TODAY: The Twins officially announced Lee’s reinstatement from the IL, and Miranda being optioned to Triple-A.
APRIL 12: The Twins are set to option infielder Jose Miranda to the minor leagues, according to a report from Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. Gleeman goes on to suggest that Miranda’s departure will make way for the return of infielder Brooks Lee, who he reports is expected to be activated from the 10-day injured list after missing the start of the season due to a bout of lower back tightness.
The demotion for Miranda comes after a baserunning blunder in today’s loss to the Tigers. The Tigers’ defense set up a force out at second base for Miranda, but second baseman Colt Keith failed to touch the bag, leaving the umpire to initially call Miranda safe. However, Miranda began walking back to the dugout before ever touching second base himself under the assumption he had been called out, allowing Keith to tag him for the out and costing Minnesota an opportunity to bat with a runner in scoring position. As noted by Gleeman, manager Rocco Baldelli was candid in his comments on the mistake after the game.
“Jose has to do better on that play,” Baldelli said. “The guy on the other side of the field was not on the bag and Jose didn’t make it to the bag on the slide either way. And the umpire was clearly signaling safe. We have to be paying attention, to say the least. We have to be paying attention there and never allow something like that to happen.”
While the timing of the move can’t be ignored, it’s fair to point out that the decision may have come strictly for performance reasons even ignoring today’s blunder. After all, Miranda has struggled badly this year with a lackluster .143/.143/.229 slash line in 11 games entering play today. That slash line comes with a massive 37.1% strikeout rate and zero walks taken, suggesting the infielder’s swing decisions may not be where they need to be in order for him to succeed in the majors at the moment. Miranda has never walked especially often, but he struck out just 15.4% of the time last season.
While Miranda had only gotten 35 plate appearances this year entering play today, his struggles date back to the 2024 season as well. His overall slash line was good for a 115 wRC+, but Miranda struggled quite badly in August and September with a .217/.243/.312 slash line over his final 144 plate appearances last year. That lengthy period of issues at the plate stretching back to midway through last season suggests the infielder might need a reset in the minors, where he can focus on getting right without the pressure of trying to help lift an 4-11 ballclub out of its early-season hole.
Regardless of the reasoning behind Miranda’s departure, his spot on the active roster will go to Lee. The Twins’ first-round pick in the 2022 draft, Lee made his big league debut last year. His 50 games in the majors weren’t exactly what Minnesota was hoping for, as he hit just .221/.265/.320. He struck out just 14.6% of the time, but walked at a clip of just 5.9% and showed little power, though he did play solid defense all around the infield. In his return to the roster, Lee will likely be tasked handling either second or third base on a regular basis. Edouard Julien is currently handling the keystone while Willi Castro covers the hot corner, though Julien could work his way into the first base and DH mix if bumped off of second base while Castro has the versatility to play anywhere but catcher.
The blunder had nothing to do with it. .143, repeat .143.
Yes. He wouldn’t be sent down if he was hitting.
He wouldn’t be hitting so badly if they played him consistently. He sits way too much. Miranda is a good hitter when he plays. Manager has cost him
He’s 0-14 against LH pitching this year and had an issue last season hitting LH pitching as well. He’d sit far less often if his splits weren’t so bad.
agree 101%……Rock-head Baldello’s musical lineups are analogous to a little league manager trying to get everyone into the game so the parents dont torch his dumb ass…….no wonder these clowns dont hit…, dont pitch,…. dont field,…… dont run the bases.. …etc. etc……baseball is a game of REPITITION….not a Chinese fire drill
The blunder had EVERYTHING to do with it. Enjoy last place! Viva Jose Miranda!!
Do you feel better making yourself look like a little child? You are what 4? Maybe 5? You cannot possibly be an adult based on this post.
That’s a solid burn. Do you feel like a real woman now that you’ve gotten that out of your system?
