Twins acquire top prospects Tait, Abel from Phillies for Duran

MINNEAPOLIS – The reshaping of the Twins took a rapid step forward on Wednesday when the club agreed to trade closer Jhoan Duran to the Phillies for Top 100 prospects Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel. The deal came together approximately 24 hours before the Trade Deadline, and could be the beginning of a busy Deadline for Minnesota.

Duran is the second veteran arm the club has moved this week, following right-handed starter Chris Paddack on Monday. Paddack was set to be a free agent at the end of the year, but moving Duran, one of baseball’s best relievers and a player not eligible for free agency until after the 2027 season, is a much more significant change in direction for the franchise.

TRADE DETAILS

Twins receive: C Eduardo Tait (MLB No. 56 prospect), RHP Mick Abel (MLB No. 92 prospect)
Phillies receive: RHP Jhoan Duran

“It’s always weird,” manager Rocco Baldelli said on Wednesday morning. “And it’s always challenging. In a lot of ways, you love your players and you love everything they do for you and for the team. And you care about them, and you treat them well, and you know they have families, and you know this can be an uneasy time. It’s also a time of, sometimes, change and opportunity as well. You have to treat it as is.”

In Abel, the Twins receive a big, hard-throwing right-hander with a broad arsenal who already has some Major League experience. He made six starts for the Phillies earlier this year though he was returned to Triple-A after struggling in the last two.

Abel, who turns 24 next month, slots in as the No. 6 prospect in the Twins’ farm system and he ranks No. 92 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. He will initially report to Triple-A St. Paul. However, for a club facing multiple starting pitching injuries that’s currently short on starting depth, it would not be shocking if he were inserted into the Major League rotation sooner than later.

Tait, who turns 19 in August, is a left-handed hitting catcher who is highly regarded for his power and his throwing arm. He was recently promoted from Single-A to High-A, and has a combined .255/.319/.434 line across the two levels this year. Tait will be assigned to High-A Cedar Rapids.

Duran, 27, has spent his entire Major League career with the Twins, developing into one of baseball’s hardest-throwing and most dominant relievers. He’s racked up 74 saves in four years with the club and was American League Reliever of the Month for May.

However, as this year’s team fell farther and farther back in the Wild Card race, it became clear that they would move some veterans, and perhaps even some core pieces. Duran makes $4.125 million this season and almost certainly stands to receive a significant raise via the arbitration process this offseason.

With contenders always looking for relief help, there was a robust market for his services, and the Twins capitalized on the opportunity by adding two Top 100 prospects. Duran expressed a desire to remain with the Twins not long before the trade.

“That would be hard,” he said. "I’ve got a couple years here and I feel like here is my family, so if that happens, that’s maybe breaking my heart a little bit.”

It is very likely not the team’s last deal before Thursday's Deadline. Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Danny Coulombe, Ty France, and Christian Vázquez are all eligible for free agency after this season and thus all trade candidates. Bader and Castro in particular have drawn a great deal of interest from other clubs.

The question which remains to be answered is whether the additional moves go any deeper than that. Reliever Griffin Jax, and star starter Joe Ryan, who like Duran are both under team control through 2027, hold great interest for contenders. Meanwhile, the Astros have called about Carlos Correa, who has complete no-trade protection. However, with Houston acquiring Ramón Urías on Wednesday evening, the Astros could be done seeking infield help for 2025.