What Are Minnesota Twins Getting in Top Prospect Eduardo Tait?

The Twins have a new global top-100 prospect. They have a new top catching prospect. On Wednesday afternoon, the Twins traded beloved closer Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher Eduardo Tait and right-handed pitcher Mick Abel. Who is Tait? Where does he fit among Twins prospects? What are his strengths and weaknesses? Let’s dig in.

Eduardo Tait (Tah-eet) is an 18-year-old, left-handed-hitting catching prospect, signed for $90,000 out of Panama in the 2023 international signing window. Tait was ranked the 50th-best prospect by Baseball America, 56th overall by MLB Pipeline, and 63rd by Just Baseball.

Tait is a thick-bodied catcher who sets up in the batter’s box with an unusual, sternum-high hand set. It gives way to a sizable leg kick in his load. There’s good bat speed, quick hands and what looks like a short, semi-adjustable stroke here. There’s also serious strength and power. Tait posted some of the best exit velocities in the Florida State League, logging batted-ball speeds north of 113 mph as an 18-year-old. That’s Emmanuel Rodriguez-level age-adjusted power.

What are the warts, offensively? Tait is an aggressive hitter. He’s walked just 8.3% of the time thus far in 2025. He swings aggressively (54.8%), and chases often. The Twins have shown a proclivity for leaning into offensive profiles with chase tendencies, with some success. Luke Keaschall and Kaelen Culpepper are two recent, notable examples.

The rest of the offensive profile is solid. Tait has an overall contact rate approaching 80%, and despite some holes in his swing, he should get to his power plenty often, the more he plays. This should be an output with good bat-to-ball skills, above-average to plus power, and a fringe-average on-base skillset. That’s valuable in and of itself, the more so for a left-handed hitting catcher.

But what of the defense? Tait has a plus arm (he nabbed over 32% of base runners in A ball). By all accounts, his receiving has improved significantly this year. You’d be safe to say that the bat is better than the glove, currently. Specifically, if Tait can move more fluidly as a backstop, he could put his physical tools to better use. He’s a good athlete, though, so there’s reason for optimism there.

In 82 games across Low A and High A in 2025, he’s hitting .255/.319/.434 with 11 home runs and a 107 wRC+. He’ll be assigned to High-A Cedar Rapids.

Where does Tait fit in the Twins system? Overall, I’d rank him 5th, behind Walker Jenkins, Rodriguez, Keaschall, and Culpepper. For me, that says more about my conviction on Culpepper than some kind of ding on Tait. I think there’s a plausible argument to rank him anywhere from 3rd to 6th, depending on how you value defensive positioning, upside, and proximity to the majors. 

Tait is a good distance from impacting the major-league team. This is a slower burn, a longer-term play than any of the four above him on my list. This is not the type of return that plays into the ‘sustainable winner’ mantra so frequently expressed by this front office. Instead, it’s the type of return that leaves you asking: ‘who’s next?'

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