Jose Miranda is hitting his way into Twins' crowded competition at third

Josh Donaldson will be 36 at the start of the 2022 season and the Twins will still owe him $50 million, including the $8 million buyout attached to 2024 in the original contract.

Those are dollars that cannot be devoured or traded, so the Twins have a veteran third baseman/DH for the lineup next season, when healthy.

Luis Arraez has been the Twins' second-best player for several weeks, also when healthy. His best position is second base, but that belongs to Jorge Polanco, the Twins' best player, which keeps Arraez in the third base photo for 2022.

There's also Austin Martin, the position player acquired from Toronto in the Jose Berrios trade. Baseball America immediately vaulted Martin to No. 1 on the Twins' prospect list.

Through two weeks with Class AA Wichita, he had started seven games in center field, four at shortstop and one as a designated hitter. Yet, there also have been scouting suggestions the perfect fit for Martin would be third base.

Into this maze of third base possibilities strides Jose Miranda, 23, and in his fifth actual season after being drafted No. 73 overall in 2016, showing a consistency in the high minors that will be difficult to ignore in spring training 2022.

Miranda started the season at Class AA Wichita. He played 47 games, with 218 plate appearances, 13 home runs, 38 RBI, a .345 average and 17 walks compared to 25 strikeouts. Entering Tuesday, he had played 41 games with the Class AAA Saints, with 193 plate appearances, 11 home runs, 28 RBI, a .347 average and 16 walks compared to 29 strikeouts.

The transition took place June 29, which happened to be Miranda's 23^rd birthday. He debuted at CHS Field with three home runs, five hits and six RBI.

"My first three-homer game,'' Miranda said. "I can't even remember doing that as a kid.''

The explosion has been followed by dependability. Miranda had played 40 more games for the Saints, with a hit in 33 of those and multiple hits in 18.

On Tuesday, he pinch-hit in the ninth inning of a suspended game with Iowa and hit a tying two-run double, then scored the winning run as the Saints rallied for a 6-5 win over Iowa.

This is quite an upgrade from hitting .248 in his last real season in 2019 in high-A Fort Myers. That effort in the Florida State League was a considerable disappointment for the Twins organization.

The manager there was Toby Gardenhire, and the manager in St. Paul is also Gardenhire. What happened?

"There's not much difference with the swing,'' Gardenhire said. "I had Jose as a rookie in the Gulf Coast League, and at Cedar Rapids, and then at Fort Myers, and he's always had a very good swing.

"The difference is he has developed a much better idea of the strike zone.''

Gardenhire gave an it's-simple gesture and said: "He's swinging at strikes. When he's doing that and isn't chasing, he's going to hit.''

The Twins' previous administration developed a fondness for drafting players from Puerto Rico when it was working well with Jose Berrios as a first-rounder in 2012.

There were three Puerto Ricans selected in 2015 and then Miranda was selected as a "competitive balance'' selection after the second round in 2016.

"I wasn't rated in the top 100 for the draft,'' Miranda said. "I think it was because I didn't go to any of the showcase events in Florida or elsewhere. I didn't even know about them.

"I finally went to a tournament in Jupiter [Fla.] in November 2015 and hit very well, and the scouts started moving me up on their lists.''

The good hands were there to hit well and to field adequately. What was going to keep him down on some lists was this: not much speed.

"I've spent a lot of time working on my agility, trying to get quicker,'' Miranda said. "I'm not a speedster, but I've gotten better.''

Then, he smiled and said: "Teams don't steal bases now anyway.''

Deron Johnson, the Twins' scouting director in 2016, said after the draft: "He has a really good swing. He's aggressive. We're going to send him out as a shortstop, but realistically, he's probably a third baseman.''

On Tuesday, Gardenhire said: "Jose can play second, but third is his best position. We've also had him in left. That probably isn't a great fit.''

Miranda comes from the same town as Yadier Molina: Vega Alta.

"He's a great catcher and a great man in helping our city, helping Puerto Rico,'' Miranda said. "I've had him as a coach, and as a teammate in Puerto Rican baseball. He's the greatest.''

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the gentleman behind the successful musical "Hamilton,'' is Jose's cousin. They have occasional conversations, and Jose has threatened to actually see the musical.

For now, there's a greater need: to keep swinging at strikes.

If he does that, the hits figure to keep coming, and Miranda could line-drive his way through the Twins' third base maze sooner rather than later.