Official: Kyle Farmer activated, Jose Miranda optioned

[Seth Stohs]

We've been writing about it on TD for the past 4-5 days, and this morning the Twins have made it official. Kyle Farmer has been activated from the IL and Jose Miranda has been optioned to St. Paul. 

Discuss. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

Hopefully over the next 10 days to 2 weeks, Miranda gets a fresh start and is able to reset his mind a bit. There is a good hitter in there, just have to find it.

Now, I'm curious if he is going to be a full time 3b at some point. With Lewis working rehab at 3b, I wonder if Miranda will become more the 1b/dh/3b whenever his bat is ready. 

First, get the bat ready and let the rest get figured out.

[Seth Stohs]

Because he is such a big part of the Twins future, it's absolutely the right move. Let him take a step back, clear his head, get a few games off, play with a little less pressure. 

The key will be finding a way to get back into the strike zone and not expanding. Also, need to evaluate the shoulder and see how he's doing. Maybe more DHing. 

[stringer bell]

It is a move that probably needed to be made. I could see Solano being DFAed or Castro optioned, but what is best for Miranda and the team is to give him a reset. The mid-summer Miranda was a candidate for rookie honors. 2023 Miranda was a candidate for demotion. Good that they have a veteran "floor" at third base with Farmer, but I'm sure the Twins were counting on Miranda.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm convinced the shoulder is at least part of the problem. Getting him out of a Twins uniform for awhile is the right move.

[danielp19653]

Seems like the contact and power are both still there he just lost the strike zone and his own hot zones. Getting a couple weeks in AAA with some easier pitchers hopefully resets his eyes and timing and this is just a small sophomore slump to start the year.

[Craig Arko]

Farmer to be regular third baseman until Lewis is ready (or Miranda is ready for recall)?

[jmlease1]

17 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Because he is such a big part of the Twins future, it's absolutely the right move. Let him take a step back, clear his head, get a few games off, play with a little less pressure. 

The key will be finding a way to get back into the strike zone and not expanding. Also, need to evaluate the shoulder and see how he's doing. Maybe more DHing. 

Agreed. He's got a lot of talent and right now he's clearly fighting it. there's no need for him to dig himself deeper in the hole. Let him get a little rest, clear his mind, and rebuild his approach at the plate. he'll be back.

[nicksaviking]

Miranda's struggles are just so odd. He's got the second lowest strikeout percentage on the team. You'd think him putting the ball in play is a good sign. Though I guess if the shoulder is off, maybe he's doing it too meekly.

I guess Nick Gordon has the lowest strikeout percentage, so maybe there's an unexpected correlation. Like the fact that those two also see the fewest pitches per plate appearance.

[beckmt]

In real life, seeing that Lewis will be ready in about a month, and we have other outfield options, maybe using Miranda and Laurach in a trade for more pitching or a better outfielder is the way I would go.

[Vanimal46]

Much needed. Go tear the cover off the ball in St Paul and come back with a reset mindset. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

10 minutes ago, beckmt said:

In real life, seeing that Lewis will be ready in about a month, and we have other outfield options, maybe using Miranda and Laurach in a trade for more pitching or a better outfielder is the way I would go.

The Twins would be trading these two at their low values. Timing is wrong for these 2 to be traded. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The thing is, AAA does not strike me as a place to clear one’s mind. I think Miranda and the team would have been better off by giving him some days off in the big league dugout, not the AAA dugout. That said, the best thing for the Twins right now is for Miranda not to be playing, so not a wrong move to make. 

[LewFordLives]

Hopefully this isn't the only roster move. It's time to start putting people on notice.

[Brock Beauchamp]

53 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

Farmer to be regular third baseman until Lewis is ready (or Miranda is ready for recall)?

That's my assumption.

[ashbury]

Miranda shows too much potential, on defense at third as well as at the plate, to let this continue to fester for him.  He was the right one to send to St Paul when Farmer was ready, and it's only regrettable that the move couldn't have happened sooner.

[CRF]

Too bad we can't send Correa down with Miranda, and try to do a reset on both of them!

