Reno's Real 2012 Outlook

Reno's 2011 team significantly outplayed win-loss expectations.

2012 brings them back to reality as several career years and a flurry of platoon goodness have been washed away and an air of uncertainty has prevailed.

Here's a look at the 2012 Aces:

Catcher - Carlos Santana will man the position with about as much skill as 42 year old Molina, without the arm. Good thing he can hit. And walk. The righty splits aren't great though and it could be a long season of lots of times on base and not a lot of RBI's.

First Base - Nick Swisher will hold down first and he has similar problems to Santana without the future upside. He'll be serviceable until future studs like Anthony Rizzo develop their Major League swing.

Second Base - Jamey Carroll continues to be a pesky little offensive player with pretty good defensive skills. This is a position that will need an upgrade in Reno in the near future.

Third Base - Kevin Youkilis still gets on base and can still hit. Problem is that lately he's about a gimpy fracker. Hopefully his health returns and he can bring that .900 plus OPS back to Reno.

Shortstop - Marco Scutaro is another veteran stand-in until Reno can build some young depth at the middle infield positions. Cliff Pennington looks to assume the role in 2013 as Scutaro moves back to Second.

Infield Depth - Not great at this time. We thought we might have something with Scott Sizemore, who also can take a base in great SABRmetric style, but it looks like his 2012 season was done before it even got started. Luckily we have a few other youngsters that should get some serious playing time this year in the bigs including Chase D'Arnaud, Jesus Guzman, and Jimmy Paredes. Paredes looks to be moving back to Second as well and will start out the season in AAA. Maybe second base will be a overloaded position in 2013.

Leftfield - Melky Cabrera had a career year in 2011 and if he can hit in Kansas City, he should be able to hit in San Francisco. Most pundits are suggesting that 2011 might be the best you will ever see out of Melky. I am hoping it was just the first of several great years. If his 2012 spring is indicative, it looks like Melky might have finally figured it out.

Centerfield - Josh Hamilton can hit a ton and will continue to hit a ton until his body fails him. The bad news for Josh is that if he checked to see his Wii Fit age he'd be a Grandpa. Too much bad stuff at too young an age will definitely shorten his career. Here's hoping we get a few more good years out of him.

Rightfield - Jay Bruce also appears to be getting it together. The slugging is there and the on base is catching up. I'd like to see less swings and misses so the average goes up, but 32 homeruns and 100 rbi's is serviceable. The gold glove fielding numbers help too.

Outfield Depth - Not a lot needed in 2012 as we're pretty covered. Heisey and his constant search for a swing will provide good results at homer friendly Camden Yards. We also have some serious comeback candidates in Luke Scott, Aubrey Huff, and Adam Dunn.

Starting Pitching - With Tim Lincecum and Mat Latos as our number 1 and 2 we will win a lot of games. With Jeremy Guthrie and Ubaldo Jiminez as our numbers 3 and 4 we will lose a lot of games. Number 5 is alive, or in our case Worley and Mosely. They should provide better results with our offense than our middle of the rotation pitchers.

Relief Pitching - We took a pitcher in the second round who managed to default his way to a closer spot and has a great 2011 card in Greg Holland. Holland, Venters, and Valverde are the Aces only hope to pull off some victories when Guthrie and Jiminez pitch. Not a lot of teams have that much talent at the end of the game.

Pitching Depth - We have some youngsters who still might make it including Brian Matusz, who's velocity is back up after a dismal 2011, as well as potential success stories such as James McDonald, Dan Runzler, and Edison Volquez (who am I kidding, I am rooting for a Jiminez bounce back and praying for the rest).

All in all the Aces have a serviceable team and lineup that should win 80 to 90 games. It should all play out within the first few months of the season as to what the 2012 season holds and whether we can contend or we should move onto 2013. If we move on, you could see names like Holland or Cabrera moved before the trade deadline. Currently a lot of this team reminds me of the old guys sipping ensure in that Clint Eastwood outerspace movie. Bottoms up!