FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Outfielder Michael Cuddyer sat on the metal bench next to one of the back fields at the Lee County Sports Complex on Thursday morning and watched as a group of Twins infielders lined up at third base, waiting to field balls.

It didn't take Cuddyer long to point out that he wasn't on the field with the group that had arrived early for workouts, which included Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris. Pitchers and catchers are officially scheduled to report to camp on Sunday.

"You see I'm not out there in the tryout camp, right?" Cuddyer joked.

It's no surprise that Cuddyer chose to mention that fact. One of the questions that arose this winter was whether Cuddyer might move back to third base, the position that he played for the Twins in 2005.

With the Twins possessing an abundance of outfielders and the club looking to upgrade at third base, fans and critics wondered if the best move for the lineup might be to shift Cuddyer back to the position.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been opposed to the idea, even telling reporters last month at TwinsFest that the chances of Cuddyer returning to third were "absolutely none." Although Gardenhire then quickly added the comment, "That's as of today."

Cuddyer said Thursday that he has not been approached by anyone in the organization about the possibility of moving back to third. But if it does come up, he would do whatever the team felt was best.

"If Gardy or anyone else comes up to me and says, 'Look, we feel that by moving you back to third, you can really help our team and our lineup,' obviously I'm not going to quit," Cuddyer said. "I'm not going to throw my hands up and say too bad about it. I'm going to do the best I can.

"With that being said, is it my preference? No. my preference is playing right field where I'm used to playing and where I've excelled over the last couple of years. I think I can help this team more in the outfield. But again, if they came up and asked me, I would go. I would do the best I can and make the best of the situation."

But as he prepares for Spring Training to officially get under way this weekend, Cuddyer is focused right now on getting back to playing right field -- a position that he didn't see much of in 2008.

Last season was a disappointing one for Cuddyer. He missed the majority of the year with a series of injuries. It included a dislocated right index finger he suffered on a headfirst slide in April and a broken bone in his left foot that occurred when he was struck by a line drive from his own teammate in a rehab start at Triple-A Rochester.

Although it was frustrating to be kept off the field by such odd injuries, Cuddyer considers the circumstances around the injuries to be a mixed blessing.

"The bad side is that it happened and there was nothing I could do about it at the time," Cuddyer said. "The good side is that those are injuries that don't linger. Once a broken bone is healed, it's healed. Once a dislocated bone is back in place, it's healed. I'm healed and ready to go. Nothing is going to carry over into this season that we're going to have to worry about."

And while freak injuries can happen to any player, Cuddyer believes that he's used up his share.

"Things happen in threes and I had three last year," Cuddyer said with a laugh. "So we've gotten those out of the way."

But Cuddyer is now returning to an outfield that is suddenly crowded. In Cuddyer's absence last year, Denard Span took over in right field and emerged as the club's leadoff hitter. So the club has a total of four outfielders battling for three spots this spring -- Cuddyer, Span, Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young.

Cuddyer said that his attitude on the outfield situation heading into spring has just been to arrive ready to go and ready to help the team. That meant working hard this winter to make sure that he would be as prepared for the '09 season as possible. He underwent LASIK eye surgery this past fall and he spoke with strength and conditioning coach Perry Castellano a few times over the winter to make sure that his training program was specified to his needs.

"I was so anxious for this day to come," Cuddyer said. "I'm just ready to be back on the field. This winter it was like, 'Get me out of here, take the reins off and let's go.' I think that attitude helped me too. My workouts were a lot more focused, more intense. I'm healthy now both physically and mentally. I feel rejuvenated. I'm excited."

Twins general manager Bill Smith has said this winter that getting a healthy Cuddyer back in the lineup would provide the club with the right-handed bat that it was missing last season. Prior to his injury-plagued '08 season in which he batted .249 with three homers and 36 RBIs in 71 games, Cuddyer had averaged 20 home runs and 95 RBIs over the previous two seasons.

And Cuddyer wants to show people that he can produce numbers like that again.

"When you are hurt, it's kind of like that saying, 'Out of sight, out of mind," Cuddyer said. "And I've been asked by many people, 'Do you feel like you need to prove yourself this year?' I think I've proven that I can put up numbers in this league. This year for me is to give a reminder of those numbers and give a reminder of what I can do when I get out there on the field."