RandBall: Grading the Twins’ blockbuster trade of Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia

On Wednesday, the Twins signaled that they were open for business beyond just pending free agents at the trade deadline.

During an already tumultuous day, they traded standout closer Jhoan Duran to the Phillies for a pair of promising prospects.

Let’s examine the deal and hand out some grades.

Twins get: Catcher Eduardo Tait and RHP Mick Abel.

Phillies get: Jhoan Duran.

From the Twins’ perspective, this closes the book on realistic contention in 2025 — the right idea from President Derek Falvey and co. based on what we have seen from the Twins in recent weeks.

What’s harder to swallow is that Duran was under team control through 2027, meaning he could have been a relatively low-cost elite bullpen arm for two more seasons beyond this one as the Twins potentially (hopefully, for them) reload.

But the two prospects they received from the Phillies are legit. Per MLB’s rankings, Tait was the No. 4 prospect in the Philadelphia system and No. 56 overall in MLB. Abel was No. 5 and No. 92, respectively.

Tait has a long way to go, but he has already risen to high-Class A before he even turns 19 next month. He held his own (.759 OPS) in low-A ball before a recent bump to high-A and could be the Twins’ catcher of the future. Again, though, a lot can happen between now and any sort of MLB debut.

Abel made his MLB debut earlier this season, going 2-2 with a 5.04 ERA in six starts with the Phillies. The 2020 first round pick turns 24 next month and has a fastball that can hit 99 mph. Control can be an issue, but the arm talent is there. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him get chances with the Twins during the final two months of the season.

The Phillies, meanwhile, are in firm control of a wild card spot and are battling for the NL East title. They get a dominant reliever in Duran who appeared in at least 57 games from 2022-24. He’s been excellent this year (2.01 ERA) and can help in future years as well.

While they gave up two highly regarded prospects, they didn’t have to part with No. 8 overall prospect Andrew Painter.