[chpettit19]

I'm not sure sending him to AAA is the best option as the hurdle he needs to clear is being able to adapt to major league pitching, but I don't think it's crazy at all. Hopefully it's a quick reset and he's back. Would love to be able to get in his head and see what he's thinking. His swing decisions are what held him back for years, but he seemed to have fixed it the last couple years. Now he's back to swinging at everything, but hopefully he can pull from his previous experience and right the ship quickly. Would've been nice if he could've done it over the first month in the majors, though.

[CRF]

1 hour ago, Craig Arko said:

Farmer to be regular third baseman until Lewis is ready (or Miranda is ready for recall)?

Hopefully, Farmer is ok and ready. I mean mentally ready too. He just took a FB to the chops. That can really mess up a guy for a while. I want him healthy and able to give us some production.   

[wavedog]

It is the correct move if they think playing regular in AAA will help Miranda the most and get his batting approach back in line rather than working it out in the majors.   I would have DFA'd Solano but not opposed to this approach - kicks the can down the road on the DFA which can happen if Miranda lights it up in AAA 

[Riverbrian]

We need offense. 

This is a What we need now move.

Miranda's future is not in jeopardy because of this move. We will see Miranda again... if he starts hitting the ball again. 

We need offense... we are not in position to be able to absorb his struggles at this time. If Correa was hitting and Gallo was hitting and Vazquez was hitting and Kepler was hitting and Taylor was hitting and Polanco was hitting maybe we could absorb it. 

They are not... This is a no-brainer move. 

Donnie Barrels and Castro are not the problem offensively because they are not playing enough to be a problem offensively. If they not playing though... who cares what happens to them. 

This is as much a team problem as it is a Miranda problem. We need solutions. 

  

[Schmoeman5]

26 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Miranda shows too much potential, on defense at third as well as at the plate, to let this continue to fester for him.  He was the right one to send to St Paul when Farmer was ready, and it's only regrettable that the move couldn't have happened sooner.

Too much potential, on defense at third? He wasn't good on defense at 1st last year and even worse at 3rd this year. All of his throws are casual looping sidearm tosses with no mustard. And he is too indecisive with runners on base as to where he needs to go. So he needs to hit. Because his defense will not keep him up. 

[KirbyDome89]

1 hour ago, Seth Stohs said:

Because he is such a big part of the Twins future

Precisely why he wouldn't be my choice to remove from the 26 man. Farmer isn't going to solve any offensive issues, especially if he's going to be facing RHP as the everyday 3B. Castro and Solano serve little purpose now, or in the future. I would've happily waived goodbye to one of them. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

This is unfortunate but probably the correct call both for the short term needs of the Twins, and for Miranda's long term development. It's not unusual for a player to really struggle in his first two or three years. Hopefully this will just be another step in the journey as the kids say today. It's also good to see the team at least trying to shake things up a little since we can't score runs.  

It will be interesting to see what they do at 3B. I'm intrigued by the idea of Gallo there short term, opening up LF for Gordon to play. The problem is that Farmer was slumping badly right before he got hurt (0-11 in his last 4 games before the injury with 8 SOs) and Gallo isn't hitting at all (0-23 before his hit last night) so I'm not sure we need to find either of them a place to play. Gordon is actually starting to hit a little better (6 for his last 20 with 3 HRs), so I'd like to find Gordon a spot in the lineup before i worry too much about finding ABs for Farmer or Gallo. I don't see Gordon at 3B so I don't see another way to fit him in unless we either play Gallo and Farmer at 3B, or sit Taylor, Gallo, or Kepler.  We need to find a spark somewhere so I'd like to see Gordon get a shot at regular playing time. No that he's great, but he's the best shot we have to find someone who can get hot on the 26 man roster.        

[KirbyDome89]

6 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

We need offense. 

This is a What we need now move.

Miranda's future is not in jeopardy because of this move. We will see Miranda again... if he starts hitting the ball again. 

We need offense... we are not in position to be able to absorb his struggles at this time. If Correa was hitting and Gallo was hitting and Vazquez was hitting and Kepler was hitting and Taylor was hitting and Polanco was hitting maybe we could absorb it. 

