Sept 29, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Minnesota Twins shortstop Pedro Florimon (25) fields a ground ball hit by Detroit Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson (not pictured) in the first inning at Target Field. Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

More than half of the Twins positional starters are basically set in stone, but we’ll take a look at the contenders where there is competition; many of the more interesting battles in camp will play out for backup spots as the spring progresses. And while even a strong camp will still mean relegation to the minors for a lot of these guys, they’ll be just an injury away from seeing time with the Twins at some point over the course of the season.

So far, we’ve run down the catchers, first, second and third base. Today, we’ll look at the competition at shortstop as we move our way around the diamond over the course of Spring Training.

PROJECTED STARTER: Pedro Florimon

If Terry Ryan’s public announcement that he was actively seeking competition for Trevor Plouffe at third base was meant to light a fire under Plouffe this offseason, his apparent willingness to make the starting shortstop position Florimon’s to lose could be an attempt to calm and give confidence to the slick-gloved 26 year old. Florimon showed the instincts and athletic ability to make spectacular plays in the field last season, but he didn’t the make the routine plays as consistently as he needs to if his glove is going to offset his Butera-esque bat.

Sept 26, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Minnesota Twins shortstop Pedro Florimon (25) hits a RBI single in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Target Field. The Yankees won 8-2. Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Like Drew Butera, being very good defensively won’t cut it for Florimon, and he’ll have to be exceptional in the field to provide value in his roster spot. If these lapses are Florimon trying too hard to impress in the field in order to secure a job, then hopefully he can take the confidence Ryan has publicly had in him over the offseason and run with it this spring. This is all just conjecture, of course, and it’s certainly possible that Florimon simply lacks the focus to be the consistent defensive presence Ron Gardenhire craves at shortstop.

PROJECTED BACKUPS: Jamey Caroll, Eduardo Escobar

Carroll started 36 games at short for the Twins last season, and the team is comfortable with him starting there although, like last year, they feel the soon-to-be 39 year old is best utilized in a reserve role. Escobar, who came over last year in the Francisco Liriano trade, has played the vast majority of his games in the minors at shortstop, but he’s seen more action at second and third base in the limited games he has played in the Twins organization. If Florimon falters out of the gate this spring, either player could step in and provide adequate competition at short. Both players are discussed in my second base spring training preview.

LONGSHOTS

It seems like the Twins are pretty intent on putting Brian Dozier at second base in his second shot at the 25-man roster and letting him sink or swim there. Still, he’ll get some innings at short in spring training, and there is an outside chance that the team will go with Dozier at the position to start the season. Dozier certainly feels like he’s in the thick of the shortstop competition.

Danny Santana is a slick-gloved SS who may be the Twins best prospect at the position or at least the shortstop within the organization most likely to be at the six-hole when the team will start to form on the field into the young, talented core expected to contend in 2016. That says as much about the shortstop depth within the organization as it does about Santana, who put together basically his first good offensive season at Fort Myers last season. Still, he supplanted Levi Michael as the starting shortstop for the Mirace by the end of last season, and Niko Goodrum probably won’t be ready to step into a MLB role by 2016. Santana needs to prove that his jump in batting average last year at High-A wasn’t a statistical outlier, and this spring will be the first step in a big year for the 22 year old. His development could very well play into how heavily the Twins target middle infielders from outside the organization during the 2013 offseason and even this season’s trading deadline.

James Beresford re-signed as a minor league free agent this past offseason and was extended an invitation to spring training. He’s a good defender and can play second base, as well. Ray Olmedo, who I previously wrote up as a second baseman, will have to show a strong glove at short if he hopes to make the roster as a utility infielder. It’s not clear if Doug Bernier was extended a spring training invitation, but if injuries or ineptitude strike, he could have a shot at one of the utility infielder spots.

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On the plus side, last week witnessed the Twins debuts of Pedro Florimon and Matt Carson. Both played well this weekend, but neither is likely to be more than a role player for the Twins over the long run. Alas, that’s the best news in this edition of TWIT, because the Twins are stuck in a heavy malaise.

Coming up this week: three games in Oakland against the 65-55 Athletics and four games in the sweltering Texas heat against the Rangers, who are currently 70-50. Since the Twins’ top two hottest both pitched this weekend, they’ll be sending the dregs of the rotation to face the A’s, so that series could be a bloodbath. Scott Diamond and Samuel Deduno will both pitch in the Ranger series, but Texas is always a strong hitting club. In short, the Twins will be lucky to come out of this week with more than a pair of victories.

