JUPITER, FLA. – Twins manager Paul Molitor is overseeing a spirited battle for the No. 5 starter's spot and is sifting through several applicants to be part of his bullpen.

He has another big decision to make: Should he bat Joe Mauer second and Brian Dozier third, or visa versa?

Molitor wishes he had problems like that one all the time.

The Twins offense showed signs of life during the second half of last season — finishing with the seventh-most runs in the majors — and looks to be one area the club is not worried about heading into the 2015 season.

Danny Santana, looking to build off last year's debut, leads off the lineup. The middle of the order should include apprentice mashers Kennys Vargas and Oswaldo Arcia, and also Trevor Plouffe, who led the team with 80 RBI in 2014. Speedsters Aaron Hicks or Jordan Schafer likely will man the bottom of the order.

"I have flexibility with our lineups," Molitor said. "I have people who can hit in different places. It's a small sample, our track record from last year, but it's something you can use as a foundation to see potentially how your offense can work. We're going to have depth, I think, all the way down to the bottom. That's our goal. I think we will compete very well, offensively."

Brian Dozier batted second last year, but manager Paul Molitor is considering moving him to third. “Whatever numero cuatro thinks is fine by me,” Dozier said.

The Twins are optimistic because their 313 runs after the All-Star break last season were the third most in baseball. Santana and Vargas weren't overwhelmed by their big-league debuts. Plouffe raised his game a notch, and Eduardo Escobar batted .275 with 35 doubles in his first stint of steady playing time.

Opponents will be looking for ways to stop Santana and Vargas, and Molitor has warned them of how things will be "the second time around," in the league. Santana's batting average on balls in play was .405 last season, which would have led the league had he qualified and suggests he might come back to earth this season. Vargas hit .309 in August but .228 in September. Twins No. 9 hitters posted a .701 on-base-plus-slugging percentage that led baseball. Escobar, who frequently batted ninth, is expected to start this season on the bench. This is why it's hard to project 2015 production based on the Twins' hot second half of 2014.

Molitor will tinker with different lineups the rest of spring training in search of the most productive combinations. It will be easier to see what he is thinking by the end of this week, when the spring training roster shrinks toward 25 and starters play more games.

One thing Molitor wants to observe, and has a couple of times this spring, is batting Mauer, the three-time batting champion, in front of Dozier. Dozier batted second, in front of Mauer, last year and hit .242 with 23 home runs and 71 RBI while walking 89 times and scoring 112 runs.

Why switch it? Mauer has a career on-base percentage of .401 and runs well. Why not make Mauer a leadoff hitter, then?

"I'm a little traditional there," Molitor said. "I know on-base [percentage] is big, and I like on-base, but I like havoc. I like guys who can stir things up and be a threat to score because of what they can do on the bases."

That would be Santana, who had a .353 on-base percentage last season. But that was mostly because he batted .319. The Twins want him to walk more than 19 times this season.

Dozier, with his blend of power and speed, looks to be the most flexible when it comes to fitting him in a lineup.

"You can make cases for first, second or third pretty easily for [Dozier]" Molitor said. "Danny is not so much a two hitter; he's more of a leadoff hitter, unless you want to stick him at the bottom to turn it around. And Joe is more of a two or a three, but some people say No. 1."

Dozier has a preference where he would like to hit but will abide by Molitor's lineup card.

"Me personally? I'm not going to say if I like No. 2 or No. 3 better," Dozier said, "but I think 'two' plays better for the type of player I am. But he might not think it plays well enough for this offense to click more. But whatever numero cuatro thinks is fine by me."

After the Dozier-or-Mauer issue is solved, Molitor's next problem is where Torii Hunter will hit. He has thrived in the No. 2 spot in recent years but likely will bat fifth, six or seventh. If Molitor keeps the lineup balanced, he could use Arcia to keep the righthanded-hitting Hunter and Plouffe from hitting next to each other. The past three years, Hunter has batted .301. Kurt Suzuki, who batted a career-high .288 last season, likely would hit eighth in this lineup but could slide into the No. 2 spot if needed.

And the No. 9 spot looks to be manned by whoever starts in center.

"If you look at that lineup, we've got a pretty good balance, left and right," Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said. "We've got some power. We've got some guys who have been around now.

"There should be reason to believe we should be OK offensively, but there are other things you have to factor in as well.''