SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Twins drafted José Miranda. They developed him into a big-leaguer. They helped him rebuild his shoulder. They brought him back to the majors. They stood by him as long as they could. Then they outrighted him off their 40-man roster and asked him to accept an assignment to Triple-A St. Paul.
That, Miranda decided in November, was where two tightly aligned paths diverged.
“I feel like there’s some time in life, points in life, and especially in this career, that teams are going one way and you’re going another way,” Miranda said. “I feel like in that moment, we’re going in opposite directions and I thought it was better for me to maybe get a fresh new start and experience something different.”
The Padres are different.
And the 27-year-old Miranda finds himself fighting for a roster spot following a hot spring.
He hit 15 homers as a rookie in 2022 (.754 OPS), saw shoulder issues unravel his sophomore season, tied an MLB record with hits in 12 straight at-bats during a resurgent 2024 (.763 OPS) and had the bottom fall out from under him last year. The shoulder had been an issue that he recovered from earlier in his career, but Miranda chalks up last year’s struggles to “just baseball,” he said.
Miranda played just 12 games in the majors last year (.417 OPS), struggled mightily at Triple-A (.569 OPS) and was removed from the 40-man roster after the season.
The move wasn’t a shock to Miranda, but it certainly knocked him onto his back foot.
“When I got the call, obviously, the first time you hear that, it’s like, ‘Oh, wow,’ ” Miranda recalled. “After that, it was, just, OK, let me breathe, relax and see what’s coming up for me.”
Miranda returned home to Puerto Rico, where he played 24 winter league games for Caguas and worked closely with his athletic trainer and hitting coaches. The focus in the box was trading out a leg kick for a toe tap and moving his hands back at the start of his swing, adjustments aimed at more direct path to the ball.
The dividends had been on display well before the right-handed-hitting Miranda drilled a ball off the base of the scoreboard at Hohokam Stadium on Friday.
“We’ll take those,” first-year manager Craig Stammen quipped after Miranda’s second home run in a stint that has seen him hit .342/.405/.605 with six extra-base hits and nine RBIs in 17 games.
Of course, Stammen and Co. are working through a number of variables — including the readiness of Sung-Mun Song and his oblique — as they determine just who they want on the bench.
Position versatility — Miranda can play both first base and third base — is a plus. But Stammen also values someone who can scare an opposing pitcher.
“Firepower doesn’t mean just like hitting home runs, but, you know, speed, defense,” Stammen said. “All those types of things makes us a dynamic team … and Miranda, from what he’s showing in spring training, can hit, can hit for power. And when you got a guy like that possibly sitting on your bench, you know, maybe, if they’ve got a lefty reliever that they want to bring in to face one of our lefties, we can throw José in there and he maybe pops a homer or two for us.”
Jose Miranda #64 of the San Diego Padres celebrates his double during their spring training game against the White Sox at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 in Phoenix, Ariz. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Miranda spoke with a few teams before deciding San Diego was a place for a fresh start. Part of the pitch was all the at-bats that would come his way while Manny Machado was away at the World Baseball Classic, but even that competition has intensified with the addition of Nick Castellanos and Ty France after Miranda finalized his minor league deal in January.
A two-time All-Star, Castellanos will get every opportunity to get his career back on track. France is also a former All-Star and Gold Glover whose minor league deal includes an opt-out as soon as Saturday.
Miranda’s agreement provides a bit more runway. His opt-outs don’t arrive until June 1 and then Aug. 1. If he doesn’t make the opening day roster, he’ll continue to get opportunities at Triple-A El Paso.
But Miranda has put a good foot forward in his attempt to force his way into the Padres’ plans.
“I feel good,” Miranda said. “The only thing I can control right now is just going out there and having good at-bats and playing good defense. Obviously, at the end of the day, they’re the ones that make decisions. Whatever they decide at the end, I’ll be happy because I put in my work and I feel good with what I’ve done.”