Santana might stick in center next year for Twins

DETROIT – Danny Santana is a shortstop. Danny Santana is a center fielder. And for the Twins, he's been something else this season, too.

"He's basically been a godsend," said Twins coach Scott Ullger, who works with fielders but found himself without a center fielder in May after Aaron Hicks and Sam Fuld suffered concussions within a week of each other. "We had such a great need, and he stepped in and took over. He's got a great feel for the game."

Santana finishes his rookie season Sunday as one of the most positive developments on the Twins, and arguably their best position player. He has batted .321 this season, shown surprising extra-base power, stolen 19 bases, and filled a hole atop the batting order. All while playing, most of the time, a position he had to learn on the job.

"He's gotten much better. He gets a better jump, he takes better routes to the ball," Ullger said. "A lot of improvement from those first days."

But Santana has been understood as the Twins shortstop of the future practically since the day he signed with them as a teenager in 2007. He played short for the 32nd time this year in Friday's 11-4 victory over the Tigers, going 3-for-6 with two runs. He will go back to the Dominican Republic next week to prepare for the 2015 season, when he will play … where?

To be determined, manager Ron Gardenhire said, adding, "We have to wait and see what we have."

The presumption for a couple of years is that center field will belong to Byron Buxton from the day he arrives in the Twin Cities. But thanks to a series of injuries this season, that might not be for another couple of years. Aaron Hicks is batting just .217, despite a relatively positive September, and there are no obvious outfield prospects ahead of Buxton. Might Santana spend 2015 in the outfield, too?

It will sort itself out in the spring, Gardenhire said.

"There's no way of telling. It depends on what your needs are," he said. "Whatever it takes to win, that's what is gonna happen. If that's him at shortstop every day, that's great. If that's him playing shortstop sometimes and center field sometimes, that's great too. Bottom line is, you've got to win, and we've got to figure out what lineup fits best for that."

Santana increasingly fits in the outfield, Ullger said. "When he first started, he would constantly break back. For a while, we stressed with him, if you think you've got to break back, just freeze. And then go from there," the coach said. "It helped him get a lot better at picking up the ball."

The shift from infield to outfield has affected Santana's throwing, but that's getting better, too, Ullger said. A shortstop throws the ball with a lower arm angle, and the ball tails away on longer throws. "We're teaching him to get on top of the ball and finish the throw, follow through," Ullger said. With a couple of seasons more experience, the coach said, the 23-year-old Santana might develop into an elite-level outfielder.

Gardenhire said he "wouldn't have a problem" with playing Santana in a corner outfield position, either, if that's how the roster shakes out.