BREAKING: Twins Trade Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia Phillies

The Twins are moving on from the mountain of a man, the Autocorrect- (and barrel-)defying splinker., and the electrifying ninth-inning entrance. They're trading Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies for a package of high-end prospect talent, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Twins Daily has confirmed Rosenthal's report. Minnesota will receive catching prospect Eduardo Tait and rookie pitcher Mick Abel.

Duran, 27, is under team control through 2027. The Twins promoted him on Opening Day in 2022, rather than game his service time, and he’s rewarded that faith. His triple-digit fastball was the first thing to open eyes throughout the league, not least because referring to it that way undersells him: Duran often topped 103 miles per hour in his rookie campaign. He rapidly matured into the team’s closer, and even as he’s seen some occasional velocity dips and struggled with an imperfect fastball shape, he’s found ways to thoroughly dominate opposing batters.

Much of that is attributable to Duran’s secondary pitches, which are even more valuable (and more indispensable) than the heater. His curveball and splinker are devastating, and this year, he’s added a sweeper to that arsenal. His strikeout rate has eroded slightly each year, but the .553 OPS opponents have managed against Duran in 2025 is the lowest of his career. He’s morphed into an elite ground-ball hurler, and his entrance production for save opportunities has been one of the delightful features of evenings at Target Field over the last two-plus seasons.

The lone constraint on Duran’s trade value, perhaps, is the likelihood that he’ll be one of the highest-paid relief pitchers in baseball for the next two seasons. He’s making $4.125 million in 2025, and given the season he’s having, that figure should rise considerably for 2026. Nonetheless, he’s been the trade chip teams have clamored for most in talks with the Twins, so when a move happened, it was sure to be a big one.

Tait, 18, is the headliner here. A left-handed batter and catcher, he's played almost the whole season at Low-A Clearwater, where he's hitting .251/.322/.436. He was promoted earlier this month to the Phillies' High-A affiliate, at a very young age. He'll turn 19 next month. His bat is his carrying tool; scouts view him as a hitter who can make enough contact to get to plus power at maturity. What is far less clear is whether he can stick as a catcher, but even without knowing for sure in that regard, Tait ranked third on Baseball America's midseason update of the Phillies' top 30 prospects list. He'll be slightly lower-ranked in the Twins system, but they'll hope to develop him into their catcher of the future.

Abel, 23, provides the immediate juice in the deal. He was Philadelphia's top pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, and has already made it to the majors for a brief look as a starter. He profiles as a pitcher who can stay in the rotation, though perhaps more as a third or fourth starter than as the frontliner the team envisioned when they drafted him. He figures to pitch for the big-league Twins for much of the final two months of this season, unless they have specific things they want to tweak with a stopover in St. Paul.

Bob Nightengale was first to report that the return will be Tait and Abel.

This move signals the degree of aggressiveness the Twins have elected to take at this trade deadline. They sought two high-end potential contributors in any deal for Duran, and they got them here. There's risk associated with both prospects, but the team is ready to shift gears and reshape their core for 2026 and beyond. Tait and Abel begin that process, by moving resources from the bullpen toward the positional core and the starting rotation.