They are not... This is a no-brainer move. 

Donnie Barrels and Castro are not the problem offensively because they are not playing enough to be a problem offensively. If they not playing though... who cares what happens to them. 

This is as much a team problem as it is a Miranda problem. We need solutions. 

  

Is Farmer going to hit though?

.226/.286/.355 and a K% rivaling Gallo doesn't feel like an upgrade. 

[ashbury]

10 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Too much potential, on defense at third? He wasn't good on defense at 1st last year and even worse at 3rd this year. All of his throws are casual looping sidearm tosses with no mustard. And he is too indecisive with runners on base as to where he needs to go. So he needs to hit. Because his defense will not keep him up. 

When I watch him play, he has what it takes to play the position, unlike say Sano who shied away from the hard smashes and also had trouble judging popups.  Yes there is a problem currently with Miranda's arm; if it can't be fixed then that's a different story.  I'm certainly no coach, but the mistakes he makes seem like matters of focus and concentration.

I've said elsewhere that relying on DH as a fallback position is a big risk for any player's career.  He'll need to hit a lot better to be an asset there (and maybe he's capable of stepping it up).  Otherwise he'll need to step it up with the glove.  But he's close with both.

AAA is the right place for him now.  I don't want him gumming up the process with the big club.  I'm just saying I think he's still worth trying to get right. 

[HokieRif]

The move makes sense.  Even last night as I was watching he didn't look comfortable at all at the plate and some swings that were nowhere close to making contact.  Get him away from the Twins hitting coaches, go find a groove in St. Paul, and come back up in a few weeks renewed and ready to hammer the ball.

[JD-TWINS]

54 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

That's my assumption.

It’s the only choice! Castro in emergency at 3B or if CC needs a break from Farmer. I expect that Gordon will back-up Polanco just to keep playing time distributed evenly with the back-ups.

Miranda will need most of a month in my opinion. He’s dug himself a pretty big hole in his approach at the plate. If not, they would have kept him up and straightened things out in Mpls.

Lewis is still 45 plus days away to get him, & everyone else involved, comfortable. He’s at 3B by July 15 with Farmer back in his original role with Miranda taking over Solano’s gig as RH 1B - pinch hitter - 3B once a week.

 

[LA Vikes Fan]

4 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Is Farmer going to hit though?

.226/.286/.355 and a K% rivaling Gallo doesn't feel like an upgrade. 

Agreed. Farmer isn't likely to be the spark we need. He was 0 for his latt 11 with 8 strikeouts before he got hurt. If you look at the lineup/26 man roster realistically, who can be that spark? The only possible answer I see is Gordon - 6 for his last 20 with 2 HRs. Solano can't play defense anywhere on the field so he doesn't have much value if Buxton is the DH. I guess we now know why Solano was available. I would actually consider DFAing him for Julien or Hellman. 

We also need to shake up the lineup - Correa can't hit 2 and we need a better leadoff hitter. Kepler has actually performed . . . well, like Kepler this year  - .213/.308.427 (.735). We can argue if he should play regularly, but it's hard to argue he should lead off.  How about this for a lineup shakeup?

Gordon LF

Buxton DH

Kirilloff 1B

Polanco 2B

Correa SS

Jeffers/Vasquez  C

Gallo/Farmer  3B

Taylor CF

Thoughts? I can't come up with anything better. . .

[Brock Beauchamp]

23 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

It’s the only choice! Castro in emergency at 3B or if CC needs a break from Farmer. I expect that Gordon will back-up Polanco just to keep playing time distributed evenly with the back-ups.

Miranda will need most of a month in my opinion. He’s dug himself a pretty big hole in his approach at the plate. If not, they would have kept him up and straightened things out in Mpls.

Lewis is still 45 plus days away to get him, & everyone else involved, comfortable. He’s at 3B by July 15 with Farmer back in his original role with Miranda taking over Solano’s gig as RH 1B - pinch hitter - 3B once a week.

Don't forget that it's pretty apparent Correa needs some time off, too.