Molitor won't commit to Twins batting order until spring

SAN DIEGO -
Ron Gardenhire set the precedent.

The day he was named manager in January 2002, he raised eyebrows by announcing that Jacque Jones would be his leadoff hitter. It worked, because Jones' penchant for leadoff home runs was one story line on a Twins team that won the first of its six AL Central titles in the 2000s.

Now Paul Molitor has been handed a blank lineup card and pen, and it's his time to reveal what his first lineup might look like. Time for a shake-up?

"I couldn't tell you today what it's going to be," Molitor said from Manchester Grand Hyatt during the annual winter meetings. "Plus I don't want to say something, then in April it's not even close, because that's how it works."

Bummer.

But that didn't keep Molitor from revealing some of his thoughts about lineup construction and where he might bat certain players.

Molitor inherits a lineup that evolved during the 2014 season. Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas were nowhere near the Opening Day roster but ended up in key roles by the latter months. Santana led off and Vargas batted cleanup, and it looked like the lineup of the near future.

Then again, Molitor pointed out that Santana, whose 430 plate appearances weren't enough to qualify for the league leaders list, had a .405 batting average on balls put into play. That would have blown away the league.

"He had an incredible average when he put balls in play," Molitor said. "It's not a fluke because he makes good contact and has tremendous speed. But I don't know if you can expect him to continue at a .400 clip, which would affect the overall package."

Then there's what to do with Mauer, who hit an un-Mauerlike .277 with only four home runs.

"In today's game you would have your best hitter batting second or third," Molitor said. "Mauer is still a top-third-of-the-order guy for me, no question about it."

Would he drop the 31-year old Mauer in the order if he needs to get his bat going?

Molitor sees Mauer and Dozier able to bat second or third. Vargas, the Twins' minor league player of the year, hit .274 with nine home runs and 38 RBI in 53 games. While he needs to control the strike zone better, his debut was impressive. Torii Hunter, Molitor believes, can bat anywhere from second to fifth. Kurt Suzuki. who batted a career-high .288 last season and also had a .345 on-base percentage, also is a candidate to bat second.

Oswaldo Arcia, who will be 24 (like Santana and Vargas) in May, batted .231 with 20 homers and 57 RBI. Those are three players with potential Molitor wants to nurture.

Whatever Molitor settles on, he's getting a Twins offense that finished fifth in the American League in runs scored and second in doubles last season.

"Ours happens to be in better shape than it has been in a while, and it has a chance to be better," Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said of the offense. "I wouldn't say that we won't be worried about the offense. It depends on the maturation of some of the young guys."

Molitor will experiment with different lineups during spring training in search of a lineup that will take off from last season while helping young players develop.