Jose Miranda’s rollercoaster ride with the Twins ended Thursday when the 27-year-old infielder was taken off the 40-man roster, making him a free agent.
The Twins outrighted Miranda along with pitchers Thomas Hatch, Michael Tonkin, Génesis Cabrera and Anthony Misiewicz. They also lost reliever Cody Laweryson, who was claimed off waivers by the Angels.
And the Twins declined the $2 million option in reliever Justin Topa’s contract, giving him a $225,000 buyout. However, the righthander remains on the roster and is eligible for arbitration.
Miranda showed great promise in his rookie season of 2022, when he was called up from St. Paul and hit .258 with 16 home runs to earn a spot in the starting lineup for 2023. But shoulder surgery scotched that year before he rebounded at the sta…
Jose Miranda’s rollercoaster ride with the Twins ended Thursday when the 27-year-old infielder was taken off the 40-man roster, making him a free agent.
The Twins outrighted Miranda along with pitchers Thomas Hatch, Michael Tonkin, Génesis Cabrera and Anthony Misiewicz. They also lost reliever Cody Laweryson, who was claimed off waivers by the Angels.
And the Twins declined the $2 million option in reliever Justin Topa’s contract, giving him a $225,000 buyout. However, the righthander remains on the roster and is eligible for arbitration.
Miranda showed great promise in his rookie season of 2022, when he was called up from St. Paul and hit .258 with 16 home runs to earn a spot in the starting lineup for 2023. But shoulder surgery scotched that year before he rebounded at the start of the 2024 season and tied a major league record by getting hits in 12 consecutive at-bats.
He slumped near the end of 2024, however, and that slump spilled into 2025, when he hit .167 in 12 games at the start of the season. The Twins send him to the Class AAA Saints, where he hit only .195 with seven home runs in 90 games and didn’t get recalled even after a July 31 trade deadline purge that saw 10 major leaguers dealt away.
In 298 games with the Twins, Miranda had 28 home runs and an OPS of .719.
Tonkin, in his third stint with the Twins since 2013, had a 4.88 ERA in 21 relief appearances over August and September.
Hatch had a 5.45 ERA in 11 games; Cabrera a 7.98 ERA in 16 games; and Misiewicz a 9.64 ERA in five games. Cabrera and Misiewicz are lefthanders.
Laweryson, as a 27-year-old making his major league debut, was impressive in five late-season appearances, giving up one unearned run in 7⅔ innings.
Outfielder Alan Roden, who was acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline and had thumb surgery before the season ended, was reinstated to the roster off the 60-day injured list. The Twins have 33 players on the 40-man roster as free agency begins.
Also, 13 major league players were tendered the $22.025 million one-year qualifying offer before free agency started. If those players reject that offer and leave their current teams, those teams would be eligible to receive draft pick compensation.
Getting qualifying offers were Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs outfielder Michael Tucker, Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, Detroit infielder Gleyber Torres and Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham; and pitchers Framber Valdez of Houston, Michael King and Dylan Cease of San Diego, Ranger Suarez of Philadelphia, Brandon Woodruff of Milwaukee, Zac Gallen of Arizona, Shota Imanaga of the Cubs and Edwin Diaz of the Mets.