FORT MYERS, FLA. -- Michael Cuddyer held out a deck of cards. Torii Hunter picked one and replaced it. Cuddyer made the card reappear.

In a laundry basket across the room.

"You're the devil!" Hunter yelled in amazement. "How did you do that?"

For his next trick, Cuddyer hopes to make a few teammates reappear in Edmonton, home of the Twins' Class AAA team. The amateur magician and professional hitter is one of five Twins vying this spring for the starting job in right field, the only position job up for grabs this spring.

Brian Buchanan's power, Bobby Kielty's all-around talent, Dustan Mohr's versatility and Michael Restovich and Cuddyer's promise will compete for the most unsettled position this side of team owner.

"We were all talking about that," Kielty said. "We were saying that during drills, we'll have one guy standing in left, one guy standing in center, and about eight guys standing in right."

By the end of March, the Twins would like to have performed a trick even Cuddyer would admire: To fill a black hole -- the one that appeared in front of the Metrodome baggie during the second half of the 2001 season.

"I know a lot of people wanted to see us go out and get a free agent there, but we've done pretty good staying within our organization," Gardenhire said. "We've got some quality people there. One of them is going to step up and do a job."

Here's a look at the candidates:

Brian Buchanan

Under former manager Tom Kelly, Buchanan played the part of righthanded pinch hitter, part-time outfielder.

Under Gardenhire, Buchanan is the favorite to win the right field job and play virtually every day.

"[Third baseman] Corey Koskie tells me he thinks Buck can hit 40 homers in the big leagues," Gardenhire said. "I don't know about that. I do think that Brian can help us. I'd love to see him win the job."

Does the managerial change bode well for Buchanan? "I'd be lying if I said, 'No,' " Buchanan said. "TK was big on defense, and I'll be the first one to admit I've got a lot to work on there. I'm not Torii Hunter.

"I loved playing for TK. I thought he was awesome. I think Gardy is going to be just as awesome. I've got nothing bad to say about TK -- he just had his ways. He liked playing a lot of people, and he emphasized defense, and he won two World Series that way.

"I knew I was going to be a bench player last year, and that's what I was, and I thought I did pretty well at that."

And this spring? "I'm looking at it as if it's my job to lose," Buchanan said. "That's what everybody's been telling me coming in to spring training."

Buchanan will have to make up for his lack of smoothness in the outfield by producing runs.

In 2000, his biggest contribution to the organization might have been counseling a down-in-the-mouth Doug Mientkiewicz after his agonizing rookie season. In 2001, Buchanan was a part-time player and full-time clubhouse cutup.

In 2002, he could make a much bigger impact. He plays a power position for a team lacking righthanded power and a prototypical cleanup hitter.

At 28, Buchanan must figure this is the best chance he'll ever get to become a regular in the major leagues.

Bobby Kielty

If you were to build an outfielder from scratch, he would look a lot like Kielty, a switch-hitter with power and speed.

Squint, and the powerfully-built Kielty even vaguely resembles the great Mickey Mantle.

If the Twins are lucky, he could wind up reminding them of a more apocryphal outfielder -- Roy Hobbs, of The Natural.

Like Robert Redford's character in that movie, Kielty slipped past the radar screens of scouts.

He played at USC, Riverside Junior College and the University of Mississippi, yet went undrafted out of college, largely because of a back injury. Then he played in the 1998 Cape Cod League and won that prestigious league's most valuable player award, leading the league in batting (.384) and RBI (45).

This was the rare free agent the Twins were able to steal away from big-money teams. The reason: Kielty figured he could advance quickly through the Twins' organization.

He was right. He spent 1999 at Class A Quad Cities, 2000 at Class AA New Britain and Class AAA Salt Lake, and spent last year bouncing between Salt Lake and the Twins.

"I'm going to try my hardest to win the right field job, but if that doesn't work out, I'll take making the team any way I can," Kielty said. "If I have to go down to Triple-A and do my thing there, well, that happened to me three times last year, so I've been through it.

"That was different. It was tough. But I ended up bouncing back pretty well."

Kielty was asked about overcoming eye problems that cost him five weeks in '99, and minor injuries and demotions that kept him off-balance the last two years.

"I think you face adversity every day in baseball," he said. "Facing a pitcher is adversity. You better know how to deal with it."

Dustan Mohr

At the end of spring training in 2000, Mohr walked into Cleveland's minor-league offices and asked for his release. It was granted.

