Twins Daily 2026 Top Prospects: #4 Eduardo Tait

[Greggory Masterson]

Image courtesy of Malamut Photography

Acquired from the Phillies at the 2025 trade deadline, Eduardo Tait was the main piece in return for Jhoan Duran, alongside pitcher Mick Abel. Tait immediately became the Twins’ premier catching prospect, and he is a consensus Top 100 prospect league wide. That being said, he’s the most likely of Twins Daily’s top prospects list to never register an MLB plate appearance. The low-floor, high-ceiling teenager who is already at High-A has a long way to go before he dons a Twins uniform, but his potential is something that the Twins and their fans are salivating over.

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Eduardo Tait
Age: 19 (DOB: 08/27/2006)
Bats/Throws: L/R
2025 Stats (Single-A, High-A): 486 PA, .253/.311/.427, 32 2B, 1 3B, 14 HR, 36 BB, 99 SO
ETA: 2029
2025 Ranking: NR

National Top 100 Rankings
BP: 54 | MLB: 65 | ATH: 93 | BA: 93 | ESPN: 38

Tait was signed out of Panama as a 16-year-old in 2023 and immediately began mashing in the Dominican Summer League, sporting a .917 OPS. He earned a promotion to Single-A Clearwater in 2024 as a 17-year-old, four years younger than the average player. By age 18, he was already on Philadelphia’s High-A Jersey Shore, while his high-school-aged peers stateside were only getting drafted, and he was selected for the 2025 Futures Game.

His numbers at both levels of Class A have not been standout, merely clocking in around league-average across the two leagues. But he was among the youngest players in either Class-A league, so league-average hitting, especially from a catcher, is noteworthy.

What to Like
Tait is a catcher with huge raw power potential, with scouts assigning a 60- or 70-grade rating to his profile. Catchers are among the weakest-hitting players across baseball, and to have a middle-of-the-order bat playing the catching position is a boon to any team. He popped 14 home runs and 32 doubles in 486 plate appearances last year in his age-18 season, showing great promise.

He has a sturdy build, and scouts question how much more muscle he can add to his already-developed frame, so increased power is more likely to come from swing improvements than adding more muscle as he ages, but his power potential is legit. His exit velocities and swing speed are encouraging. He’s also quite pull-heavy, setting himself up for good in-game power as he continues to develop.

Tait also has good bat-to-ball skills, a trait that is uncommon for sluggers, especially young sluggers. In 2025, he posted a 20% strikeout rate, which undersells his ability to make contact given his plate discipline deficiencies (to be discussed later). He can put the ball in play very well, and if he can combine that skill with plus or plus-plus power, the Twins could see some excellent results in the big leagues, even if he is forced to move off catcher.

As a catcher, Tait’s calling card is his arm strength. His pop time is around 1.9 seconds, and he threw out 33% of base stealers at Single-A. He needs to clean up his accuracy on throws to best limit base stealers, but his raw strength is encouraging. His receiving is believed to have league-average potential by the time he’s done developing, which, when paired with his bat and arm strength, can be enough to justify keeping him at catcher, though he won’t be winning any Gold Gloves.

What to Work On
As stated, Tait is the least likely of the names on Twins Daily’s list to make the major leagues, in part because of his youth and in part because he has some significant holes in his profile. Although there is excitement about his bat as a catcher, the bar for offense rises if Tait is unable to stick at the position. Given his frame and lack of speed, Tait’s only other positional homes are first base and designated hitter.

And Tait’s outlook as a catcher defensively is indeed in question. Although he has raw arm strength, his skills as a receiver and blocker are in question. He has improved as a receiver, but he still has major deficiencies in keeping the ball in front of him, and scouts question whether he will have enough athleticism to consistently block pitches in the dirt or move laterally. He still has the potential bat to be a good first baseman or DH, but his ceiling as a player is significantly lower away from the catching position.

Tait’s biggest weakness at the plate is his discipline. Put succinctly, he swings at everything. He has the bat-to-ball skills to get to nearly anything, but his hit tool is greatly reduced by his decision-making. This has been more pronounced since reaching High-A, as he had only a 4% walk rate. This lack of plate discipline also contributes to his batting average, as he’s swinging at less-than-optimal pitches to hit, especially early in counts. He’ll probably never have the best eye at the plate, but if he can reel in his swing-happy approach a bit, combined with his bat-to-ball skills and power, he could be dangerous.

What to Look For in 2026
Tait will likely begin 2026 at High-A Cedar Rapids, though it’s unclear whether the Twins will be as aggressive moving him up through the system as Philadelphia was. Tait needs to make strides as a receiver and blocker, and catcher development is notoriously difficult to predict.