That’s some bad mojo bro
On the bench too much. I repeat… on the bench too much
Honestly, why him? He is an mlb record holder. He may not be off to the best start but so are some other stars like paul skenes and pablo lopez and for some hitters davis Schneider and for a little devers
The problem is he isn’t a star, not even close, so he has less rope to get off to a catastrophic start
The issue is that Miranda’s ABs have been top tier awful this year. He has no understanding of the strike zone. He’s constantly getting himself out in 0 and 1 strike counts by swinging and putting in play pitches way outside the zone.
And if somehow he hasn’t hit a dribbler to the infield yet and he gets to 2 strikes, he’s an auto k on stuff that nobody else would swing at.
He’s truly been god tier awful
correct
He’s 0-14 against LH pitching. That alone justifies a demotion. Seeing MiLB pitching might benefit him.
Miranda has had some streaks where he’s looked pretty good. He has not shown anything near what Lopez has let alone Skenes or Devers.
A player struggling like he has can not make these type of mental errors, especially when in game as a PH.
Demote Rococo, front office and sell the team.
Correct, lack of comments shows lack of interest.
Hopefully Lee gets over this back issue and we don’t have another Royce, Buxton, Kirilloff, Canterino scenario.
Baldelli doesn’t have a long rope; even though Twins were non-players in FA (w/ France their main signing) Gus has run out of ideas. He’ll be lucky to make it to June. mariners should see if Minnesota wants to flip Miranda…
For Polanco. I kid.
Bader was the main signing. He’s done the most for the newest twins player
Where did you find the misplaced crack pipe?
Rocco doesn’t impress me favorably at all.
~Not A Twins Fan
Weird ass Minnesota Twins doing weird ass stuff
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
Okay can we please not descend into religious slander/bigotry on a baseball blog, that should be pretty basic and easy to do.
A bunch of weird ass screen names I’ve never seen before under this post. Where do these people come from? Can we not have one screen name per account per email address per IP address or something to minimize the ever changing screen name carousel ??? Or just allow paid subscribers to comment.
The Twins aren’t just benching Miranda—they’re quietly admitting their development system overrated a player whose skills (contact, no walks, middling power) are a dime a dozen in today’s game. No one’s talking about this because the narrative is stuck on his blunder and .143 average, but the real misstep is sinking years into a profile that’s functionally redundant when Lee’s glove and plate discipline better match the division’s winning formula. If Minnesota keeps betting on Miranda-types, they’ll lag behind Cleveland and Kansas City, who’ve mastered rostering adaptable infielders—a flaw clear in market data but buried under box scores.
Oh look a third “The aren’t just….” You aren’t using AI tho…. HAHA 😂
this is the 6th time i’ve seen him use the phrase ‘No one’s talking about this because’ – what is he trying to prove?
If they believed in Miranda they never would’ve signed France for 1B
Old York can you use AI to write my paper for me? You obviously seem to enjoy using it
Colt Keith may be the worst 2B I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. I don’t mind seeing even Javier Baez at 2B before Keith.
I’ve only listened and haven’t seen, but yeah, he’s an error machine. There’s no way he could ever play 3B with the reaction time and longer throw.
It’s worse than it sounds. There’s more non errors not called.
Baez can play a great 2B.
No way, Jose”
Bruh
How bout them Tigers, Twins fans? And yes, I’m talking to all 6 of ya
I’m not a tigers or twins fan, but they are very good teams. Twins didnt get kff to the start they wanted to but that doesn’t have to do with miranda does it? Like i said, RECORD HOLDER
Twins have to be the most disappointing team in the AL so far. If not for Atlanta’s brutal start, I’d say most disappointing team in MLB
My vote for most disappointing AL team is the Red Sox. Losing the first two games against the White Sox at home is embarrassing, especially coming off losing 3 of 4 to the Jays at Fenway.
@Mike but did people really think the Red Sox were gonna be good? Pretty sure they had as good a chance as the Jays and Rays in finishing last in the division…
That the Front office kicked out $40mm per for Bregman shows that the Red Sox thought the Red Sox were going to be good.
Miranda is gawd-awful….that being said, many twins fans/front office might demand top AAA trade bait… delusional = twins front office