FORT MYERS, Fla. — Brian Dozier was a wanted man when the Twins promoted him from Class AAA last May but was left wanting following a messy debut as the Twins’ everyday shortstop in 2012.

Dozier struggled at the plate and in the field during roughly half a season in Minnesota. He was demoted in August, banished to straighten out his swing and his confidence.

All the former minor league player of the year wants is another look this year, and he is getting one at second base as the Twins reconstruct their middle infield from new and used materials.

Dozier spent two weeks in Venezuela this winter learning the fundamentals of his new position, then teamed with Baseball Hall of Fame infielder Paul Molitor for more instruction at the University of Minnesota.

The biggest challenge was reconditioning his body to see the field and receive throws from a new vantage point after years of having everything flow to a different area.

“For so many years on the other side of the bag, everything’s in front of you and feeds to second. Now it’s the exact opposite,” he said Monday, Feb. 18. “You get your mind trained, your body trained to go the other way. I’ve been doing it a lot the last few months, so it feels good.”

Dozier, 25, is the leading candidate to nail down second base, but he will be challenged by Eduardo Escobar, the switch hitter acquired from the Chicago White Sox last July in the Francisco Liriano trade.

Pedro Florimon, a slick fielder with a light bat, is getting the hardest look at shortstop.

“He can pick it,” manager Ron Gardenhire said about Florimon. “His instincts out there on the field are wonderful,”

Gardenhire wants Dozier to concentrate this spring on second base and not slide over to his old stomping grounds.

“He’s done shortstop, but right now I want him working at second a lot because that’s the one that he needs the most work at,” Gardenhire said. “I had a nice little talk with Doz out there and just told him (about) staying short and quick and working right around the bag. Don’t get too tricky right now. So we’ll see.”

Veteran utility infielder Jamey Carroll, who turned 39 Monday, is back for his 12th major league season and in the mix to fill in at second, third and shortstop.

“We’ve got some good athletes, and we’ll figure that out,” Gardenhire said. “There are probably going to be a couple of combos that haven’t seen a lot of each other. I’ll do that as much as I can this spring. There are new people at new positions and that’s one of the things we’re going to have to work out.”

Gardenhire raved about Dozier last spring and was downright giddy when the club promoted him in May. But Dozier hit just .234 in 84 games. His swing and plate discipline fell apart. Worse, Dozier carried his misery onto the field where he became crossed up on defensive plays.

He was sent down to Rochester after his decision not to throw home on a ground ball cost the Twins a game, and he was not recalled with other prospects in September. It was humbling and a lot to process for a player expected to contribute right away.

“It’s how you deal with failure and how you bounce back. Limit it and learn from it,” Dozier said. “The biggest thing for me is, you’ve got to make adjustments in the league but you don’t want to try to overdo things and get completely out of your element. I got away from being the fundamentally sound player that you have to be.”

Dozier said he strayed from spraying the ball when he started hitting a few home runs, and pitchers quickly exploited that tendency, feeding him a steady diet of breaking balls away.

He worked in Venezuela at using the whole field again and at determining when to pick his spots and unload in hitter’s counts.

“You have to be consistent throughout your game,” he said. “That’s not just hitting. It’s fielding. It’s getting bunts down, getting guys over, drawing your walks. That’s what a fundamentally good player does.”

Follow Brian Murphy on twitter.com/murphPPress.