JUPITER, Fla. -- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire announced two-thirds of the starting outfield for Opening Day.

Josh Willingham, who signed with Minnesota during the offseason, will be the left fielder. Denard Span will be the center fielder.

"Let's call Josh Willingham my left fielder," Gardenhire said. "There's your bonus for the day. Denard's our center fielder. We've got two locked down."

Willingham, 33, hit .246 with 29 homers and 98 RBIs in his only season with the A's last year. Before that, he spent two years with the Nationals and five with the Marlins. He has played both corner outfield positions.

Span, 28, enters his fifth season in the Majors, all with the Twins. Last year, he finished at .264 with 11 doubles, five triples, two homers and 16 RBIs in 70 games. He played in at least 145 games in both 2009-10.

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That leaves a three-player race in right: Trevor Plouffe, Ben Revere and Chris Parmelee. When asked if those were the three in contention, Gardenhire said, "You can say whatever you want to say. It won't really mean anything until I say it."

Revere, 23, has played in 130 big league games for the Twins over the past two seasons. He is hitting .324 on the spring, while Parmelee is batting .316 and Plouffe .276.

"You play people where you win; we're just going to try to win, and wherever I put [Revere] that's what we're going to try and do," Gardenhire said. "I thought Ben in left field sounded fine, but then you see everything and things start changing and you start moving them around. If he's going to be a part-time starter and a part-time extra guy, you have to be able to play them all."

Burroughs makes first career start at first base

JUPITER, Fla. -- Sean Burroughs started at first base for the first time in his career Sunday afternoon against the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium.

The 31-year-old has played third base during his six years in the Majors with the Padres, Rays and D-backs.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire joked that since Burroughs takes ground balls at first, he can play the position.

"As I told you, we're going to move people around," Gardenhire said. "We're getting down to a workable number where we can move people around and still get everybody at-bats."

Last season with the D-backs -- his first year in the Majors since 2006 -- Burroughs hit .273 with four doubles, one home run and eight RBIs. His career year came in 2004 as a member of the Padres, when he batted .298 with two homers and 47 RBIs.

So far this spring, Burroughs is 8-for-27 (.296) in 11 games.

"He's a great guy around the ballclub, good in the clubhouse, he can play, knows how to play, he can hit," Gardenhire said. "He's not trying to be Superman. He's just being himself. He's one of those guys who you look at as a good role player."

As for the rest of the ballclub, Gardenhire said that versatility was very important when putting it together.

"We move stuff everywhere," Gardenhire said. "Nothing's guaranteed for the start of the season, so I have to prepare myself a lot of different ways here and get people playing and at least get a look at all kinds of different positions so when we start the season and see how everybody's doing and what's working, not working, and who can and can't, they'll have at least seen some action in those places."

Prospect Hicks gets taste of Majors

JUPITER, Fla. -- Aaron Hicks, the second-rated prospect in the Twins system, according to MLB.com, made the trip to Jupiter with the team for Sunday afternoon's game against the Cardinals.

In Minor League camp, Hicks got his first taste of Spring Training with a three-hour bus ride from Fort Myers to Roger Dean Stadium.

The 22-year-old outfielder will start the season as a member of the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats.

"I feel I'm almost there," Hicks said of his development. "Defensive-wise, I feel like I'm ready in that aspect. Hitting-wise, I just have a few more things to work on, after I do that everything should pretty much be ready to go."

In 2011, Hicks hit .242 with 31 doubles, five triples, five homers, 38 RBIs and 79 runs for the Fort Myers Miracle. He struck out 110 times and walked 78. He also collected 17 steals.

Pitch recognition and hitting the ball to all fields are two things Hicks has been working on as he develops.

Hicks has garnered comparisons to former Twins and current Angels outfielder Torii Hunter.

"I like to think of myself as my own unique player, but my favorite player is Torii Hunter, so I try to mimic my game after him," Hicks said.

As for a timetable for his Major League debut, Hicks doesn't know when that will come. Until then, he won't let the pressure of being the 14th overall pick in the 2008 Draft get to him.

"It's whenever the Twins think I'm ready," Hicks said. "Of course I'm going to try and push the envelope and whenever they feel I'm ready."