What are the Twins' options at first base without Carlos Santana?

Carlos Santana signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday, returning for a third time to the city where he spent ten of his first 11 MLB seasons. The 38-year-old played quite well with the Twins this past season, posting a 109 OPS+ and earning his first career Gold Glove. That earned him a substantial raise from this year's $5.25 million salary, even as his 39th birthday approaches in April.

Santana's departure means the Twins need a new first baseman in 2025. It won't be Christian Walker or Paul Goldschmidt, who also landed with new teams this weekend. Walker (three years, $60 million with the Astros) was always unlikely due to the Twins' ownership-imposed payroll restrictions. The same is true of Pete Alonso, who is the top available option. But a one-year deal with Santana or Goldschmidt ($12.5 million with the Yankees) could've made sense if the Twins had been able to create some spending room.

Barring a trade that lands them a proven first baseman, the Twins will likely cobble things together with their in-house options and a low-cost free agent. Let's go over the potential candidates.

In-house options

Jose Miranda

Miranda bounced back from a disappointing, injury-marred 2023 season by hitting .284 with a 112 OPS+ and 1.7 bWAR in 121 games this year. His season peaked when he had hits in 12 consecutive at-bats in early July, tying an MLB record. But like many Twins hitters, he fell apart down the stretch; Miranda had a .626 OPS in August and a dreadful .446 mark in September. After hitting his ninth home run as part of the record-tying stretch on July 5, he went without one in his final 50 games.

Miranda spent 621 innings at third base last season to 100 at first base, but he was primarily a first baseman during his promising 2022 rookie season. Ideally, he would have established himself as a leading option to be the Twins' everyday starter at 1B, but there are questions about both his bat and his glove heading into his fourth season. Minnesota needs other options if Miranda's late-season slump continues in 2025.

Edouard Julien

Much like Miranda coming into last season, Julien is a once-promising young player who has a lot to prove after a highly-disappointing second year. He was excellent in 2023, posting a 130 OPS+ across 109 games. But his plate discipline strength turned into a major weakness this year, as he watched far too many called third strikes go right by him. Julien hit just .199 with a .616 OPS across 301 MLB plate appearances and spent much of the year with Triple-A St. Paul.

Primarily a second baseman, Julien has played 19.1 innings at 1B with the Twins and another 238 there in the minor leagues. He needs to have a good spring training to even make Minnesota's opening day roster, but he could be in the mix if he rediscovers some of his rookie-year success at the plate.

Realistic free agent options

* Anthony Rizzo
* Ty France
* Josh Bell
* Justin Turner
* Connor Joe
* Rowdy Tellez
* Ji-Man Choi

Those are among the better non-Alonso names available on the market, and none of them come without significant questions. Injuries have contributed to Rizzo's decline. France also fell off last season. Bell's been on five teams in the last three years. Turner is 40 years old. The others are low-level options. The scrap heap also includes other names like Joey Gallo, Donovan Solano, Yuli Gurriel, and Gavin Sheets.

It's a fairly bleak situation, and the Twins' best hope might be that Miranda or Julien (or both) put it together at the plate in 2025. That duo could theoretically be a solid platoon, but they have to hit for it to work.