FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ron Gardenhire likes Brian Dozier a lot, but the infielder probably won't break camp with the Twins. For that to happen, Dozier would have to earn a starting job, and that, for a variety of reasons, is unlikely.
"If he's staying, he's playing," Gardenhire said.
But Dozier is one of the best middle infielders among the 39 players still in major league camp and one of the few adept at shortstop, the position he played while earning the Twins' minor league player of the year award in 2011. Neither front-runner for the utility spot, Luke Hughes and Sean Burroughs, has any major league experience at short.
Gardenhire on Thursday said it's too early to contemplate such issues. Pedro Florimon and Michael Hollimon, he said, have been shortstops by trade and are still firmly in the hunt for an Opening Day roster spot.
"I don't even know how we're going to break down," the manager said. "I've thought about writing it out, then I've thought, 'I don't want to.' Because you can get set in your mind, and I just want to let them play it out. ... Have I thought about this? Yes, absolutely, but I'm still not writing it out."
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Jamey Carroll and Alexi Casilla are penciled into the Opening Day lineup at short and second, respectively. Unseating them has been unlikely from the get-go, and no one has made a case through four weeks of spring training, anyway. The Twins guaranteed Carroll $5.5 million through 2013, and they're giving Casilla one last chance to prove he's an everyday major leaguer.
Still, it seems inevitable that the Twins will need a competent backup middle infielder. Carroll has been durable, but he's 38; Casilla has never played 100 games in a season. The question is whether Gardenhire believes he needs an extra shortstop on the roster.
"What about Florimon? What about Hollimon?" Gardenhire said. "Those guys can play pretty good. They've been playing pretty good. Florimon's probably our best defensive guy; he looks really nice. There's a bunch of guys in the mix."
Florimon might be a good fielder, but he doesn't appear to be getting a serious look, with no more than two at-bats in any game this spring. Hollimon, a former Detroit Tigers prospect, is hitting .500 (9 for 18) in 13 games, but only once has he had more than two at-bats; he went 4 for 4 against the Florida Marlins on March 17.
This is why Dozier, 24, is still in camp. If a starting job opens because of injury over the last two weeks of spring training, he appears in line to earn it, even though he has never played a game beyond Class AA New Britain. He's hitting .240 this spring after going 0 for 3 in the Twins' 11-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday at Hammond Stadium.
"We're going to wait another couple weeks and see what happens here, see what happens out there in the middle, and see how we get through things," Gardenhire said before the Twins' 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday in Lakeland. "It could change in one second here. It could change with a ground ball off the lips, just like you saw with (Miguel Cabrera) here."
After watching Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Trevor Plouffe struggle at short last season, general manager Terry Ryan wants a player who can field the position. He already has sent Nishioka to minor league camp and moved Plouffe to the outfield. Florimon, 25, has only 14 games of major league experience and is hitting .176 (3 for 17) this spring.
The Twins believe Burroughs, 31, can give them quality at-bats as a spot starter and pinch hitter, but he's a career third baseman with two major league innings of shortstop on his resume. Hughes, 27, has some power and can play an adequate third and second -- and even started 30 games at first last year -- but he has never played short in the majors.
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"I'm not going to tell you my final roster," Gardenhire said. "You just have to sit here and be patient. Answer your blogs, or whatever, and say, 'People are battling for it.' That's what's happening here."
Distributed by MCT Information Services