Offensively, success would include moving from a league-average hitter for the level to a plus hitter. The Twins have time for the 19-year-old to develop, and it’s important for him to do better than just holding his own. The major step he needs to take offensively is swinging less. Watch for him to be making better swing decisions, which should be reflected in his batting average and on-base percentage. If he cleans up his approach at the plate, watch out.

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[jmlease1]

Feels a little high for me, but I tend to rank a bit more on production than projection. But he's definitely got boatloads of talent. If he can stick at catcher, then his potential will be higher, because at any other position he really needs to hit and it's hard to know where he's at on that skill.

It seems like for every SS and C prospect (except for Houston) there's someone suggesting that they can't/won't stick at that position.

[mikelink45]

I love potential but I like to see players have more track record before getting in the top ten.  There are players in the 11 - 20 range I would move up to the top and wait to see if the young and unproven can earn the higher ranking. 

[rdehring]

Report seems awfully critical for a young man who if he was from Edina would likely be getting ready for his senior year of high school. 

Seems that the emphasis on power in this and most reports is overblown.  Isn't it possible for a young player to develop into a good, or even great player with average power?  With the exception of one year, Joe Mauer never developed a lot of power.  He turned out to be a really good player, wasn't he?

[Greggory Masterson]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

Report seems awfully critical for a young man who if he was from Edina would likely be getting ready for his senior year of high school. 

Seems that the emphasis on power in this and most reports is overblown.  Isn't it possible for a young player to develop into a good, or even great player with average power?  With the exception of one year, Joe Mauer never developed a lot of power.  He turned out to be a really good player, wasn't he?

Funny, I thought I erred on the side of wearing rose tinted glasses.

[Linus]

I’m usually skeptical of prospects and reports on prospects. However I’m surprised at the lack of enthusiasm in this article given that he’s 19 and in high A. We take some 22 year old college pitcher and stick him in A ball and everyone gets excited when they have a whiff of success. Catching is really hard so I’m more than willing to believe that given some time he will get better. A left handed power hitting catcher is worth taking a chance on and worth waiting for. 

[rdehring]

1 hour ago, Greggory Masterson said:

Funny, I thought I erred on the side of wearing rose tinted glasses.

Thought it is again time for my disclaimer.  When I use the smiley face it isn't meant to say ha ha, which I see as negative.  I use it when I read a comment that brings a good smile.  Thanks.

[Greggory Masterson]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

I’m usually skeptical of prospects and reports on prospects. However I’m surprised at the lack of enthusiasm in this article given that he’s 19 and in high A. We take some 22 year old college pitcher and stick him in A ball and everyone gets excited when they have a whiff of success. Catching is really hard so I’m more than willing to believe that given some time he will get better. A left handed power hitting catcher is worth taking a chance on and worth waiting for. 

I think it’s safe to say that TD likes Tait, and I had him at either 4 or 5 on my personal list. There’s a ton to get excited about with him. But it’d be disingenuous to ignore the potential pitfalls that could keep him from ever making the majors. Diego Cartaya was released by the Twins last season after they basically got him for free, and he was an even more heralded teenage catcher than Tait. It’s important to keep it in perspective.

[Mike Sixel]

He's top 50-100 on every list, and people here are all like, why is he ranked this high? Fangraphs has him 46....

[IndianaTwin]

7 hours ago, rdehring said:

Report seems awfully critical for a young man who if he was from Edina would likely be getting ready for his senior year of high school. 

Seems that the emphasis on power in this and most reports is overblown.  Isn't it possible for a young player to develop into a good, or even great player with average power?  With the exception of one year, Joe Mauer never developed a lot of power.  He turned out to be a really good player, wasn't he?

The Mauer comparison is interesting in terms of where they spent the year. 

Mauer spent his 17 YO season as a junior at Cretin-Durham. Tait spent his in the Complex league and Low A.

Mauer spent his 18 YO season at Cretin-Durham and Rookie League. Tait spent his at Low and High A.

Mauer spent his 19 YO season in the Quad Cities at what was then Low A, Tait seems likely to start his at High A and conceivably get to AA if he performs. 

NOT saying Tait's a Hall of Famer, but he's at an interesting point in his development. 

[DocBauer]

Despite some flaws in his hitting approach, it's really tough to argue against a 19yo at A+ hitting at league average. He reigns that approach of "trying to contact everything" and becomes a little more selective, we could see a nice jump in his quad slash line.

Catching is hard. If he doesn't get any bigger, he can learn the subtleties of blocking better, and harnessing his throws to be a little more on target. Just hard for me to worry about a 19yo catcher still learning the position. If those same issues don't improve when he reaches AA in 2027, I'll start to be concerned.

2026 is by no means a make or break season for someone so young. And catchers often take a little longer to develop just due to the nature of the position. I do think seeing small improvements over this season do indicate optimism. No improvement, or any regression, might temper hopeful expectations however. But even small improvement should keep his prospect status and projection pretty high. 