If everyone on the Twins had hit like Joe Mauer last week, it would have been a good week. Unfortunately, only Mauer hit like Mauer. Photo by Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

Twins Goals for the Week Ahead:

1. Score Some Runs! You know how many runs the Twins scored in Seattle? Six. Sure, the Mariners are a decent pitching team, but it’s not as if the Twins ran into Felix Hernandez. No, instead they were stymied by such pitching legends as Hisashi Iwakuma and Blake Beavan. Can they manage a few hits against the great Dan Straily in Oakland? Stay tuned.

2. Make a Decision on Span. Denard Span injured himself over a week ago in a game against Tampa. He’s been “day to day” since then. He’s already missed more than half the time he would need to spend on the 15 day Disabled List, and the Twins have been prevented from calling up another hitter (like Chris Parmelee). Yes, things are going exactly according to the plans of Twins head trainer Dr. Nick Riviera.

3. Make a Rotation Change. Aside from Diamond, who is a consistent starter, and Deduno, who is inexplicably effective, the Twins’ starters have been getting knocked around lately. It’s time to shorten the leash. The next time a Twins’ starter has a bad start, they should consider promoting Esmerling Vasquez or Liam Hendriks from AAA.

Weekly Winners:

Joe Mauer. Mauer was the best hitter on a slumping team this week, going 8-24 (.333) with a home run. He even stole a base, once again proving that he can do it all.

Deduno. Deduno raked in a win on Monday, and he would have won on Sunday if the Twins were capable of scoring. He notched two quality starts and pitched a total of 13 innings with five earned runs (3.46 ERA). He also walked 11 batters in those 13 innings, which leaves us wondering how exactly he manages to not get shelled every start.

Jared Burton. It was tough to find winners this week. Burton pitched a scoreless inning in a tight game on Saturday, and he didn’t do anything to mess up the rest of the week, so he makes the list.

Weekly Worst:

Nick Blackburn. Friday was another discouraging start for Blackburn, who dug a two run hole in the first inning and went on to allow five in the loss. He finished the game with an ERA of 7.39. If he were to end his season today, that number would tie him with Jim Deshaies (1994) for the worst ERA ever by a Twins’ pitcher with at least 80 innings pitched.

Trevor Plouffe. Hopefully Plouffe is just suffering the after-effects of his thumb injury and he’ll snap out of it soon. But whatever the cause, he has been ice cold at the plate. Last week, Plouffe was just 1 for 22.

Alexi Casilla. Brian Dozier was demoted, but the team still managed to bench Casilla two games this weekend, another sign that they don’t have much confidence in Casilla for the future. He went 2 for 14 at the plate.

Weekly Worst:

As expected, Joe Benson will take a few swings for Rochester to start the year. Photo by Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE

The roster keeps shrinking, with four more cuts Tuesday. Joe Benson, Jeff Manship, Rene Rivera, and Pedro Florimon all got pink slips this morning, bringing the total down to 34.

Each of these players is a special case, so the cut does not mean the same thing for any two of them.

Benson was never expected to make the team or even to compete seriously for a slot. He is one of the team’s top prospects, and he earned a call-up to the Show last September. He even showed some flashes of talent during that stint, but his high strikeout and low on-base rates showed that he still needs some time in the minors. His spring performance was solid – .262/.319/.429 with a pair of homers – but he still whiffed 13 times in 42 at bats. Benson is a member of the Next Generation of Twins, and he just needs to improve his contact rate a little bit to get there.

At the beginning of Spring Training, Manship looked like a safer bet to compete for a Twins job. Like Benson, he is on the 40 man roster, and at age 27, Manship has already proven that he can pitch in the Majors. With a ton of relievers in camp, the bullpen, Manship seemed as likely as anyone to win a job. Alas, it was not to be, as he racked up a 5.19 ERA in 8 games (8.2 innings). The good news for Manship is that he is likely to return to Minnesota at some point during the season: he has pitched at least a few games for the Twins every season since 2009. Unless the Twins bullpen is miraculously healthy and surprisingly effective, Manship will be back.

The Rivera cut is significant in that it clarifies the backup catcher role somewhat. Drew Butera remains the odds-on favorite to win the job, but Rivera and J.R. Towles had both been in the running as well. Now it’s a two man battle between Towles and Butera. After a 1-4 performance yesterday, Towles is hitting .263 this spring with a couple of homers. Butera is hitting .294, but given his M.O. as a talented fielder, nobody is expecting Butera to win the job with his bat.

Florimon was brought in from the Orioles this offseason because the Twins had some gaping holes in the middle infield. Like Benson, Florimon had never played an inning above AA ball before he got his cup of coffee in the Majors last year. Also like Benson, Florimon has a penchant for the strikeout: he went down on strikes 120 times last year in 530 plate appearances (114 at AA and six with the O’s). Unlike Benson, Florimon will never be a power threat, but he has put up some decent OBPs for a shortstop, and he can steal an occasional base.

With the roster down to 34 players, there are only nine more cuts remaining. Things should get pretty tense this week.