The Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins officially completed the biggest deal of the trade deadline so far. Jhoan Durán is on his way to the City of Brotherly Love in exchange for two top Phillies prospects, RHP Mick Abel (No. 6) and C Eduardo Tait (No. 4). ESPN's Jeff Passan broke the news.
The Philadelphia Phillies are finalizing a deal to acquire closer Jhoan Duran from the Minnesota Twins for two top prospects, sources tell ESPN. The biggest move of the deadline so far is almost complete.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2025
That is a lot for a single reliever, but Durán is 27 years old with two additional seasons of club control, so it is what it is. You need to give something to get something in this league and the Phillies are running out of time with this core. Durán improves a shaky bullpen, allowing Orion Kerkering to transition to a more natural setup role while replacing the PED-suspended José Alvarado in the postseason bullpen.
Philly gave up a lot here — Abel is an MLB-ready starter and Tait was their presumed J.T. Realmuto successor — but this is classic Dave Dombrowski. The chips are being pushed in.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Phillies add Jhoan Durán, Twins get Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait in blockbuster haul
Philadelphia manages to keep its top three prospects, RHP Andrew Painter, SS Aidan Miller and OF Justin Crawford, which is not insignifcant. They are all close to MLB-ready, with Painter and Crawford both an injury (or perhaps another trade) away from being big-league staples in time for October.
That said, two top-100 prospects for a reliever, even one as dominant as Durán, is a smidge rich. This is a tremendous return for the Twins, who can get Abel on the MLB roster sooner than later while developing the 18-year-old Tait as their catcher of the future. Tait is years away from the majors, but he's a powerful lefty bat at a position with precious few plus hitters.
Phillies are all-in with Jhoan Durán
None of that matters if Philly wins the World Series, which is the goal. Durán immediately elevates a needy bullpen. He has a 2.01 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 49.1 innings this season, notching 53 strikeouts. He moves effortlessly between a 100 MPH fastball and a devastating splinker, generating tons of soft contact and ground-balls despite his willingness and ability to work up in the zone with red-hot gasoline.
Durán was the best reliever on the market and he's a huge get for the Phillies. Hopefully this is not it for Dombrowski and company, as the Phillies still need an extra bat in the outfield. A proper star, like Eugenio Suárez, wouldn't hurt either, although Philadelphia's bargaining power was just dimished rather considerably. The Phillies still have four top-100 prospects at MLB Pipeline.