27-year old righty swinging 3B Danny Valencia got his first shot at the full-time starting gig at 3B in 2011 and he was so-so. He played in 154 games for the Twins last year and he was 139 of 564 (.246 avg, .677 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 15 homers, 72 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Valencia has now played in 239 games in his first two years with the Twins and he is 232 of 863 (.269 avg, .720 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 22 homers, 112 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He made 18 errors while showing awful range in his 147 games at 3B for the Twins last year. The Twins hope that Valencia produces a little more with the bat while improving his defense in 2012.

31-year old lefty swinging Sean Burroughs could win a job on the Twins’ bench this spring. He played in 78 games for the Diamondbacks last year and he was 30 for 110 (.273 avg, .626 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Burroughs has now played in 518 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 461 of 1,647 (.280 avg, .694 OPS) with 187 runs scored, 12 homers, 142 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Burroughs only had 1 error in 20 games at 3B for the D-Backs last year while showing slightly below average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 3B IN 2012: C+