Jose

Miranda

Miranda is on the Padres now after spending the beginning of his career with the Twins. The 27-year-old is hitting .280/.308/.480 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 52 plate appearances this season. He’s obviously blocked at first base in San Diego, so he won’t be an option unless there are some injuries.

Miranda hit .304/.373/.522 this spring, but his fate was sealed when the Padres committed to Ty France as a bench guy. Sears probably would have had a rotation spot with a strong spring, but he turned in an 8.44 ERA in his three starts. If the Padres had it to do over again, they probably would have non-tendered him in November instead of retaining him for $2.75 million.

Miranda wouldn’t seem to have much of a chance of making the Padres after the additions of Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos, but what if he keeps this up? Prior to a disastrous 2025 that saw him bat just .195 in Triple-A, the 27-year-old Miranda was a reasonably productive hitter for the Twins in both 2022 and ’24. If he’s recovered from that, he’s really not much different from Andujar as a player. Still, it’s going to take more than two games, of course.

Miranda took Alex Hoppe deep to tie the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning. The Padres signed Miranda as a non-roster invite in December, and while he has an uphill battle ot make the team, it’s worth noting that he isn’t far removed from MLB success. Obviously, he’d need to win an everyday job before fantasy managers would need to even consider Miranda for 2026.

The 27-year-old elected free agency from the Twins back in November. He was abysmal during an injury-plagued 2025 season and spent most of the year at Triple-A St. Paul, but Miranda is just a year removed from slashing .284/.322/.441 with nine homers and 49 RBI in 429 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. It’s a very nice low risk signing for the Padres.

The Twins retained a bunch of mediocrities on the position player side of their 40-man roster after the season, but one guy they gave up on was Miranda, who was rather productive in hitting .284/.322/.441 in 429 major league plate appearances in 2024. The 27-year-old went on to clear outright waivers and is now a free agent. He’ll probably have to settle for a minor league deal, but an impressive showing in Puerto Rico might lead to greater interest.

One of the biggest names to become a minor league free agent earlier this week, Miranda appeared in just 12 games for Minnesota this past season after tumbling down the depth chart after a pedestrian 2024 campaign where he batted .284/.322/.441 with nine homers and 49 RBI across 429 plate appearances in 121 games. At just 27 years old there’s probably another organization out there willing to gamble on the former prospect making swing adjustments and catching lightning in a bottle.

No real surprises as Minnesota cleans up its 40-man roster heading into the offseason. Miranda is a notable name considering his former prospect status, but he hasn’t made an impact at the highest level since the 2024 season when he appeared in a career-high 121 games.

Miranda missed four weeks after his demotion last month due to a left-hand injury suffered off the field. He’s played every other day since returning last week and gone 1-for-14 with five strikeouts so far. Clearly, it’s going to be a little while longer before he’s a candidate to rejoin the Twins.

The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports Miranda hurt his hand earlier this week when he dropped a case of water while shopping at Target. It’s one of the more bizarre injuries you’re going to see all season. The problem here is that the Twins are dealing with several injuries at the big-league level and Miranda won’t be an option to replace them.