The Minnesota Twins lost one of their longest-tenured players when Max Kepler officially signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday afternoon but his departure leaves more than just an opening in the outfield.
Kepler was part of one of the greatest international signing classes in Twins history, joining Miguel Sanó and Jorge Polanco in 2009. Each player played a significant role on the Bomba Squad team in 2019 but also leaves a giant sense of “What if?” as their story comes to a close.
Max Kepler, Miguel Sanó and Jorge Polanco formed the Minnesota Twins’ greatest international signing class
Kepler was part of three moves that the Twins used to build a foundation in 2009. A 14-year-old from Germany, Kepler was discovered by the Twins and later signed with the Twins on an international deal. At the same time, the Twins signed Sanó and Polanco as part of their international signing class and all three made their way through the organization together.
Polanco was the first player to debut in 2014 before Sanó and Kepler debuted in 2015. All three became full-time players by the 2016 season and Sano was the first to become an All-Star, hitting .264/.352/.507 with 28 home runs and 77 RBI in 2017.
The big breakout for all three players happened in 2019. Kepler and Polanco signed five-year contract extensions before the season with Polanco's worth $25.75 million and Kepler signing a deal worth $35 million. With the vote of confidence, both players produced career years with Polanco starting for the American League at shortstop in the All-Star Game and Kepler hitting .252/.336/.519 with a career-high 36 homers and 90 RBI.
Meanwhile, Sanó hit .247/.346/.576 with a career-high 34 home runs and 79 RBI in 2019, earning a three-year, $30 million contract signed before the start of the 2020 season. The simultaneous production gave the Twins three fixtures in the lineup entering their mid-20s and high expectations were placed on the trio moving forward.
Minnesota Twins 2009 international signing class couldn’t duplicate 2019 success
With Sanó, Polanco and Kepler each holding everyday spots in the Twins lineup, it was supposed to help Minnesota contend for years to come. But they spent the rest of their careers chasing their 2019 production.
For Sanó, it represented a difficult three-year stretch. He hit just .207/.295/.441 with 44 home runs and 103 RBI in 208 games from 2020-22 and hit .083/.211/.133 with one homer, three RBI and 25 strikeouts in 60 at-bats in his final season in 2022.
Polanco became one of the Twins' most durable players and had his best offensive season in 2021, hitting .269/.323/.503 with 33 homers and 98 RBI. But injuries limited him to 104 games in 2022 and just 80 games in 2023. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners last offseason and is currently a free agent.
Kepler might have the most mixed legacy of the three. Kepler played with the Twins for 10 seasons but fans always felt like there was something more. The increased usage of the infield shift suppressed Kepler’s stats but he also hit just .237/.316/.412 with 69 homers and 228 RBI over his last five seasons with a hot second half in 2023 becoming an outlier.
Kepler also never cleared 3.0 wins above replacement in his final five seasons after logging 3.5 WAR in 2018 and 4.0 WAR in 2019. His OPS+ 102 made him an average hitter and his defense kept him in the lineup even though he hit just .221/.292/.363 against left-handers during his career.
Together, the trio was part of a team that came up short more often than not. The Twins were eliminated in the first round of the 2020 playoffs and missed the playoffs in 2021 and 2022 before finally breaking the team's postseason streak without Sanó in 2023.
Miguel Sanó, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco leave mixed legacy for the Minnesota Twins
Getting one major league player out of an international signing class is solid work. But getting three puts a franchise at a distinct advantage. But the Twins could never capitalize on it thanks to the ineptitude of an 18-game postseason losing streak and the type of players Kepler, Polanco and Sanó became.
If you were to go back to the end of the 2019 season and tell Twins fan what this group would become, they would probably think you’re crazy. But if you jumped ahead ten years, there’s a chance that all three of these players wind up in the Twins Hall of Fame.
It leaves a bittersweet taste in the mouth of fans, who are sad to see the last member go, but optimistic about who will succeed him.