Longtime Twins right fielder Max Kepler joining Phillies as free agent

Max Kepler, who signed with the Twins when he was 16 years old and played 10 major league seasons for them, has agreed to a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Kepler, 31, got a one-year deal worth $10 million. He missed extended time last season because of knee and hip injuries.

An excellent defensive right fielder, Kepler had up-and-down seasons at the plate. His best year was in 2019 when the Twins set an MLB record for home runs; he had 36 of them, drove in 90 runs and hit .252 with an .855 OPS.

In 105 games last season, he hit .253 with eight homers and 42 RBI in the final year of a six-year, $44 million contract.

His career totals in Minnesota: 1,072 games (sixth in team history), 161 home runs, 508 RBI, .237 batting average and .746 OPS. He has the second-best career fielding percentage (.992) among active right fielders and is third among active right fielders in Total Zone Runs.

Kepler was born and raised in Germany, and he got an $800,000 bonus from the Twins in 2009 as an international signing. He was 17 when starting playing in the minor leagues in 2010 and worked his way through the system before making his major-league debut in 2015. He made the team for good in 2016.

As the Twins faltered in September last season, Kepler was out of the lineup because of patellar tendinitis in his left knee. While rehabbing, he aggravated a hip injury that required offseason surgery.

“I’d like to feel great,” he said on Sept. 24. “It’s not the way I’d like to go out as a Twin. The game comes with a lot of unexpected adversity and challenges, and I’m proud of myself for what I’ve done as an individual, as a teammate, as a friend to everyone in this clubhouse.

“I haven’t really decompressed and looked back on every moment as a Twin but I’m truly grateful and this is not really bothering [me] too much on my way out. Obviously, I want to go out on a higher note, but I mean add the minor league years into it, 15 years of my life — half my life as a Twin — I don’t think I could have done much more as a kid from Berlin.”

Nick Castellanos was Philadelphia’s primary right fielder last season when they won the National League East. Castellanos, 32, played all 162 games in 2024 and had 23 home runs and 86 RBI.

Philadelphia’s payroll is expected to be in the vicinity of $300 million in 2025. The Twins’ payroll last season was around $130 million.