Twins demote struggling Jose Miranda to minors after base-running blunder: Source
MINNEAPOLIS — Less than an hour after Saturday's shutout loss to the Detroit Tigers dropped Minnesota's record to 4-11, a league source tells The Athletic the Twins are demoting struggling third baseman Jose Miranda to Triple-A St. Paul.
Miranda hit .167 with 13 strikeouts and zero walks in 12 games, with his struggles standing out even within a lineup full of slumping hitters, but his base-running blunder Saturday may have been the final straw.
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With the Twins down 4-0 in the eighth inning and Miranda on first base, Christian Vázquez hit a chopper to Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who threw to second base for the force out. However, umpire Malachi Moore ruled that second baseman Colt Keith's foot never touched the base, calling Miranda safe to give the Twins a chance for a rally.
But there was one big problem: Miranda assumed he was out, stopped his slide before ever touching second base and then casually started to walk back to the dugout, at which point Keith tagged him for the delayed out.
Umpire called Jose Miranda safe, saying the fielder didn't touch the base to get the forceout. But then Miranda just walked away and got tagged out anyway.
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— Aaron Gleeman (@aarongleeman.bsky.social) April 12, 2025 at 3:23 PM
'No, (the umpire) didn't yell,' Miranda said. 'I just didn't know. I slid in, but he had the ball. I thought he would throw to first. But I had no clue. Not until he tagged me.'
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who had already reduced Miranda's playing time recently, was critical of the mistake following 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.'
'It's just a learning thing,' said Miranda. 'Keep grinding in this game, and things like that happen. Learn from it. That's it.'
No corresponding roster move has been announced yet, but the Twins are expected to activate infielder Brooks Lee from the injured list to replace Miranda. Lee, a 2022 first-round pick and former consensus top-50 prospect, has been rehabbing a spring training back injury in St. Paul this week, going 3-for-10 in three games before a day off Saturday.
Miranda seemingly had a breakout first half last season, hitting .326 with an .888 OPS in 76 games through the All-Star break, including a record-setting streak of 12 straight at-bats with a hit in early July. However, he took a big step backward in the second half, hitting just .212 with a .543 OPS in 45 games, and those struggles intensified early this season.
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Miranda once looked like a lineup building block for the Twins and he's still just 26 years old, but inconsistent production and a lack of plate discipline combined with limited fielding skills have made him difficult to rely on as an everyday player, even with starting third baseman Royce Lewis sidelined by a hamstring injury.
And with the Twins off to a 4-11 start that's tied for the worst record in team history through 15 games, Baldelli hinted Saturday at the possibility of changes that could 'shock' and 'wake up' the underperforming roster.
'You've got shock yourself sometimes and wake yourself up sometimes,' Baldelli said. 'We might be pretty close to that, because we've got to play better baseball. … I think we could be getting there, where we need to make some adjustments, we need to do some different things, try some guys in different spots. That could be one way of shaking it up a little bit.'
Miranda has played poorly enough — at the plate, in the field and on the bases — to warrant the demotion, but sending down a former top prospect with 298 games and 1,100 plate appearances of big-league experience spanning parts of four seasons certainly qualifies as a shock to the Twins' system.
(Photo of Colt Keith tagging out Jose Miranda: David Berding / Getty Images)
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