Twins reach extensions with Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler: Your thoughts?

The Twins have locked up two big pieces of their future plans.

Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler have both reached five-year extensions with Minnesota, according to reports Thursday. The deals will be announced Friday, according to our Dan Hayes. The Athletic‘s Jim Bowden reported that the 25-year-old Polanco will get $25.75 million over the length of his deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan says the deal for Kepler, who turned 26 on Sunday, is for $35 million.

As Hayes notes, it’s a notable step for a Twins front office that tried to secure extensions for some key players — including center fielder Byron Buxton — last season and came up empty.

Polanco became the team’s regular shortstop late in the 2016 season and hit .265 combined that year and in 2017 over a span of 733 at-bats. He missed the first 80 games of the 2018 season after being suspended for violating the league’s drug policy. He didn’t miss a beat at the plate when he returned, hitting .288/.345./427 — all career highs — in 333 plate appearances.

Kepler also emerged in 2016 and has brought consistent power and run production, averaging over 18 homers and 63 RBIs in each of his three seasons. The right fielder, though, has struggled with his average, particularly against lefties. After hitting .243 in 2017, Kepler dipped to .224 last season. He managed to lift his average against left-handers from an abysmal .152 in 2017 up to .245 in 2018, but saw his numbers against righties dip from .272/.343/.484 to .216/.318/.403.

We’ll have more coverage on the moves later. For now, leave your reactions here.