30-year old righty swinging Michael Cuddyer will hopefully play full-time in RF in 2010 for the Twins. He also played a lot of 1B last season after Justin Morneau went down to injury and he really stepped up then. Cuddyer played in 153 games for the Twins last season and he was 162 of 588 (.276 avg, .862 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 32 homers, 94 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Cuddyer played in 117 games in RF last season in which he made 2 errors while showing below average range. Cuddyer did have 5 assists in RF last season as he does have a strong throwing arm. The Twins need Cuddyer to stay healthy because he gives Justin Morneau good protection in the lineup.

27-year old lefty swinging Jason Kubel will likely DH and play a lot in LF in 2010 but he can handle RF if need be. Kubel played in 30 error-free games in RF last season for the Twins while showing slightly above average range.

24-year old righty swinging Delmon Young didn’t play at all in RF last season but he was a starter with the Devil Rays in RF in his time there so he is capable.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2010: A-

26-year old lefty swinging Denard Span will be the starting CF in 2010 for the Twins. Span played in 145 games for the Twins last season in which he was 180 of 578 (.311 avg, .807 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 8 homers, 68 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Span played in 84 games in CF for the Twins last season in which he made 1 error while showing good range. Span also had 1 assist while in CF last season. Look for Span to excel in 2010 now that he has a full-time staring gig at one position instead of moving around the outfield.

24-year old righty swinging Delmon Young will back up Span in CF in 2010. He didn’t play any games in CF last season but with Carlos Gomez off to the Brewers he will likely get at least a few games in CF this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CF IN 2010: B

With the addition of DH Jim Thome the Twins will likely use Jason Kubel in the field a lot more against righty starting pitchers. The 27-year old lefty swinging Jason Kubel played in 146 games for the Twins last season in which he was 154 of 514 (.300 avg, .907 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 28 homers and 103 RBIs. Kubel didn’t make any errors in 29 games in LF last season while showing good range. If Kubel’s knees hold up he might get most of the starts in LF against righty starting pitchers with Thome DHing.

24-year old Delmon Young was the starting LF last season but he just wasn’t good enough to keep the full-time gig last season. Young played in 108 games for the Twins last season and he was 112 of 395 (.284 avg, .733 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 12 homers, 60 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Young made 5 errors in 98 games in LF last season for the Twins while showing slightly above average range. He does have a solid throwing arm as he had 4 assists out of LF last season. It will be interesting to see how well Young responds to a serious threat to his playing time this spring.

26-year old lefty swinging Denard Span will be the full-time starting CF in 2010 so don’t expect him to get much P.T. in LF this year. Span played in 74 games in LF last season for the Twins in which he made 2 errors while showing outstanding range. Span also had 3 assists while in LF showing a good throwing arm from there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE LF IN 2010: B

28-year old lefty swinging Jason Kubel had a breakout season in 2009 for the Twins last year. He played in 146 games for the Twins last season and he was 154 for 514 (.300 avg, .908 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 28 homers and 103 RBIs. The Twins are hoping that Kubel’s knees will allow Kubel to challenge Delmon Young for the starting job in LF in 2010. More than likely though Kubel will DH against lefties and play LF against righties. That would allow 39-year old lefty swinging Jim Thome to get his fair share of action in 2010.

Jim Thome played in 124 games for the White Sox & Dodgers last season and he was 90 for 362 (.249 avg, .847 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 23 homers and 77 RBIs. Thome is starting to slow down a little hit as he did whiff 123 times last season. Thome hit .262 with a .881 OPS against righty pitching last season. He cranked 18 homers and 55 RBIs in 271 at bats against righties last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DH IN 2010: A

If the 2010 season started today the Twins would likely platoon 29-year old righty swinging Brendan Harris with either 32-year old switch hitting Nick Punto or 27-year old switch hitting Matt Tolbert. Either way the Twins would have pathetic production at the hot corner. Harris played in 123 games for the Twins last season and he was 108 for 414 (.261 avg, .672 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 6 homers and 37 RBIs. The bad thing for the Twins is that Harris is the best hitter of this bunch. Harris is not a good defensive 3B either as he made 6 errors in 44 games at shortstop last season while showing absolutely terrible range.

32-year old switch hitting Nick Punto appears to have a edge as Harris’ platoon partner if for no reason other than Ron Gardenhire likes him. He played in 125 games for the Twins last season and he was 82 for 359 (.228 avg, .621 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 1 homer, 38 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Punto could be in line for a decent year with the bat as he has hit .284 for the Twins in even numbered years and only .224 in odd numbered years. Punto didn’t make any errors in 5 games at 3B in 2010 for the Twins while showing outstanding range.

27-year old switch hitting Matt Tolbert played in 27 games at 3B for the Twins last season and he made 2 errors while showing slightly above average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 3B IN 2010: D-