Will José Miranda Make the Twins' Opening Day Roster?

without a trade, I don't see an easy path here.  There are still 3 months, so we will have to wait.

I like to trade Arraez this off season to make room for Miranda to rotate w/ Donaldson at 3B. If he takes off we could trade Donaldson at the deadline or play Donaldson more often at DH start Miranda at 3B.

It's hard to imagine that they cannot find a place to play Miranda when 6 of the 9 guys in the lineup couldn't hit above .250 last season. It looks like the FO isn't going to give this team a major upgrade in the rotation and if they are willing to play the same lineup again in 2022 minus Simmons and Cruz then where, as fans, are we expected to see an improvement come from? Unless I am missing something, resigning Buxton was done to prevent a fan mutiny and every other move so far has been, well, laughable. Evidently their vision to be competitive in 2022 will rely on the youngsters like Miranda, Kirilloff and a stable of minor league pitchers making a giant leap forward.

If the Twins start 2022 with the same roster they have now let Miranda go back to AAA to start the season. Let him hopefully get off to a good start and see what happens. Pretty sure an injury with happen and then he can have his chance. He is a prospect with 1 great year in the system. Up until then he has been average. Don't see how that makes him a sure fire bet to contribute in majors. 

I agree with Doc Gast.  I'm not happy about trading Arraez but Miranda can do everything he can and Arraez is one of our most valuable trade chips to acquire good, veteran, starting pitching.  To me, (maybe not to the current Twins FO) it's painfully obvious that Arraez needs to be packaged to acquire that SP'ing as well as open a spot for Miranda.  Honestly, you can't have a guy put up numbers like THAT in AAA, finish in last place in a typically weak division, and NOT have a place for Miranda on the big league roster with a clearly defined role and spot in the lineup.   

If our rebuild (sorry I know we are retooling) is going to have an impact on the future we need to start playing the future now and let them grow into their potential.  I expect a trade and will be disappointed if the trade is just prospects and not players currently starting. 

As is I don't see a way for him to make the team out of spring training, unless he has been working on Left Field all off season.

I did not realize how few strikeouts he had. That is a complete batting line!

He deserves to make the club right out of the gate unless he just struggles. He's a dynamite prospect! 

But the problem is he doesn't pitch and the roster is solid and complete as is. He makes the club opening day if there is a trade or injury, and both are possible. His best chance to make the club otherwise is AK in LF instead of Larnach initially, (again, without trades), then he may open as the primary 1B and still move around. Of course, he could also play LF initially himself.

Otherwise, he begins at St Paul to be be able to play and hit daily and be the first guy brought up when there is an opening. It's just math and numbers.

The Twins, a last place team, are not good enough to be struggling to find a place for Miranda to play in 2022. The Twins should put Miranda at 3B or LF and find another place for Donaldson or whoever was supposed to start in LF, to play. 

6 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

He deserves to make the club right out of the gate unless he just struggles. He's a dynamite prospect! 

But the problem is he doesn't pitch and the roster is solid and complete as is. He makes the club opening day if there is a trade or injury, and both are possible. His best chance to make the club otherwise is AK in LF instead of Larnach initially, (again, without trades), then he may open as the primary 1B and still move around. Of course, he could also play LF initially himself.

Otherwise, he begins at St Paul to be be able to play and hit daily and be the first guy brought up when there is an opening. It's just math and numbers.

Once again, Doc Bauer stole my thoughts.  I've been seeing a lot of comments about LF still being a need.  If so, Kirilloff to the outfield and Miranda to the infield solves the dilemma.

30 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Once again, Doc Bauer stole my thoughts.  I've been seeing a lot of comments about LF still being a need.  If so, Kirilloff to the outfield and Miranda to the infield solves the dilemma.

AK to LF may not be ideal, but he's a good enough athlete that he at least wouldn't be a liability out there.  Although I don't remember off the top of my head how much 1B Miranda has played before this year.

