Among the many things the Minnesota Twins need to do this winter, figuring out how to replace Alex Kirilloff unexpectedly shot to the top of the list. The 26-year-old announced his retirement at the end of October, vacating first base not only this upcoming season but for the future as well.
That has created a two-pronged problem the Twins need to solve. In the short-term they need to figure out an immediate replacement for Kirilloff in 2025, but long-term they need someone to play there and add security that hasn't existed since Luis Arraez was still in Minnesota.
It's not an easy situation to figure out, but the Twins tipped their hand to a potential option that could end up being a two birds with one stone solution.
Twins are expected to give some looks to Jose Miranda at first base
At the GM Meetings this week, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey hinted that Jose Miranda could end up replacing Kirilloff this season and beyond.
Per the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
“Jose Miranda is a guy that we’ve already talked to about making sure he gets some of that exposure there,” Falvey said. “We’re going to have to lean on some of the internal guys to take on some of those at-bats, for sure, at least in terms of a backup consideration. Then we’ll just have to see how the offseason plays out.”
Falvey didn't put a timeline on things, but theoretically if Miranda earns the role and does well he'll be penciled in as the first baseman of the future. There's a lot that needs to happen before that's the case, not the least of which is his bat needs to remain hot.
That was what helped power a bounce-back season for Miranda, who had found himself on the fringe of the future on Opening Day but ended up becoming a key offensive contributor. He ended up hitting .284/.322/.441 last season but that doesn't tell the true story of how high he soared.
He went on a historic run during the summer, reaching base in 17 straight games while dropping in a 13-game hitting streak for good measure. Both were franchise records and between June 20th and July 10th, Miranda hit .492/.528/.730 with 31 hits and 19 RBI. He was the best hitter in baseball for a stretch and helped put the Twins under the national spotlight during the peak of their powers.
The flipside to that is how things went immediately after. Miranda wound up on the IL after the All-Star Break and hit just .212 with just 31 hits the rest of the way -- matching the total he had over the course of his history streak.
Injuries held him down at the end of the season and cooled his bat when the Twins needed it the most, which was how he ended up needing to bouce back last year. That's perhaps the single biggest thing holding him back from being a viable option at first base, but it won't be for a lack of trying that he either wins or loses the job moving forward.
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