Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has been asked numerous times about bringing in talent ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline. He then delivered in a massive way on Wednesday by finalizing a deal to acquire closer Jhoan Duran from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for starter Mick Abel and catching prospect Eduardo Tait, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
The backend of the bullpen has been a massive letdown for the Phillies in 2025 currently sporting a 4.48 ERA and bringing in a flamethrower like Duran completely shifts the team's outlook moving forward. It anchors a weakness not only for the remainder of 2025, but beyond as Duran isn't set to become a free agent until 2028.
They also did not have to include Justin Crawford, Aidan Miller or Andrew Painter to get the deal done. The massive move sent shockwaves across Phillies nation, per Dan Roche of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Phillies' Jhoan Duran trade deadline deal a huge win
Duran was originally signed as an international free agent at 16 years old by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014 from the Dominican Republic. He was then traded to the Twins in 2018 and then later made his MLB debut in 2022. He's been the Twins closer ever since.
For the Phillies, they're getting a massive power arm with a four-pitch mix of a split-finger, four-seamer, knuckle curve and a sweeper. His four-seam fastball ranks in the 100th percentile in velocity with an average of 100.2 mph. To go along with his high velocity, he also produces a ton of ground balls. According to FanGraphs, his 65.4 percent ground ball percentage ranks second among all relievers.
Duran is a career 2.47 ERA pitcher and his dominance has continued in his age 27 season this year. He has pitched to a 6-4 record, a 2.01 ERA, and 53 strikeouts with 16 saves. He's also only allowed one home run all year.
Imagine Jhoan Duran’s entrance in Red October.
— On Pattison (@OnPattison) July 30, 2025
Chills. pic.twitter.com/OTGvx3pgfD
For the departing Mick Abel, he took some time to get into the big leagues but did debut this year with a 2-2 record, a 5.04 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 25 innings pitched. He has massive upside, as the Phillies saw in his MLB debut when he went toe-to-toe with Pittsburgh Pirates' ace Paul Skenes and secured the victory. The Phillies felt like they had more than enough starting pitching and felt comfortable dealing Abel to address a more pressing issue on their roster.
For Tait, it's a little more of a hard pill to swallow for Phillies fans. He has a career .288 batting average with an .819 OPS across three levels of the minor leagues. He has struggled some in Single-A Clearwater, currently batting .251, but has still slugged at a .436 clip. At just 18 years old, Tait was looked at as the catcher of the future of the Phillies post-J.T. Realmuto. Perhaps the Phillies feel comfortable re-signing their veteran catcher knowing Tait was still years away from a debut.
Phillies' Jhoan Duran trade grade: A-
Knowing how much the Phillies needed a reliever coming into the trade deadline, a move like this had to be done to shore up a bullpen that was decimated by losing their former arms to free agency and then José Alvarado to suspension.
Duran provides stability and finally gives the Phillies a definitive closer every night. Now the Phillies have Duran coming in along with recently signed David Robertson and Alvarado returning in the coming weeks.
The Phillies did lose two big prospects in Abel and Tait, but it's an overall win not having to include any of Crawford, Miller or Painter. The grade for the trade of Jhoan Duran is a solid A- for the Phillies. Now Phillies fans just have to wait for the light show to begin for his walkouts to close out games.