The hitting talent displayed last year across the board, especially the low K numbers, provide an answer. Miranda should get every chance to play five times per week next year. I'm a big fan of outstanding defensive players and wondered if there was any possibility to add Starling Marte to the team, but understand why he was not feasible. The Twins have put some pretty stiff defenders on the field and Miranda should be equal to the task in the field. A bat that equals Steamer projections would be solid. Miranda should be on the roster Opening Day and see significant at bats (20+ per week) during the season.

I think a big variable will be the new CBA and the way it addresses service time.  If it is status quo and the Twins can save a year of service time by keeping him in St. Paul for the first 2 months of the season, then it is highly likely he starts in St. Paul. If by the end of May he has replicated his 2021 results, the Twins will have little choice but to bring him up at that point.   

I don't believe that making a trade to specifically make room for Miranda makes sense - there are more important reasons to make trades, like getting controllable arms.  If a trade for an arm makes room for Jose, so be it.

These types of things tend to work themselves out one way or another.  I am confident that we will see plenty of Jose Miranda at Target Field next summer.  The rest are just details.

The article asks if he will start the season at MLB level.  Unless there is a trade or injury, I would say no.  I would not move someone just to make room for him.  Yes, he had a great year last year in minors, but do we know he will replicate it, let alone at the majors?  Many times players have a break out year then regress, not saying he will, but it is not like he was a number 1 prospect and we were just waiting for it to all click.  At some point there will be injury to one of our infielders and then he will get his shot.  If there is a trade to be had that makes room, cool, but you should not just ship someone away because you have some depth.  Remember when we dealt J.J. Hardy because we thought we had someone to replace him?  We got crap in return and his replacement was terrible. 

He's certainly ready. He was ready for a September callup and didn't get it.

There's only one way to accurately determine if a player is ready for the Bigs; play him in the Bigs. Expecting some mystical sign to occur in the minors; a burning bush, the appearance of a comet, or Obi Wan materializing to say with a wave of his hand "This is the player you are looking for", it's all guesswork. 

Donaldson isn't the future; Arraez and Miranda are. Dump Donaldson and use the savings to sign a pitcher that doesn't come with a "salvaged" tag hanging from his jersey and put the kids in the field. By July we'll all know if Miranda is the real thing or not.

I would guess they start him at AAA and (barring an injury) he would get called up after the trade deadline when they trade JD. I'm assuming they won't be competitive this year which is why JD gets traded to make room for him once the FO knows the season is lost.

Barring a trade or injury (or change to service time rules in new CBA) I view the trade deadline as the most likely time he gets called up.

He has shown that he can hit AAA pitching. Assuming he has a good spring training (not measured by spring training staff but in the eyes of the staff) he should be on the roster.

He can find playing time on the four corners and 2B. His right handed bat should start against every lefty and he should be starting enough against right handed pitching to be on target for over 400 PAs.

He is a much better fit than Larnach who may need to start in AAA.

Miranda to LF might make the most sense if Kirolloff stays at 1B and Sano Is the main DH guy. I mean what have you got to lose. Trying Miranda in LF isn't like moving Sano to RF.............. is it? 

5 hours ago, Squirrel said:

I think this is a very important statement to keep in mind. Was his breakout legit, and this is who he is going forward? Or will there be some regression back to what he has always been? Unless you are absolutely confident that the former is true, he will start the year in AAA and will be the first called up due to injury. Arraez could be traded and should be used as a trade chip, but Miranda could be, too, if everyone sees his year last year as legit. But if everyone is healthy, not sure I see Miranda on the roster to start the season, We won’t and shouldn’t move on from Donaldson until we know for certain of who we have with Miranda as a 3rd baseman

Have to agree, what's the rush and why get ahead of ourselves?  2022 is going to be the year to figure these things out.  The best case scenario is Donaldson plays well enough to be attractive in trade after Miranda has shown he is for real.

4 hours ago, Squirrel said:

I think he’s played more 1st base than LF. And he’s played quite a bit at 2nd, which he has said is the position he likes best of all those he’s played. He has even played SS, but rarely.

Sorry, meant Kirilloff in LF not Miranda.