[Greggory Masterson]

3 hours ago, DocBauer said:

2026 is by no means a make or break season for someone so young. And catchers often take a little longer to develop just due to the nature of the position. I do think seeing small improvements over this season do indicate optimism. No improvement, or any regression, might temper hopeful expectations however. But even small improvement should keep his prospect status and projection pretty high. 

I think this is a very important point. Obviously we’d all like for him to excel, but at his age, it’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t take another big step this season. He needs to eventually, but especially with catchers, you have to be patient. Even if he spends the whole season at High-A, he’s still going to be a 20-year-old at High-A playing against guys 3 years older than him.

hopefully he does better than that, though.

[darwin22]

This might have been a "typo error," but to state Tait is the "most likely of top TD prospects to never register an MLB plate appearance," is either completely foolish or clearly misinformed.  A consensus top 100 prospect at age 19 is, imo, on a clear path either in this organization or another to have a productive MLB career.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Monday I was watching the Twins pitchers throw on the back lot in a  set up where 6 pitchers in a line can throw at one time to catchers at spring training. Lefty Dasan Hill  arrived a little late and began talking to a young catcher. They talked a short while, laughing and smiling. Then Hill began stretching and exercising in preparation to throw and the young catcher caught some other pitchers. When Hill was ready, he started throwing in earnest to the young catcher, whom Hill had been talking to. 20 year old Hill was amazing. However he threw a wild pitch up toward my head, as I stood behind the chain link fence 15 feet behind the catcher. I instinctively ducked and the catcher quickly reacted and caught the baseball which was coming right at me. The catcher noticed I had ducked and he grinned at me. I said "Thanks for catching that pitch." The catcher gave me a thumbs up behind his back after he had thrown the ball back to Hill. When Hill finished throwing, the catcher walked over to the fence and gave me the baseball they had been using. We started talking, since the catcher had a rest  period after catching Hill. I asked him, "Habla Usted Ingles?" He said, "a little" and grinned. I asked him his name, "Como se llama?". He grinned again and said, "Tait".  I told him good luck and that I was glad he was on the Twins. I asked him if he was 19 and he said "Yes". That is the same age as my lefty grandson, who was pitching JUCO baseball this season in North Carolina, after having been selected for the North Carolina High School All State honors as a pitcher last year. Last week, my grandson, Jacob Benbow, tore his left labrum.  His season is over after only 4 games. It made me realize how young many of these players are, and how  difficult it must be to be away from family and in a new country with language barriers, nutritional challenges and competing against older and better professional baseball players.  I wish you well, Edwardo Tait. I'll be rooting for you.  And I am praying that my grandson, Jacob, will heal and be able to pitch again. I think I'll give Jacob the baseball that Edwardo Tait gave to me.

[Greggory Masterson]

On 3/11/2026 at 5:45 PM, darwin22 said:

This might have been a "typo error," but to state Tait is the "most likely of top TD prospects to never register an MLB plate appearance," is either completely foolish or clearly misinformed.  A consensus top 100 prospect at age 19 is, imo, on a clear path either in this organization or another to have a productive MLB career.

1) Walker Jenkins--will probably be in the majors this year if healthy
2) Kaelen Culpepper--may get a cup of coffee this season, extremely likely to make the bigs in the next 2 years
3) Emmanuel Rodriguez--will be in the majors this year if healthy (and may be early in the season)
7) Gabriel Gonzalez--likely to get a cup of coffee this season
9) Marek Houston--currently at the same level as Tait, but will almost assuredly appear in the big leagues at least once because of his glove

Those are the other hitters in the top 10. It would be a surprise if any of those 5 never make it to the bigs. Tait is a 19-year-old catcher. He either needs to hit extremely well, develop defensively, or both to make the majors. He's on track to do so, but it would not be surprising in the least to see a teenage catcher falter. Even one who is well ahead of schedule. We just saw it happen to Diego Cartaya, who was more highly regarded than Tait. Surprising? No. Disappointing? Yes. Such is the way with teenage catchers.

If we expand to TD's top 20, Hendry Mendez (17) is clearly more likely, because he's already on the 40. Tait fits in with Quentin Young (14) and Brandon Winokur (13), two young toolsy prospects who might be All-Stars and might never have success even at AAA. That could definitely happen with Tait. He's not on lists for his floor; he's on them for his ceiling. His ceiling is (if I were to hazard a guess) only behind Jenkins and Rodriguez. I'd probably put Tait in front of Khadim Diaw (19), but even with Kyle DeBarge (16), I hesitate to say Tait is more likely, because DeBarge could sneak in as a reserve infielder at some point.