in the future. He also gives some flexibility with his OF experience. Laporta? He just stinks and is just a source of AB's. Morrison? read about him later now that he doesn't have to show off his range at first anymore.

2B- Not long here, but long gone is Ian Kinsler. In comes Gordon "will you ever get it together" Beckham. Well, that's not completely fair. He can field a bit, so that's good. After struggling through having Uggla and Keppinger at 2B in recent seasons, Beckham's defense is a welcome addition. He is still young, and hopefully he will be able to find his hitting ability again and live up to some of his promise he showed when he was a highly touted prospect.

3B- David Wright, welcome aboard. Napa management brought on board a player who, if he can remain healthy, can anchor its lineup. Hopefully he can stay healthy and give a full season of at-bats this year and put up similar production to what he has in the past. The remodeled park in N.Y. should help (they moved the fences in in case you hadn't heard).

SS- Brendan Ryan, field... that's all we're paying you to do. Which is good, because that is pretty much all he can do! I am not sure, but I think I also picked up Brandon Crawford in the draft who we are also paying to do the same thing because again, that's all he can do. Which is fine for now.

OF- Hodge podge of guys... Sam Fuld, Carlos Gomez, Grady Sizemore (that gamble is paying off nicely already!!!), Jason Heyward, Jeff Francoeur, hopefully not much of Logan Morrison... Have some defense in Fuld and Gomez, have some offense in Francoeur (here's to a repeat of last season this season!!!), and have some promise in Heyward. Hopefully (I keep saying that, I know) Heyward can bounce back and keep the nagging injuries away long enough to live up to the hype and promise that he showed his rookie year. Hopefully Francoeur can repeat his 2011 performance in 2012. He also isn't that old, seems like he has been around forever. Going to love having a cannon in RF. Gomez would be awesome if he didn't think he was a homerun hitter, but the guy is a stud in the field. Fuld, I wish he had the skills that some of these other guys have. The guy hustles and busts his butt and again can play some defense. Grady Sizemore, I was hoping would make it through spring training without getting hurt but alas, he can't. Such a shame the poor guy can't stay healthy because when healthy he was one of the best players in the game.

DH- Logan Morrison. The guy can tweet. The guy can hit. The guy CANNOT field. Good thing I am in the AL and he can DH. Hopefully he continues to progress at the plate and hopefully he and his new manager can co-exist. There is plenty of offense around him in Flor... errr, Miami in Stanton, Sanchez, Bonifacio, Reyes, HanRam... so he should see plenty of pitches to hit.

SP- Tommy Hanson, Jonathan Niese, Mike Pelfrey, Clay Buchholz, Francisco Liriano, Edwin Jackson, some other guys... If Tommy Hanson can stay healthy, if Francisco Liriano can stay healthy, if Edwin Jackson can turn into a little bit less of Livan Hernandez (too many hits allowed), if Clay Buchholz can stay healthy, and if Niese can continue to grow then this staff should be halfway decent next season. That is a lot of if's, but at least one or two of them have to pan out right?

Pen- Kenley Jansen, David Robertson, Ross Detwiler, Boone Logan, uh oh, I forget who else... oh well, doesn't really matter. Kenley Jansen is one of the few guys who people have tried to get from me that I have shut the door on immediately. The guy can mow people down. Hopefully his heart can hold up and he doesn't die. Jansen is the closer of the future, and by default, the closer of the present. Robertson, Detwiler, Logan, and the other guys will all have plenty of innings pitched this year trying to bail out the starters listed above.

Outlook- For this year, blah. For the future, there is a bit of light on the horizon. In its rebuild, Napa thinks it has assembled some nice pieces for a successful future. Heyward, Ramos, Morrison, Francoeur, Beckham, Belt, and Wright have Napa's management feeling somewhat confident that the team will be sound in the field, and in the batter's box in the near future. Hanson, Niese, Liriano, Jackson, and Buchholz have the potential to be a solid, above average rotation if they can find a way to kick the injury bug that has a hold of most of them. And Jansen and Robertson are two solid bullpen fixtures to build a team around.

So the future looks bright, although it is still a season or two or maybe 3 away. Outlook for this year, not so much... expected record is about 70-92. Which may be a good thing because Napa management has not traded its first round pick for 2013, and it should be a good one.