He packed and began driving out of Cleveland's spring training camp of Winter Haven, Fla., heading home, when his cell phone rang. It was Twins minor league director Jim Rantz, offering a spot in the outfield at Class A Fort Myers.

Mohr signed, continued his nondescript minor league career, then underwent back surgery. He figured to be the kind of journeyman you find playing for six years at Class AAA. That was before last season, when "he came out of nowhere," according to Twins General Manager Terry Ryan.

A year ago at Class AA New Britain, Mohr put together what would have been a remarkable season even for a top prospect, hitting .336 with 24 homers and 91 RBI in 518 at-bats, often playing center field between two of the Twins' best power prospects, Cuddyer and Restovich.

Suddenly Mohr was being praised as a meteoric prospect, and a mentor for the two youngsters.

This spring, Mohr is living with Kielty, and remains friendly with Cuddyer and Restovich.

"I think we'll keep pushing each other," Mohr said.

This winter, Mohr returned to his home of Hattiesburg, Miss., and worked with a personal trainer, trying to improve his speed and agility. Of the five candidates in right field, Mohr displays the least bulk and raw power.

"The guy knows how to play the game, though," Cuddyer said. "I learned a lot last year just being on the same team."

Michael Cuddyer

Cuddyer was taking batting practice on one of the far fields at the Twins' minor-league complex in Fort Myers, along with David Ortiz, Justin Morneau and Doug Mientkiewicz.

Ortiz and Morneau blasted balls over the right field fence. Cuddyer lost a dozen balls in the pasture beyond the left field fence. Mientkiewicz lined singles up the middle.

"How did I get put in this group?" Mientkiewicz asked. "This is embarrassing."

When the Twins took Cuddyer out of Great Bridge High School in Virginia with the ninth selection in the 1997 draft, he was a skinny shortstop who figured making the big leagues was a matter of time, and not much time at that.

Today he is well-muscled, and well-tutored on the odyssey that minor-league baseball can be.

"When you're coming out of high school, you don't know much," he said. "You're not educated on what the actual process of getting to the big leagues is. I thought I was going to make it in a few years.

"I've definitely learned a ton. I'm a much better baseball player than I was a couple of years ago. I'm more mature, I've developed, and hopefully I've gotten to the point where I can make it to the big leagues and stay there for a while."

Cuddyer was shifted from shortstop to third base early in his pro career, and now can also play first base or the outfield.

He spent most of the winter in Fort Myers, and found that the strategy didn't put him far ahead of his competitors. Buchanan, Restovich and Kielty have places in Fort Myers, and Mohr worked out all winter, too.

"After the holidays, we came back here the sixth of January and started hitting together," Cuddyer said. "We all see each other, go fishing, golfing, and hang out together. It's always a pretty friendly competition."

Gardenhire watched the right fielders compete during a recent batting practice session. "Wow," he said. "The ball makes a loud noise when those guys hit it."

Michael Restovich

Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski walked over to Restovich in the Twins' spring training clubhouse and tried to taunt him.

"Can you believe there were no Michael Restovich questions on the Winter Caravan?" Pierzynski said. "He used to be Mr. Minnesota. 'How's Restovich doing?' is all you heard. Now it's all Mauer."

When the Twins made St. Paul's Joe Mauer the first pick in the 2001 draft, Restovich, a Rochester native, suddenly became the second most famous Minnesota-born prospect.

Restovich hardly minds, especially since he's a lot closer to playing in the Metrodome than Mauer.

Last season ensured that. Restovich hit 23 homers in 501 at-bats and continued to improve in the outfield. He remains the most raw of the right field candidates. He also might have the most raw power.

"I think I started out in this organization needing to learn everything," he said. "Hitting was my strength at the lower levels, but my fielding was atrocious. I had never played outfield, so it took me a while to get used to it.

"I think I've made good strides. I'm not a great outfielder, but I certainly feel comfortable out there. As far as hitting, well, I got to the levels where real problems show up, and I realized I had a lot of learning to do."

Restovich could survive in the lower minors with a long, slow-developing swing. To make it to the majors he'll have to prove he can shorten his swing while retaining his power.

"Whatever happens this year, whether I make the team or go to Edmonton, I'm going to need a lot of improvement," he said.

The Twins are likely to start the season with Buchanan in right, and either Kielty or Mohr as their extra outfielder, which will give Cuddyer and Restovich the opportunity to play every day at Edmonton.

"But we've had people change our minds before," Ryan said. "These guys will all get a chance to impress us."