Breaking down the Twins' internal options at first

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First base is often a place where teams fit a big bat as an anchor of the lineup, but it has been an area of relative tumult for the Twins over the past few seasons -- and 2024 figures to be no different.

The Twins would have loved for Alex Kirilloff to have established himself as a reliable and consistent threat by now, but that hasn’t been the case due to his shaky health and the team's preference to platoon him against left-handed pitchers. Some of Minnesota's needs this offseason will be dictated by the health of Kirilloff and Jose Miranda.

On paper, Kirilloff and Miranda have the capabilities to share time at the position with some upside -- but to this point, the Twins haven’t really seen much proof of that, especially with Miranda, whose health and production remain a true wild card in the Twins’ roster composition.

“I would say it's a spot on the field where we still have some things to kind of work out before Spring Training starts,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Miranda was originally anointed the Twins’ everyday third baseman last season, but a nagging right shoulder issue that arose during Spring Training eventually sent him to the injured list in July following a demotion to the Minors due to severe underperformance in May. He eventually underwent a cleanup procedure in the shoulder, though the Twins aren’t sure how much the injury directly contributed to his struggles.

President of baseball operations Derek Falvey said Monday that Miranda had started his hitting progression, but he won't begin throwing and defensive work until the new year. It appears to be a similar situation for Kirilloff, who underwent bursectomy surgery on his right shoulder following his removal from the Twins’ American League Division Series roster in October.

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For now, Falvey wasn’t able to say for sure whether Miranda and Kirilloff would have normal Spring Training timelines. They should be able to hit, but it’ll be tough for the Twins to make a determination regarding the defense until Kirilloff and Miranda are farther along in their recovery timelines.

All of that leads to the question: How urgently will the Twins need help at first base?

“Can we get stronger in some ways? I think we can, but we don't know how that's going to happen yet,” Baldelli said. “We have the right pieces already that we feel good about.”

Baldelli expressed clear confidence in Kirilloff, who has shown flashes of the all-fields power and hard line-drive ability that defines his game -- but without consistency due to nagging injuries, first to his right wrist and then to his right shoulder.

That seemingly leaves Miranda as the bigger wild card. The Twins have indicated that Miranda’s time at third base is mostly done, and his focus will heavily turn to first base in Spring Training and beyond.

“As we started the [2023] season, Willi [Castro] hadn't emerged as another option at third,” Falvey said. “[Miranda] was the lead option at third, obviously, and then it became, over time, now that's ebbed a little bit, where the need might be a little more at first. And it's all about the bat anyway.”

Indeed, that makes the bat all the more important. At this point, it’s imperative for Miranda’s career that he regain the form that saw him hit .268/.325/.426 with 15 homers as a rookie in 2022 before he sharply regressed to a .566 OPS in ‘23. If he can provide a middle-of-the-order-type right-handed bat, it really could solve a lot of problems for Minnesota.

If not, the Twins could perhaps be left picking from the remaining available players in January or beyond -- as they did with Donovan Solano last Spring Training.